The Chatham Education and Workforce Center
Chatham Rising Video Presentation: The Story of The Chatham Education and Workforce Center
January 19, 2021 Live Virtual Opening Event
Community Leader Grand Opening Panel
In memory of Dr.Betty Jean Howard
The History of the Center
Chatham has long been an iconic African American community in Chicago, where professionals, middle- and working-class families live and work. It boasts strong local institutions, a stable housing market and vibrant commercial centers that value and support local entrepreneurship.
When Dr. Betty Howard, the beloved head of the special education department at Gwendolyn Brooks College Preparatory Academy, was killed by random gunfire in Chatham in May 2014, Congressman Bobby Rush (D, IL-1) led an effort to revitalize local communities gripped by violence. The Chatham Education and Workforce Center (Center) is one of many initiatives to evolve from that work. The Center is located just blocks from the site where Dr. Howard lost her life.
The Chatham Education and Workforce Center is located at 640 East 79th Street. The 11,000-square-foot Center was conceptualized by The Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership (The Partnership), which operates the public workforce system in the City of Chicago and Cook County, and its former CEO Karin M. Norington-Reaves. It truly lives up to its name as a place for education and occupational advancement.
The design/build services for the project were provided by GMA Construction Group and Onyx Architectural Services Inc.
The Future of the Center
The first floor is home to office, classroom/group meeting spaces and a state-of-the art manufacturing classroom/Maker Lab where instruction will be provided by the Jane Addams Resource Corporation (JARC), and Richard J. Daley College, one of the City Colleges of Chicago. Courses offered in the Lab will include blueprint reading, introduction to electrical circuitry, Computer Aided Design (CAD) and metrology (the science of measurement) – an important aspect of advanced manufacturing.
The second floor boasts a career center, computer lab/resource room and a large, sun-soaked multi-purpose room with capacity for more than 100 people for hiring events or community gatherings. The room can be subdivided into two or three classrooms as well.
The Greater Chatham Initiative (GCI), will call the Center home. Launched in June 2016, GCI, a non-profit organization, performs the role of a local anchor institution—by coordinating, planning and fundraising for key synergistic community initiatives. It drives and links comprehensive neighborhood and economic growth.
The Partnership has collaborated with more than 2,000 employers and placed more than 70,000 people in jobs since its inception. The Partnership plans to collaborate with local high schools to facilitate student exposure to and exploration of the region’s high-demand careers in sectors including manufacturing, information technology, the skilled trades and more.
- For information about the Career Center
Site Program Assistant Evelyn Spigner, espigner@kra.com
773-493-4624
- For WIOA Program Orientation Chatham-Workforce@kra.com
Career Services at the Center
All services provided at the Center are offered free of charge. The Center will schedule weekend hours to facilitate community use and access.
- Skilled Trades training (Construction Works Powered by the Illinois Tollway)
- Digital Literacy training
- Manufacturing training
- Chicago Housing Authority resident training program
- Classroom/group meeting spaces
Through Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) federal funding from the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership, the Career Center offers services for job seekers and businesses including:
- Resume preparation
- Skills assessment
- Occupational training
- Candidate screening and referrals
- Job placement
The Chatham Education and Workforce Center offers services to special populations such as individuals with disabilities, older workers, ex-offenders, people experiencing homelessness, and veterans. The Partnership selected KRA Corporation, a nationally-known African-American owned workforce development organization, to provide high caliber career services to the greater Chatham communities.
