Thank you for your continued support of Claretian Associates in 2023. Your support made us thrive in our community! Here is Claretians Year in Review: Mental Health First Aid Trainings The South Chicago Neighborhood Network (SCNN) in partnership with Aroura Health Care Systems hosted three Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) trainings for adults at the SALUD Center. MHFA trainings bring awareness to mental health and how to assist in a crisis. We’re Building Claretian Associates finalized the New Homes developments which converted each home into two units. Families are moved in and are enjoying their new residence. The New Homes are located on the 92nd and Brandon and 91st and Burley. Youth Programming Afterschool Programming UNITY Squad met each Tuesday and Thursday for after school programming. In partnerships with University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign Extension Program and the American Red Cross, youth earned certificates for completion of nutrition classes and Hands-Only CPR training. Youth Summer Programming Through our partnership with One Summer Chicago, Claretian employed 75 youth over the summer. Youth ages 14-15 and learned leadership, workforce preparedness, civic engagement, and more. In partnership with Tech Corps, youth ages 16-18 learned computer coding languages and created mock business websites Partnership with Center for Changing Lives Claretian Associates partnered with Center for Changing Lives for a series of workshops which included Resume Building, and Finance and Budgeting for community residents. Participants learned to create a resume, and cover letter, and how to create a budget on fixed income. Dress for Success, and Career and Trade Fair The South Chicago Neighborhood Network (SCNN) and Communities Partnering for Peace (CP4P) hosted Dress for Success, a clothing drive for business attire. This led to the Career and Trade Fair hosted by SCNN, CP4P, and community partners. Community residents met with potential employers and chose clothing from the donated business attire. Fitness Center Opened The SALUD Fitness Center opened with an affordable membership. The fitness center has new donated Peloton spin bikes and two rooms filled with weight and cardio equipment. The fitness center had two grand opening events with music, fitness bingo, and raffles. Membership is usually $14.99 a month. Look for our upcoming classes and special membership rates. Chicago Neighborhood Development Award Claretian Associates and Preservation for Affordable Housing (POAH) were awarded the Polk Bros. Foundation Affordable Rental Housing Preservation Award for the preservation of the South Chicago SALUD Center and Senior Housing. The Chicago Neighborhood Development Awards, hosted by LISC Chicago, recognizes the role that non-profit and for-profit developers and innovative architecture play in building communities throughout Chicago. Back-to-School Health and Wellness Fair The South Chicago Neighborhood Network, Communities Partnering 4 Peace, and community partners hosted an Annual Back-to-School Health and Wellness Fair. Over 400 bookbags with school supplies were distributed among community members. Advocacy Day at the SALUD Center Claretian Associates hosted their first Advocacy Day for Community Violence Intervention at the SALUD Center to raise awareness of the community violence intervention work that Communities Partner 4 Peace (CP4P) performs. Thanksgiving Community Dinners at the SALUD Center Claretian Associates hosted two Community Thanksgiving Dinners at the SALUD Center. Staff and UNITY Squad youth volunteered and served a traditional Thanksgiving dinner to community members. On Thanksgiving Day, CEO Angela Hurlock, along with family, friends, and staff, hosted a Thanksgiving dinner for the community. Community members enjoyed a delicious Thanksgiving dinner and dessert along with music and raffle prizes. Trauma-Informed Symposium The South Chicago Neighborhood Network (SCNN) hosted their annual Trauma-Informed Symposium. The virtual week-long event included a series of workshops focused on organizational crisis response, how to engage adults and youth after trauma, and more. Light in the Night Communities Partnering 4 Peace (CP4P) hosted approximately 70 Light in the Night events. CP4P provided safe spaces with games, music, and food in the neighborhoods of South Chicago, South Shore, and South Deering.
