Auburn Gresham Reconnection Hub

Published: December 8, 2017

Reconnection Hub Summary

Underway is work to launch community-based “Reconnection Hubs” to help '"opportunity youth (OY)" better navigate resources available to them locally, in their communities. These Hub services will be provided from one centralized location, with the support of dedicated case managers and committed referral partners.

The proposed Reconnection Hubs will serve as a “one-stop shop” where OY can come in, get continuous support from a caring adult, and be connected to partner providers to address all their needs. Rather than simply informing OY of services available to them, case managers at the Reconnection Hubs and partnering community-based organizations will be connected by a closed loop referral platform to ensure that youth are warmly connected to each service. Case managers will provide ongoing to support to youth for at least twelve months to ensure that youth successfully reconnect to school or work. Importantly, the Reconnection Hubs will be youth-friendly spaces, designed in partnership with the community.

Reconnection Hub High Level Requirements:

Systematic coordination and integration of services to “meet youth where they are"
Will serve youth ages 16-26 years old, on a 24 hour basis
Expect to serve approximately 700+ Auburn Gresham residents per year
Will be connected with a counselor, with an expected length of engagement of approximately 18 months

Auburn Gresham Reconnection Hub

Planning for the Auburn Gresham Reconnection Hub is well underway in partnership with the Faith Community of St. Sabina, the Greater Auburn Gresham Community Development Corporation, Black Chicago Tomorrow, and several other local stakeholders. In August, Thrive and St. Sabina co-hosted a community meeting to begin designing the Auburn Gresham Reconnection Hub model.

Together, these community members designed an innovative triage model to meet the unique needs of Auburn Gresham’s opportunity youth (OY). These stakeholders identified that many OY in Auburn Gresham are homeless and need stabilizing supports like transitional housing before participating in core reconnection services like job preparation or school re-enrollment. As a result, when youth walk into the Auburn Gresham Reconnection Hub, they will first be assessed by intake staff to “triage” their needs and identify what supports they need in what order. For example, a youth may first need warm clothes and a bed to sleep in for the night before being formally connected to a case manager for long-term services. Below is the triage model that Auburn Gresham community members designed for their Reconnection Hub.

Reconnection Hub News:

Mellody Hobson at an After School Matters event in 2012.

Credit: Crain's Chicago Business

Which charities are the big winners in the city budget?

At least four nonprofits will benefit from Mayor Rahm Emanuel's 2018 budget, which the City Council is expected to approve Nov. 21. The city of Chicago's 2018 budget earmarks $76.7 million for youth programs, up from $21 million in 2011, when Emanuel took office. Among the organizations named in the budget:

Thrive Chicago: $500,000 for a "Reconnection Hub" that will centralize services for "opportunity" or "disconnected" youths—the 60,000 people in the city, ages 16 to 24, who are neither working nor in school. Thrive Chicago's goal, through projects like the Reconnection Hub, is to reconnect 10,000 of those young people to school or a job by 2020.

The organization will grant $425,000 of the $500,000 to its network of nonprofits to launch the hub and run hiring events for the city's youth. Thrive will use the remaining $75,000 to keep track of the hub's progress and eventually open hubs in other neighborhoods, says Sandra Abrevaya, Thrive's president and chief impact officer, who was the mayor's education policy director before joining Thrive. Thrive Chicago expects the hub to open this summer in one of five neighborhoods: Austin, Auburn Gresham, Englewood, Roseland or South Lawndale.

Link to full Crain's Chicago Business below. A subscription may be needed to access:

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20171121/NEWS07/1711 . .

Keywords: Auburn Gresham, Black Chicago Tomorrow, Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation, Reconnection HUB, St Sabina, Thrive