Enlace Chicago is dedicated to making a positive difference in the lives of the residents of the Little

Village Community by fostering a physically safe and healthy environment in which to live and by

championing opportunities for educational advancement and economic development.

From the Director’s Desk

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Since 1998, Enlace Chicago has built a reputation as an effective organization dedicated to improving the quality of life of Little Vil-lage residents. Much of this success is due to current and previous Board of Directors, staff, community partnerships and to our found-ing Executive Director, Jesus „Chuy‟ Garcia. Our four divisions, Community Enrichment, Economic Development, Education, and Violence Prevention continue to lead the region with successful community engagement and empowerment. Enlace remembers our past while embracing our new beginning. Enlace Chicago has a renewed energy and passion. Our Board of Directors, partners, community leaders, staff, Padrinos committee, and Legacy Council have been uncompromising in their commit-ment to move the organization forward. In carrying on our tradition of excellence, Enlace introduces new leadership and several new programs and initiatives. In order to create a formalized base and quantify our power as a community and organization, Enlace will become a membership institution. Residents and invested community members will have the opportunity to become official members of Enlace Chicago, helping to set our policy agenda and organizational direction. On March 19, 2011 we will convene our inaugural membership convention with the goal of 300 members.

tion, and sports-based youth development programs Youth/Education

SILVER Skate Plaza: continue to develop new elements of the plaza, such as ramps and rails, and to grow the SILVER youth group as an organization

College readiness and assistance for undocumented students: through our education department and partners,

increase resources, develop networks, and create pro-grams for undocumented students trying to go to college regardless of the passing of the DREAM Act

Center for art & music: develop a center for community art programs, cultural events, and classes on a variety of art mediums

Enlace Chicago is proud to forge ahead with partners and residents to achieve these projects for a better Little Village! Please help us achieve these goals by getting involved. If you have any questions or would like to learn more about these projects, please contact Jaime de León at jdeleon@enlacechicago.org, or (773) 542-9233 ext. 19.

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Enlace By the Numbers

Tel (773) 542-9233 | Fax (773) 542-9241 | www.enlacechicago.org

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2010 arrived with much uncertainty in the air. The economic recession was going full throttle, the State of Illinois continued to face a mounting budget deficit, and the City of Chicago faced its own budget crisis. If that wasn‟t bad enough, the philanthropic community began to scale back some of its giving. Yes, Enlace Chicago faced great economic challenges on top of leadership changes heading into the New Year. 2010 saw the departure of Enlace Chicago‟s Acting Chief Executive Officer and a nationwide search for a new Executive Director was begun. To no great surprise to the search committee, the best candidates came directly from within the organization. It was with much pride and excitement that Michael D. Rodriguez, former Director of Violence Prevention, was named the new Executive Director of Enlace Chicago last spring. Mike hit the ground running, having inherited a challenging budget situation and a number of staff changes. Thanks to Mike‟s already intimate knowledge of the organization, he was able to lift the morale of the staff as they continued their hard work and dedication to the Little Village, South Lawndale community. It is this unique combination of leadership and dedication that make Enlace Chicago a pioneer organization in the community. Enlace Chicago‟s staff continues to be a young, extremely energetic group of people who work selflessly for our community. I am proud to be a life-long resident of Little Village and to be involved with such tremendous and dedicated people. Enlace Chicago‟s impact goes beyond our neighborhood, beyond our city and is carried by everyone of our “enlaceros.” Our name, “Enlace”, embodies our purpose: to link people and resources together to build a stronger neighborhood, block by block, and, therefore, a stronger city. None of this would be possible without the passion of the staff and the support of the local community, business groups and corporate and private individuals. Thank you to all for your continued support of the work of Enlace Chicago!

