Community Building

Black/Latino Working Groups Initiative 
Although Blacks and Latinos share interests around issues of employment and training, land use and gentrification, education and culture, research finds the two groups often pitted against each other in business, neighborhood and institutional arenas. A review of the professional and academic literature on Black/Latino collaboration reveals limited success centered more on political issues than social and economic development. Yet, Chicago has witnessed successful collaboration on tangible community projects benefiting both populations in neighborhoods where Blacks and Latinos live in close proximity. Building on our existing ties and work with community-based organizations, we have begun to shape, working groups of Black and Latino residents in three areas of Chicago - Humboldt Park on the Northwest Side, Chicago Lawn on the South Side, and North and South Lawndale on the West Side - where we hope to see joint community projects developed to address mutual issues.

With support from Chicago Community Trust, the Egan Center’s Office of Neighborhood and Community Partnerships has begun facilitating a series of structured dialogues involving Black and Latino leaders, including block clubs and community-based organizations, on community development issues affecting the constituencies of Humboldt Park, Chicago Lawn, and North and South Lawndale. The goal of these interactions is to foster the development and undertaking of joint, concrete economic or community development projects, around affordable housing, a food co-op or a credit union, perhaps. 
   
Dropping Knowledge 
Dropping knowledge encourages social change. Using advanced web technologies, the initiative with offices in Berlin, Germany and now Chicago, IL, USA links the voices of individuals and organizations. The web-platform enables the global public to ask and answer questions, exchange ideas, and start initiatives around the most pressing issues of our time. dropping knowledge employs a variety of highly democratic and participatory methods to enable the exchange of voices and ideas. The model provides a conceptual framework as well as a step-by-step process for advancing dialogue that has been historically ignored, this concept is called “designing for the margins”. The EUC has partnered with dropping knowledge to help launch a local campaign in the City if Chicago this fall. The campaign is called Shaping America’s Agenda and will begin and will move to other cities in the United States in the build-up to the 2008 Presidential election and beyond. The campaign will roll out in five phases. Events will include community and citywide Question Campaigns in key cities in America and Regional Table of Free Voices events that bring together the most pressing questions and participants from key cities. Chicago maintains a unique and rich history of grassroots and community organizing. This compelling and deep history provides a unique opportunity for the dropping knowledge method to serve as a tool to further ongoing community development activities in the city. 
    
Englewood Community Cultural Planning Council Partnership 
Englewood Community Cultural Planning Council (ECCPC) is a partnership of residents, artists, organizations, businesses and institutions which represent and serve the communities of Englewood and West Englewood on Chicago’s southside.

ECCPC envisions a community alive with creativity, where the cultures of Africa and the Diaspora shape core values and relations with neighbors, where residents and leaders are engaged in dialogue, are able to access resources, and are empowered to collectively solve community problems. Through arts-making, presentation and celebration, the ECCPC teaches African culture and values to youth and all Englewood residents. The Council uses arts-based projects to heighten awareness, address community issues and improve the quality of life in areas of health, jobs and job training, education, the environment, and neighborhood safety and peace. In the course of creating artistic vehicles to address community needs, the Council develops community social capital, unifying networks, liberating resources and building human capacity.

The Egan Center helps to facilitate this community building process along with residents from the Englewood community. 
    
Positive Youth Development to Community Leadership  
Egan is assisting Centers for New Horizons in Bronzeville to help the youth to leade and build power for change by infusing culturally grounded organizing principles, methods, and actions into its Youth Development Programs. 
    
West Humboldt Park Development Project - U.S. Department of Education Project 
Universal access to technology has become a critical issue in the ongoing discussion about sustainable community development, underscoring the need for creative solutions to narrow the "Digital Divide." The West Humboldt Park Community Technology Centers (WHPCTC) Project was designed to offer residents of West Humboldt Park long-term remedies that will even the playing field and bridge this digital divide.

In May 2000, the U.S. Department of Education awarded the Egan Urban Center $1.4 million to expand the capacity of the existing technology centers in Greater Humboldt Park to serve more community residents and create a community database that will maximize opportunities for community residents to gain access to computer technology and share information. The project will also enhance community capacity through leadership training in computer applications, systems support and maintenance and will help project participants find jobs in technology-related industries.