Helping Chicago Urban Communities Create Empowerment Opportunities

PO Box 267926

Chicago, IL 60626

773-262-0760

For more information please email us.

Analysis

Analysis
Great measure will be taken to make sure that services and programs match the need and community profile determined in the market analysis. We will strive to meet the balance of addressing large segments of individuals within the community realizing that we will never market to all the segments of the community. Rogers Park, Chicago is the first community in Chicago to be targeted.


		Rogers Park landmass is approximately	1.8 square miles
		Population is	63,484
		- Percent of the city's population	2%
		- THe Non-Hispanic White population is	20,170
		- The Non-Hispanic Black or African American population is	18,767
		- The Hispanic Population is	17,639

		The median age	29.8
		The percentage of population below 25 years of age	39%
		The median household income is	$31,602 (Chicago is $38,600)
		The proportion of households under $10,000	14.2% (Chicago is 13.8%)
		The poverty rate is	21.3%

Through a convenience sample methodology and general interaction with the people of the community it was determined that criminal activity is present in great enough degrees that people feel unsafe at night and uncomfortable walking alone in the community. There are not enough youth and children's activities in the community and the services that are available are not marketed well enough for public awareness of their existence. Job training and ESL were two programs also suggested by those surveyed.

The public educational system in the Rogers Park community is below par as schools are overcrowded and without adequate supplies. Parental participation is minimal. Social agencies in the community vary in size and in conversations with many of these agencies parenting classes are in demand.

The local C.A.P.S committees determined that gang activity and drug dealing were the 2 top priorities of concern. The lack of youth programs are seen as a weakness and potential threats included adults without skills to effectively parent leading to incorrigible youth. Inter-cultural coexistence and understanding were seen as strengths. Top concerns for the 24th Police Precinct were drugs, gangs, youth and teen issues, prostitution, traffic, community participation and involvement.

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Family Empowerment Centers of Chicago exists to create opportunities for individual and family empowerment within urban communities through a wholistic and faith based approach thus renewing a hope for a better future.

It is our conviction that all people, from every nation of the world are of equal value and concern before God. It is also our conviction that although mankind is of equal value before God, often times the opportunities for empowerment and freedom are selective due to issues of systemic and personal injustices. Family Empowerment Centers will seek to bring a balance to these circumstances by creating opportunities for those who are disadvantaged in our modern society to attain empowerment and freedom.

It is also our conviction that real empowerment and freedom comes from wholistic growth. Family Empowerment Centers recognizes mankind as spiritual, physical, psychological and social beings. By coming along side individuals in a wholistic fashion we expect these individuals to have maximized opportunities of empowerment and a greater hope in the future. The element of faith in our pursuit of creating opportunities of empowerment is what sets our organization apart from others.

Family Empowerment Centers has chosen to target urban communities on the basis that these communities tend to include people from all of the nations of the world and at the same time seems to be the epicenter for injustice and inequality. In the same manner that trends move out from major metropolitan cities our organization believes that as people are empowered they too may move out from urban communities to various world destinations creating change in their environments.

Family Empowerment Centers also recognizes that the family unit is the most influential determinant in the wholistic growth of the individual. Great attention will be given to the growth of the whole family when possible. Our organization defines family as a multi-individual group of people, often times made up of a father, mother, and child, but not limited to those roles in which the group bears the relational characteristics of a family. Therefore the family could be traditional in nature, be a single parent home, be a home with no children, be a home where a significant other (i.e. grandmother, aunt, uncle) is raising the children, or a foster home situation.

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Vision

Our vision is that Family Empowerment Centers is to be a leading faith based agency in the city of Chicago having satellite locations throughout the city, and having both the influence of a powerful organization and the touch of a mother's hand whereby families and communities are wholistically transformed into "transformers".

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Family Empowerment Centers of Chicago will be taking strategic steps to establish itself as a reputable organization, running a handful of programs extremely well, and positioning itself financially in the process to develop a new site in the fourth fiscal year.

Our goals as an organization for year 2005 are focused on 4 areas:

		The Marketing of our organization in the community through positive name
		recognition and other marketing strategies

		Partnership developement which includes strategic funding

		Program development, expansion and mastery

		The deveopment of volunteers and staff

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The President of Family Empowerment Centers is responsible for the oversight of each Family Empowerment Centers location and progressively developing other site locations. In oversight of the individual centers open communication will be maintained with the Management Team of each site ensuring that the mission of the organization stays central to the day to day operations of the organization, that each location is managed well, and that each location has the resources necessary to do the job well. The Management Team is responsible for ensuring that their location is operating in line with the culture of the community and the mission of the organization. They are responsible for cultivating a work environment that values the individual and encourages input in decision making and goal setting pertinent to that persons tasks, that provides the necessary materials to accomplish ones task, and that a professional and clean working environment is established. The management team will consist of the Program Director, Director of Fund Development, Director of Family Care, Administrative Assistant, and a Community Liaison/Chaplain. Initial operations will rely heavily on unpaid staff, volunteers and interns. As progress is made in developing the organization the management team will be paid through the organization and by raising personal support dollars. All coordinators and support staff that are not volunteers or interns will be required to raise support in connection with their salary packages.

See also: Board of Directors

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Marketing
Based on the above analysis of the Rogers Park community, Family Empowerment Centers will reach out to and service those families and individuals at the core of the community that are multi-ethnic and that make below $45,000 per year in household income. Individuals and families that have more need and are willing to work towards empowerment will be given priority to services and programs. Individuals and families that have needs greater than what our organization can meet will be referred to other agencies that are better able to invest long term in these individuals.

	Name Recognition will be critical to our marketing strategy. We expect to market Family Empowerment Centers in such a way that people trust our name as an organization that makes a genuine difference in the lives of individuals, families and the health of the community. Through providing a quality program and individuals being empowered we expect that friends and family members of such individuals will want to utilize our services and be involved in our programs. We expect that individuals who benefit from our services will promote our services.

	Felt needs programming will enhance our market niche. In development of educational and empowerment classes that address various needs we will offer them on site and through secondary organizations as a form of marketing our organization. Understanding the felt needs within the community and meeting that need will draw people into our organization.

	Direct mail brochures and flyers will be distributed in the community when classes are starting up and for special events. These brochures and flyers will be developed in a culturally sensitive manner consistent with the target group for which the program is offered.
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	Executive Director: Scott Manke	Director of Family Care: Tom Csora
	scottm@familyempower.org	tom@familyempower.org
	Phone: 773-580-9478

"…Creating opportunities for individual and family empowerment…"