2011: A New Beginning

Maurice A. Sone - Board Chair

Partnerships with 10 Little Village schools, directly engaging over 4,000 youth and their families

Over $500,000 in project support and organizational capacity-building for Little Village organizations

Collaboration with 26 institutions to prevent and reduce violence in the community

Serving 200 youth each year through Bball on the Block

200 job placements in Little Village through Put Illinois to Work Program

Ongoing support and advocacy services with over 260 at-risk youth

Over 100 businesses served in our Local Industrial Retention Initiative

100 families assisted via our Housing Resource Center

Over 200 individuals mobilized to develop 3 new pocket parks in Little Village

Winter 2011

Michael D. Rodríguez - Executive Director

Tel (773) 542-9233 | Fax (773) 542-9241 | www.enlacechicago.org

The Dream of a Youth My name is Zulema Mijangos and I am 18 years old. I was born in Veracruz, Mexico, but was raised in the United States. I recently graduated from Little Village Lawndale High School and I am now attending Northeastern Illinois University. My main goal for the future is to accomplish a career in education and to assist children in my community. I believe obtaining a higher education is essential to my life and I work hard for this. I know it will make my parents proud of me and I see it as a way to complement their hard work and dedica-tion. Sadly, this is not easy to accomplish because I am at a disad-vantage; I am an undocumented student. My dream of becoming a teacher sometimes seems to deteriorate because of the inequality that society projects towards Latinos, especially undocumented people. When I was 5 years old, living in Veracruz, I was told that Dad had to take a long trip. At that time I was not aware of where he was headed, but my parents said it was for the best. I still remember standing beside my mom, saying goodbye to my dad as he gave me one last hug. “Te portas bien con tu mamá, mija. Pronto regresaré,” was the last thing he said. My dad, like many people that come to the United States illegally, came to seek the job opportunities that his country could not provide. Like many others, his intentions were not to stay, but to return to his land once he had saved enough money to lead a comfortable life with his family. A year passed and he had not returned; life in the States was much more difficult than he had anticipated. At 6 years old, we became reunited with my dad in Chicago. Although it was a very exciting moment, I did not understand the choices being made on my behalf. Being an undocumented student is not easy. It is full of struggles and disappointments. Being told that there was only a slight chance to pursue an education was upsetting. I didn‟t know if I was going to be able to pay for college. Despite these setbacks, I was able to graduate from high school with a 3.7 GPA, ranked number 5 in my class, and was inducted to the National Honor Society. I also participated in many programs in school and in my community through Enlace Chicago. These programs, which included digital photography and legal clinic after-school programs, a summer mural/mosaic art pro-gram, and long-term internships working in education, have helped me acquire skills like team work, networking, and community organizing. Enlace Chicago has pushed me to become more invested in my community and to take a stand on the issues that matter to us. When I started applying to universities the tuitions seemed impossible for me to cover. How could I accomplish a goal that I couldn‟t afford? I never doubted my courage to reach my dreams, so I looked at different options. Finally, I qualified for a scholarship that would pay for summer courses and my first semester at NEIU. Through relationships I made at Enlace Chicago‟s DREAM Act Night, I found scholarships that would finance my Associates Degree. I am already working on a plan to obtain my four-year degree, but there is still a lot of work ahead. People and groups that fight for immigrants rights and have given me their support, give me hope to keep my dream, and the dream of many, from fading.

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Another highly anticipated program comes from a partnership with the Chicago Architectural Foundation (CAF). Our partner-ship with CAF brings openhouse chicago 2011 to Little Village on October 14-16, where we expect 100,000 participants across the city. As a leading entity in the Little Village community, the largest concentration of Mexican Americans in the Midwest, Enlace leadership has begun expanding our efforts around immigration reform. We will organize undocumented students and their allies in Little Village to work in collaboration with other organizations to create a more just nation for some of our hardest workers. Lastly, Enlace Chicago as a member of UCCRO, the United Congress of Community and Religious Organizations, will

As we begin to emerge from some of our nation‟s most turbulent financial times, Enlace Chicago remains dedicated to the promotion of sustainable and progressive economic devel-opment initiatives in Little Village. Rooted in the retention and support of our existing businesses and job opportunities, our programming seeks to nurture those with historical roots in our community while incubating new ideas that will focus on improving the quality of life for Little Village residents. Thoughtful investment by community-minded individuals and organizations is critical to maintaining the vision of La Villita as the Capital of the Mexican Midwest. Strong economic opportu-nity and job creation are paramount to the success of any community, and our Economic Development Department lays a foundation for this through a variety of resources. Some-times this manifests itself in our diverse set of housing counseling services, which focus on stabilizing families for the long term, and other times it is presented with exceptional opportunities to showcase our community, like an exciting event taking place over the weekend of October 14-16 called openhousechicago 2011 (OHC 2011).

