Bringing a baby home is one of the most exciting and joyous times in a parent’s life. But it also comes with a lot of challenges and questions, ones that continue as children and families grow: How much should my baby eat? When will my baby sleep through the night and why is my baby crying? What immunizations does my pre-schooler need and how much screen time is too much for my teen?
Oakton Community College formally dedicated its new 2,900-square-foot cannabis cultivation facility as the PharmaCann Cannabis Cultivation Lab during a ceremony held recently with college officials, PharmaCann representatives and community leaders in attendance. The recently opened facility and the new PharmaCann Scholarship for Cannabis Education were funded through a $600,000 PharmaCann donation.
Landmarks Illinois is now accepting nominations for the 2022 Landmarks Illinois Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation Awards. Nominations for the annual awards program are due June 1, and can be submitted using Landmarks Illinois’ online nomination form.
The U.S. Department of Education is continuing to take action to support and invest in the teaching profession and address the teacher shortage many schools and districts across the country face. The Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) grant program is now accepting applications for efforts that increase the pipeline of highly effective educators.
The Chicago Department of Housing (DOH) and the University of Chicago Crown Family School for Social Work, Policy and Practice announced a new partnership to examine how city governments around the world are using housing policies to promote wealth building in communities that are majority people of color. This research will inform the department and others on what governments are doing to address and reverse
decades of disinvestment and predatory housing practices that have prevented communities of color from building generational wealth through homeownership.
WorkingNation,
a nonprofit news
organization reporting
on the future
of work, today
released “Green
Jobs Now: Illinois”
– multimedia
reports and original
data showing how
green jobs affect Illinois’
economy and
how upskilling the
workforce in green
ways could drive
economic growth.
Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot, Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) Commissioner Gia Biagi, and Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection (BACP) Commissioner Kenneth J. Meyer announced the selection of three companies to operate shared scooter programs across the city, with 3,000 scooters starting operations later this spring. In addition, the Divvy bike-share system will add 1,000 scooters, creating the first docked bike and scooter system in the nation. All enhancements are anticipated to launch in early May 2022.
Community Desk Chicago distributed three community organizations a portion of $2.7 million to help them build capacity to do development projects on the local level. South Shore Chamber of Commerce Community Development Corporation, Teamwork Englewood and Puerto Rican Cultural Center are the recipients of the money from The Neighborhood Initiative (NDI).
Hazel Johnson was an environmental activist who lived in Altgeld Gardens on the city’s south side. In 1979, she founded the People for Community Recovery. A New Orleans native, she fought environmental racism and is considered the Mother of the Environmental Justice Movement.
David Moore, 17th Ward Alderman, announced his intention to run for Illinois Secretary of State in 2021. Since then, Moore has been connecting with people across the state of Illinois to gain support for his campaign.
The People’s Music School provides free music instruction at four different sites in Chicago. The main site is located in the Uptown area. The program reaches about 750 young people, in grades K-12, mostly in after school programs, but it also has programs that supports teachers in the Chicago Public Schools to enhance music education.
Illinois State Representative Bob Rita, D-Dist. 28, introduced legislation at the end of January that would make 127th Street safer. Now, the legislation has passed and is set to be signed by Governor J.B. Pritzker.
Agilda Dema understands that environmental circumstances factor into a person's health. When she was deciding a preferred career path, she wanted hands-on training and an opportunity to think and treat patients as a whole.
Justice is a verb, an action word, and as such we must take action to remove racial bias and racial profiling in our justice system. In our criminal justice system, we must engage and expand new methodologies such as restorative justice, adult and juvenile redeploy, pretrial fairness and programs that restore, reinvest, and renew our communities, while protecting our communities.
“The SBA’s Equity Action Plan reaffirms our agency-wide commitment to breaking down longstanding barriers to ensure underserved entrepreneurs can access the capital, networks, resources, and opportunity they need to realize their American dream of business ownership,” said Administrator Guzman.