ONWARD NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE

1. Early Childhood Education and School-Age program
In response to the changing early childhood education ecosystem in the City of Chicago, ONH will expand the number of students served from 170 to 209. In particular, ONH will significantly expand the available slots to serve children ages 0 to 3 at our center and our home-based program. This includes hiring 7 additional teachers and creating additional classrooms on our second floor.

Each year 25% - 35% of children at Onward House have identified disabilities such as speech and developmental delay. A new report from the University of Illinois at Chicago shows that boys, Black children, and youngsters with disabilities continue to be overrepresented among children who are formally expelled from preschool programs in Illinois, as they are in national data. We have seen this reflected in our own population, where many of the children with special needs that come to Onward House have been rejected from other child care centers. ONH is seeking to add a position dedicated to support and advocacy that will help parents and children receive appropriate support

2. Hunger & Health
The Onward House Food Pantry was formerly located in a neighboring Church that closed permanently in December 2020. Onward House is currently hosting the food pantry in our adult education classrooms while we look for a permanent space. We need at least 30000 square feet, and anticipate the cost of keeping the food pantry open in a new location will add more than $3,000 per month to our current budget.
By working to increase fruit and vegetable consumption, improve diet quality, and increase food security for clients more than traditional food pantries and banks through a “client choice” model, we hope to uplift the health of the community through public health initiatives, disease prevention, and improved health outcomes.

3. Adult Education
Onward House is continuing to provide remote ESL, GED, Citizenship, and Digital Literacy Classes through the rest of 2021. We are engaged in a larger campaign to deeper understand the barriers to digital literacy that parents, students, seniors, and business owners face, and how we can further commit to closing the digital divide. Identify other modalities to provide information that meets the student's needs.

We serve families with unique, all-encompassing, quality programming that guarantees impact. For many families, education is the gateway to improved family stability and economic success. The core of our programming is culturally competent education for children and adults. In Belmont Cragin, 34 percent of residents have less than a high school education and 14,646 individuals in the community below poverty level, compared to 18% citywide. The presence of poverty in the community is reflected in those families and children we serve, 97% are below the federal poverty guidelines.

The supply and demand of child care services in the area is gravely imbalanced. Currently, only 2% of children eligible for Early Head Start and 56% of children eligible for Head Start are being served. Childhood programs at Onward provides developmentally-appropriate education for children from low-income families lacking access to child care. We provide year-round early childhood programs, after-school and summer programming. Enrolled children benefit from tutoring assistance, sports programming and opportunities to partake in cultural field trips.

Knowing that their children are safe and engaged at Onward, parents can pursue their own improved education and job advancement to support their families. We provide citizenship services, computer training, ESL and GED classes. A partnership with City Colleges opens their expanded curriculum to students in our accessible, community-focused site.

Layered on top of education programs are customized social services for families in need. A team of Family Support Workers provide a personal touch helping parents discover our services and secure referrals to trusted providers. Family Support Workers make connections and event attend appointments for mental health and domestic violence, and help those in need access to our community-based food pantry, and other basic necessities including diapers, school supplies, toys, books, and winter wear.

Belmont Cragin is home to a wide array of small, family-owned businesses representing the diversity of the community. We support entrepreneurship by helping our clients develop successful businesses. Our new Hank and Kim Marshall Center is an accessible hub for services from our business incubator.

Onward Neighborhood House has a unique, holistic approach to programs and services that caters to all individuals, while moving our community forward.

Onward Neighborhood House provides unique, all-encompassing and impactful programs with dedicated, passionate, and attentive staff in an accessible location for members of the Belmont Cragin community.

Onward Neighborhood House is conveniently located for program participants in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood as well as individuals who live in surrounding nearby neighborhoods. In 2008, Onward moved to better serve the community in need in the Belmont Cragin area.
Onward's facilities and programs themselves are also accessible for participants of any age or ability. Part of this is Onward's bilingual and multicultural staff, ensuring that participants are comfortable and can maintain their cultural identities while learning.

Onward identifies unmet needs in the community and builds unique programming around those needs. Further, these programs nurture long-term relationships and sustainability among participants for ongoing success.

Because Onward Neighborhood House understands that some communities and individuals have different barriers to success, the Onward Neighborhood House staff offer a personal touch to all services to better serve each unique participant.

2020 – 2021 Program Report:
Youth Services
• In September, we continued to provide full-day programming for 47 of 58 of our School Age program students who are engaged in CPS remote learning. As the Chicago Public School system began to open up, almost all families chose to stay full-day at Onward House.
• We have partnered with Lurie’s Children’s Hospital to provide physicals and immunizations to families on site at Belmont Cragin in order to save parents an extra trip to the doctor.
• We worked with a Remote Learning Specialist to assess and improve our remote learning platform for the Early Childhood Education and School Age program. We set up a Google Education Workspace to gather all learning tools in one easily accessible space. This will allow Onward House to continue remote learning and meet the needs of children who may have extended absences.
Hunger and Health
• We increased our food distribution, jumping from 58,559lbs to over 160,851 lbs of food in 2020. In addition to food, the food pantry distributed diapers, baby food, masks, and sanitizer. Onward House plans to move to a new location by January 2022.
• Onward House became much more involved in the area of health and safety through distribution of PPE, and over 300 phone calls to set up vaccination appointments for vulnerable community members.
• In April, CommunityHealth, the largest free clinic in the county, opened a tele-health site at ONH to increase healthcare access and reduce the transportation barrier for uninsured residents in the area.
Adult Education
• Through partial funding with the Illinois Department of Human Services, Onward House became an Illinois Welcoming Center (IWC) to provide a comprehensive services center for the integration of immigrants and refugees in Illinois. The Welcoming Center's innovative model eliminates systemic barriers that immigrants may have in approaching state services. Through this program we offered: 25 workshops, assisted 253 individuals with case management services, including 48 individuals needing crisis intervention, and provided 781 referrals to partner organizations providing services not directly offered by Onward House for employment, domestic violence, and monetary relief funds.

• In total, we had 634 students enrolled in our adult education classes including: ESL, GED, GED Spanish, Basic Computer, Advanced Computer, and Citizenship. 13 students became naturalized citizens in 2020/2021.

• The digital divide among certain communities is still a barrier limiting people’s access to information, learning, resources and a better economic future. There is an issue of access to computers and internet service and technology training. Two populations Onward House was deeply involved with have been parents and small local businesses. We have provided over 50 free Chromebooks or laptops and provided numerous classes, workshops, and one-on-one support to those who need it.