Nearly twenty years ago, the openhouse concept was conceived as a way to provide free, public, large-scale experi-ences by providing access to spaces that would not normally be accessible to the everyday individual. Now an internationally acclaimed event, this concept moves to four Chicago communities, including Little Village. Presented by the Chicago Architecture Foundation (CAF), OHC 2011 will build on this legacy by featuring over 100 great spaces and places across the city. Enlace Chicago is excited to serve as a partner organization in these efforts and has been working diligently with the CAF to identify places across Little Village that are illustrative of our neighborhood‟s past, present and future. The criterion for selection is straightforward. These sites must be significant to the neighborhood, either architecturally, historically, economi-cally or have an impactful community story. And, of course, they must be interesting. Be sure to make plans now to receive your own “backstage pass” to some of the neighborhood‟s greatest hits!

Adrián Esquivel - Economic Development Director

Several years ago, Enlace Chicago brought together residents, schools, businesses and organizations to develop a five-year quality-of-life plan. That plan consisted of 8 different strategies that included: increasing green space, expanding educational opportunities, maintaining affordable housing, and expanding recreational opportunities and social services for youth and families. Over 5 years later, Enlace Chicago, Little Village resi-dents, and community partners have many accomplishments to celebrate! Some of the goals we reached were:

A new skate plaza

5 years of Bball on the Block, a youth recreational program

A health center inside Little Village Lawndale High School

A computer lab in New Life Community Church

A mural at Project Vida designed by community members

The Chicago Youth Boxing Club, and

A new gym at La Villita Community Church

Yet there is still much work to be done. Recently, Little Village groups and residents came together in a series of meetings to develop priority projects under issue areas that they identified as most pressing for our community. The community‟s input at those meetings will help to shape Enlace‟s work over the next 3-5 years. Meeting participants created a list of priorities and projects via group discussion and a voting mechanism: Community Stability/Economic Development

Immigration reform organizing: work for comprehensive immi-gration reform to help stabilize the community‟s mobility and opportunities for livable wage employment; partner with regional and national coalitions; provide know-your-rights training; develop leaders on the issue

Gang violence reduction through mentorship: expand mentor-ship programs targeted at gang-affiliated youth to help reduce gang membership and violence

Job creation: work with partners to increase employment opportunities, especially “green jobs” for youth

Health & Wellness

Gymnasium at New Life Community Church: transform existing sanctuary—when not in use—into a gymnasium for community and youth recreational programs

Farmers markets: connect the new Latino food network (a network of food shelters) to urban agricultural programs, specifically to Enlace pocket parks, and hold consistent farmers markets in collaboration

Better blocks: through the Active Transportation Alliance, work with specific blocks and block leaders to improve infrastructure and address any identified transit issues

Turf soccer field: develop a turf soccer field on 31st & Lawndale

St. Anthony Hospital & park: develop a new hospital branch and park on 31st & Kedzie

Little Village Sports Network: develop a network of organiza-tions that provide support, technical assistance, informa-

Jaime De León - New Communities Program Director

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Community Enrichment

“Enlace embodies our purpose: to link people and resources together to build a stronger neighborhood, block by block, and, therefore, a stronger city.”

“Enlace Chicago has pushed me to become more invested in my community and to take a stand on the issues that matter to us.”

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become active in fighting for fair representation in the upcoming redistricting process. While the State of Illinois will lose a Congressional seat, the growth in the Latino community over the last decade and the steady population of the African-American community will lead UCCRO members to come together to fight for fair representa-tion of the two communities. As you can see, there is much more on the horizon for Enlace. We thank you for your continued partnership as we embrace a new beginning and look forward to the many great victories to come!

openhousechicago 2011