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.
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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 UNITY Squad The UNITY Squad participants started a nutrition class with the University of Illinois. Youth are learning how to cook and prepare healthy snacks. They will participate in cooking classes and receive hands-on instruction from a nutrition instructor. In partnership with SkyArt, youth from both organizations are creating colleges on the duality of the mind, an activity where youth think about where they are presently and their future.
Beautification of Green Spaces During the month of September, Claretian Associates hosted a beautification event at South Chicago Peoples Park. NeighborSpace and Chicago Cares coordinated the event with 25 other volunteers. Tall grasses and plants like hibiscus, purple mint flowers, and more perennials were planted. Learn more about the beautification event here. Peoples Park received a trash cleanup as well. On a separate day, Greencorps Chicago contributed to the beautification of the park. Greencorps Chicago removed weeds, trimmed trees and bushes, and mowed the lawn. The beautification also involved cleaning up Pocket Park, a playground located at 3253 E. 91st Street. City Civics Day Are you a neighborhood leader? The Chicago Department of Housing is hosting City Civics Day, for neighborhood leaders to be more effective and be a bigger part of the decision-making process for local or citywide improvements. Learn more about City Civics Day and register here. Seniors Oak Street Health hosted a bingo day for the seniors and provided a presentation on health care. The South Chicago SALUD Center seniors will have an annual Thanksgiving dinner provided by the Zuniga Family. Last year the Zuniga Family started the tradition of hosting a Thanksgiving dinner for the seniors, in honor of their daughter Mia who has autism. Community Thanksgiving Dinner Claretian Associates will host a Community Thanksgiving Dinner on Thursday, November 16 at the SALUD Center. A delicious meal of turkey, stuffing and other traditional sides will be served. The event is free, and all families are welcome. For more information contact Wendy Steward at wendys@claretianassociates.org Peloton Leaderboard Awards Claretian Associates attended the Peloton on Tour, a new community celebration taking place in five cities and three countries. The event was an opportunity to celebrate the Chicago community and present the Leaderboard Awards. Chief Of Programs Tevonne Ellis was nominated and awarded as a Peloton Leaderboard Leader. Tevonne was nominated through Peloton, and Tevonne recognized because of her leadership role in navigating Claretian’s relationship with Peloton. The award was unexpected, as Tevonne thought it was for the organization and their work with health and wellness. “I was surprised when I was nominated to be a Leaderboard Leader. I was very appreciative of the opportunity to represent, not only our organization but Peloton,” said Tevonne. Tevonne was a spin instructor at the YMCA in Boston, Massachusetts. “It's an accomplishment for me because of my history as a spin instructor. Aligning my passion with work,” Tevonne. Tevonne owns a Peloton Spin Bike and is an active member of the Peloton Community. In 2022, through a partnership with LISC Chicago, Claretian Associates was a recipient of Peloton equipment. Claretian Associates was the only nonprofit in the United States to be selected for the donation of equipment. “The greatest thing is having access to work out on this quality equipment. A lot of families in our area probably would not be able to own a Peloton. This adds to the top-of-the-line equipment that is available in the SALUD Fitness Center” said CEO Angela Hurlock. New Real Estate Project Manager Claretian Associates welcomes Marisol Miramontes as Real Estate Project Manager. “I’m excited to be back in the community where I grew up and give back where I was born and raised,” said Marisol. As real estate project manager, Marisol will be overseeing building and community planned projects. Among the many real estate projects Marisol will be working on New Homes for Chicago, the development of SACRED (Sustainable Affordable Commercial Development), and renovations of the senior apartments from Villa Guadalupe. For the last 20 years, Marisol worked in the non-for-profit sector in community development. Marisol worked for Spanish Coalition for Housing, Resurrection Project, CEDA, Catholic Charities, and other community development organizations. Marisol has a Bachelor's in Business and a Master's in Urban Planning from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). Marisol’s interest in urban planning and architecture was inspired by Daniel Burnham, and traveling nationally and internationally. Other inspirations for Marisol were different metropolitan areas, especially the Chicago Skyline. “It's amazing to me how things evolve. I like evolution, growth, and seeing the development and construction,” said Marisol. Marisol looks forward to working on the different projects. “I want my children to see things and say, ‘My mom was a part of that project,’” said Marisol. Latino Policy Forum Graduation Our Youth and Family Service Coordinator Pamesha Robinson graduated from Latino Policy Forum, Multicultural Leadership Academy (MLA) 2023 Cohort. Pamesha is the instructor for the UNITY Squad afterschool program, leads digital literacy classes, and most recently is a facilitator for Girls Who Code. Pamesha applied for the MLA program and was selected to be a civic leader. “I wanted to get a deeper understanding of the word, leadership. Learning about myself helped me to be a better coworker, mentor, and even a better mother. Being a part of this cohort helped me to understand where I can add value and how to work on my leadership skills,” said Pamesha. During the six months, Pamesha attended three retreats to learn leadership, social and emotional skills, team building, and more. “We learned about ourselves and how to become the better version of ourselves. It was a great experience,” said Pamesha. In MLA, Pamesha was a part of the restorative justice group. Pamesha and her group assisted with changing Bill 2073 in Congress. The change to the bill was to assist youth with retroactive sentences. It would allow youth to get out of jail earlier as opposed to having the duration of a life sentence. “What happens with youth that have life sentences? said Pamesha. The restorative justice group met with state senators and gave their input for the bill. The MLA 2023 Cohort created a new tradition called, Passing of the Beads. During the first retreat, the cohort selected an individual who made everybody feel like family and understood leadership. Pamesha was one of the recipients of the Passing of the Beads. “It showed my growth in the program and what other people saw in me,” said Pamesha. After graduation, the beads were left with MLA for the next cohort. Pamesha was celebrated by her colleagues, family, and the youth from the UNITY Squad. Pamesha always encourages the youth to take opportunities and grow in their education. Pamaesha is the third staff member from Claretian Associates to graduate from Latino Policy Forum MLA. Fitness Center Haven’t signed up for a SALUD Fitness Center Membership yet? Sign up for our $14.99 monthly membership. Join the fitness center to have access to the weight and cardio room that includes Peloton spin bikes. Our expert fitness trainer is there to assist your new healthy lifestyle. For information contact us at fitnesscenter@claretianassociates.org Chair Yoga The South Chicago Neighborhood Network will offer the last Chair Yoga class on Saturday November 4th at the SALUD Center from 11:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. Chair. Register here. For more information contact Program Manager Tiarra Owens at tiarrao@claretianassociates.org |
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