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Programs Claretian Associates wishes you Happy Holidays! South Chicago Neighborhood Network Holiday Gathering The South Chicago Neighborhood Network (SCNN) held its annual Winter Wonderland Networking Luncheon at the SALUD Center. Community partners came together to enjoy the company of each other with games and brunch. South Chicago Peoples Park Meet and Greet Claretian Associates hosted a Meet and Greet with the partnership of Neighbor Space at South Chicago Peoples Park, located at 3257 E 91st Street. Community members, youth from UNITY Squad, and the 10th Ward Alderman’s office gathered to establish stewardship and enjoy tamales with Mexican hot chocolate. Loneliness Project The South Chicago Neighborhood Network and Advocate Health Care Systems concluded the Loneliness Project at the SALUD Center. The program was created to bring awareness to all components of loneliness and to provide tools for connection. “Loneliness was established as a pandemic not just in America but in the world. Once the person is aware of loneliness and has tools for connection, it reduces the risk of social isolation” said Faith Nurse Lashondria Purnell. UNITY Squad UNITY Squad held a holiday celebration to end the year right before winter break. The youth had a holiday dinner at the SALUD Center, played games, and received gifts. Next year, UNITY Squad will host a fashion show, resource fair, sock hop, and many more activities. Youth Activities at the SALUD Center
Seniors On Monday, December 4th, the Chicago Civic Orchestra hosted a free concert for seniors at the SALUD Center. The seniors enjoyed almost an hour of classical concertos and received details about each piece played. Seniors were able to engage with orchestra members after the concert. The South Chicago SALUD Center seniors are receiving computer tutoring sessions on the Preservation for Affordable Housing (POAH) side in the community room. Most recently senior friendly computers were installed in the POAH community room. “We want seniors to learn how to use the computer for leisure and more,” said Resident Service Manager Wendy Steward. The computers are connected to a printer which allows seniors to print documents. Eventually, seniors will be able to pay rent online and navigate a computer on their own. So far 10 seniors are interested and receiving computer tutoring sessions. Staff HighlightsClaretian Associates Holiday Party Claretian Associates held their annual Staff Holiday Party at Harborside International Golf Center. Staff gathered and enjoyed brunch, games, and holiday music. Each staff member received a Claretian staff polo and was entered into a raffle upon arrival. CEO Angela Hurlock was honored at the party for her upcoming 20 year anniversary with Claretian and for being a part community.
Programming The SALUD Center hosted two Thanksgiving dinners! On Thursday, November 16th, Claretian Associates and Communities Partnering 4 Peace (CP4P) hosted a Community Thanksgiving Dinner. UNITY Squad youth helped serve traditional Thanksgiving food such as turkey, ham, corn, salad, and more. CP4P had raffles and a distribution of clothing and shoes for adults and children and winter blankets. On Thanksgiving Day, CEO Angela Hurlock with family, friends, and staff volunteers, hosted a Thanksgiving dinner for the community. Family and friends enjoyed the company of each other with dinner and holiday music. The South Chicago Neighborhood Network Trauma-Informed Symposium The South Chicago Neighborhood Network held an annual virtual Trauma-Informed Symposium, Partnering to Heal. Each day featured a different topic, including peace within homes, organizational crisis response, and engaging adults and youth after trauma. The final day was a Community Grand Rounds, a panel from UChicago Medicine. Through the partnership with Advocate Health, the keynote speaker was Dr. Kim Miller, Director of the Trauma and Recovery Center for Advocate. The Trauma and Recovery Center is open to anybody with a traumatic experience and does not have to be related to gun violence. The center currently works with Communities Partnering 4 Peace (CP4P), Crisis and Victim Advocate teams for the program participants who have been victims. The symposium was attended by providers, organizations, and community members. The Claretian teams of Safe Passage and CP4P also attended the symposium because of their engagement in keeping the community safe. “The teams de-escalate incidents before they happen between not only adults but youth too. To do that the teams need to be equipped with the right tools to handle certain situations. The teams also need to know how to take care of themselves. It's important that they learn how to trauma-inform response to people,” said Program Manager Tiarra Owens SCNN and community partners have hosted the symposium for six years. “I think it's important for us to have these conversations. This symposium, ‘Partnering to Heal,’ we paid great attention to all the work we are doing with our partners, and how everybody is doing their part in building healthy trauma-informed communities,” said Program Manager Tiarra Owens. In the future, SCNN would like to transition to an in-person symposium and host it at Chicago State University. UNITY Squad Through the partnership with the American Red Cross, UNITY Squad received Hands-Only CPR training. The youth learned how to perform Hands-Only CPR with CPR manikins, which are only hand motions. The youth will be wrapping up their last nutrition class with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Nutrition Extension Program and will have a potluck to celebrate. Last year, UNITY Squad started receiving Hands-Only CPR training because of the Damar Hamlin Challenge, where he encourages everyone to learn CPR to save a life because of his own experience of being unconscious on the football field. For that reason, each cohort since last year has learned Hands-Only CPR. “Once I saw him (Damar Hamlin) hit the ground on the field, I thought ‘This can happen to anybody.’ I felt like the youth needed to know this because of their community involvement,” said Youth and Family Services Coordinator Pamesha Robinson. The youth received six weeks of nutrition classes from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Nutrition Extension Program and will receive certificates of completion. Youth learned how to cook healthy and eat healthier. “It's not just about cooking but it's about eating healthy and living a healthy lifestyle. A lot of them are practicing what they're learning” said Pamesha. The youth participated in class by making healthy snacks and trying new foods. Youth also attended a Smoking and Vaping Succession class hosted by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Nutrition Extension Program. The class taught youth about the dangers of vaping and smoking. The instructor brought in a nonsmoking lung and smoking lung of a pig to teach the youth about the risks of smoking. Youth Activities at the SALUD Center
Seniors The South Chicago SALUD Center Seniors attended a Thanksgiving dinner in the community room donated by the Zuniga family in honor of their daughter Mia Zuniga who has autism. This is the second year the seniors receive the donated dinner. We’re Building On Saturday, November 11th, Veterans Day, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth visited South Chicago for a ceremony to pay tribute to the Veterans of the community. The ceremony was hosted in the parking lot next to the Claretian Associates' former offices, 9108 South Brandon Ave, where the Vietnam mural and memorial are located. The event honored South Chicago Veterans and the 12 servicemen, from Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, who fought and died in the Vietnam War. Claretian Associates has been in constant collaboration with the Veterans to update the Veteran mural on the 9108 South Brandon building. At the event, Senator Duckworth highlighted the importance of updating the mural. Other local officials in attendance were Illinois State Senator Robert Peters, 10th Ward Alderman Peter Chico, and 2nd District Cook County Commissioner Dennis Deer. Another event was held on Sunday, November 5th to commemorate veterans. Real Estate Project Manager Marisol Miramontes coordinated with Dave Rodriguez, whose father is a deceased veteran from South Chicago, for the memorial stone to be cleaned. “Every time Dave visits Chicago, he wants to beautify the monument,” said Marisol. Dave had not been able to clean it in the past because the monument is behind a locked gate. “He did such a beautiful job. He is a professional and he used the appropriate materials to clean it. He did such a fantastic job that you can see the reflection of the fence,” said Marisol. Claretian Associates is working with the veterans to complete the mural. They are hoping to have the political leaders that were present at the November 11th Veteran event, to fund the project. Staff Highlights City Club of Chicago Claretian Associates CEO Angela Hurlock was part of a panel for Community Violence Intervention at City Club of Chicago with Soledad Adrianzén McGrath, Research Professor at Northwestern University’s Center for Neighborhood Engaged Research & Science (CORNERS), Jesus Salazar, Senior Field Manager at the Metropolitan Peace Initiatives and moderator Vaughn Bryant, Executive Director of the Metropolitan Peace Initiatives. Angela spoke on a panel about the Metropolitan Peace Initiative decreasing violence and gun violence in the city through Communities Partnering 4 Peace (CP4P). Each speaker spoke from a different perspective such as data, grassroots, and community. Angela shared how violence intervention programs help keep the community safe. City Club of Chicago is made up of the business community of Chicago. This discussion can shine a light on the work of community violence intervention to individuals who might not know of it. “I think that it’s very important to have these discussions so that people can know what’s happening and how they can become involved. I think there is a place for the business community as well,” said Angela. The panel discussed how businesses can engage with neighborhood organizations to work with the initiative of keeping Chicago safe. Claretian Associates is one of 20 organizations that partner with Metropolitan Peace Initiative. “It was an honor to represent all those organizations and represent the work we do collaboratively,” said Angela. Events Pre-Winter Meet and Greet Join Claretian Associates for a Pre-Winter Meet and Greet at South Chicago Peoples Park located at 3257 East 91st Street. Meet new people and enjoy hot chocolate and snacks. For more information contact Real Estate Project Manager Marisol Miramontes at marisolm@claretianassociates.org |
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