|
Erie Neighborhood House
-By jennifer kucich
While West Town has undergone much
change over the years as much of Chicago has, Erie Neighborhood
House has been standing strong for over 130 years. Established
in 1870, Erie House developed into one of the first comprehensive
social services agencies in Chicago. Since then, they have worked
with and motivated Chicago low-income families and immigrant residents
to reach their fullest potential through a wide array of services
tailored especially to meet their challenges and aspirations.
Erie Neighborhood House is truly a Chicago institution.
The mission of Erie is to promote
a just and inclusive society by strengthening low-income, primarily
Latino, families through skill building, access to critical resources,
advocacy, and collaborative action.
Erie Neighborhood House operates
from two sites and offers child care, a youth options program,
adult education, a technology center and emergency services. Erie
Neighborhood House provides affordable, high quality childcare
for low-income minority families in the Chicago metropolitan area.
The Preschool programs offers nationally
accredited full-day care to 179 toddlers and preschool children,
ages 2 to 5, that is child centered and culturally appropriate.
Located in a beautiful ten-classroom
facility, Erie's preschool features hands-on activities, expressive
arts, literacy development, indoor and outdoor exercise as well
as regular field trips.
Erie also offers the city's largest
single site state pre-kindergarten program as well as a nationally
accredited School-Age program that serves 5- to- 12 year- old
children after school and all day during the summer and holidays.
The School-Age Program features the Partners for Reading initiative
designed to improve children's reading skills, forge new relationships
between parents and teachers, and increases parental roles in
literary building.
"I improved my reading. I might
just be a great reader when I grow up. I might have a library
with a reading corner for an area for kids," says Yaritza R.,
a 9-year old student who began at Erie's Daycare program at the
age of 2.
Yaritza's mother Ruth is very proud
of her daughter's improvement in reading. "She helps me with the
words sometimes. I don't speak English very well and sometimes
she'll correct me and say "'No mommy.'" "It's frustrating but
it's good for her." says Ruth. "She did really well in the program.
It helped her a lot."
Erie's Youth Option Program consists
of mentoring, personal development and recreational opportunities
for at-risk teens. The program offers structured and unstructured
activities that encourage teens to create positive futures.
Aside from programs such as DIVAS,
Life Skills and Leadership for Young Women, and Adventures in
Media Production, Erie's TEAM (Tutoring to Educate for Aims and
Motivation) program provides a comprehensive academic support
system that promotes the educational and personal advancement
of high school students in their current studies and the pursuit
of post-secondary education. Through TEAM, Erie has achieved a
98% college placement rate for participants and has awarded over
$400,000 in scholarships to community youth.
Erie's Adult Education program
is the largest program serving 1, 500 adults annually. Courses
range from Financial Industry Training to Citizen and Immigration
Resources which assists individuals in completing N-400 applications
amongst others services. Erie also offers ESL classes, GED preparation,
Workers Right Education and Jobstart.
Yolanda B., 26, is an Adult Education
student that has lived in the United States since 1986. She took
citizen classes and became a citizen in April 2001 and feels that
Erie truly helped her pass the test.
"It is very important to me that
Erie House gave me the opportunity to study because I didn't know
how to read or write in English. So, here listening to it and
reading it helped me to pass the exam in English," says Yolanda
who is currently taking Technology Literacy classes.
Finally, Erie's award winning Technology
Center offers integrated technology curricula for all programs,
computer literacy classes and open community access six days a
week.
Now, after reading about all the
great programs at Erie Neighborhood House, you may be asking yourself
how you can get involved. Erie is always looking for volunteers.
Volunteer opportunities range from flexible hours tutoring adult
ESL and GED students or conducting mock job interviews to an academic
year commitment mentoring high school students on Wednesday evenings.
Erie Neighborhood House annually
assists over 4,000 participants in creating better lives for themselves
and their families, while at the same time strengthening their
community and civic awareness. For more information, contact the
Development and Communications department by phone (312-563-5800)
or email (inquire@eriehouse.org).
Homepage
|
