Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP) is issuing the following Request for Proposals for the Parent Mentor Program (referred to throughout as “PMP”).  This Request for Proposals is presented by SWOP, in partnership with the State of Illinois and the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE). We expect to grant a small number (8-10) of awards, with a priority of funding community-based organizations that add to the ethnic, racial, and geographic diversity of our current parent mentor network. A letter of Intent…

Read More Read More

Community economic development is a big topic in Chicago.  Everyone is talking about how to revitalize communities and their commercial corridors while also creating family supporting jobs.  It is no wonder then that Jeff Bartow, along with Meghan Harte from LISC, Perry Gunn from Teamwork Englewood, and Carlos Nelson from Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation were invited to speak on this subject to the City Club of Chicago on May 31st.   In his presentation, Jeff outlined SWOP’s work as…

Read More Read More

More than 60 SWOP leaders traveled to Springfield on May 9th to rally for the Parent Mentor Program. They were joined at the State Capital by almost 200 other leaders from 11 other organizations from around the state. All are participants in the Parent Mentor Program in local schools. Through the program, the Parent Mentors spend two hours a day in classrooms working with students and assisting teachers.  Research shows this has been an effective way to improve academic achievement…

Read More Read More

The Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP) wants to hire two new organizers.  First, SWOP is looking for an experienced organizer who can take the lead on one or more of our current campaigns.  This is someone who has experience with community organizing and is looking to take on more leadership in an organization.  SWOP is also looking for a community organizer.  Experience is always good, but we will consider someone who has passion, intelligence, an ability to learn, and is good…

Read More Read More

When the Sears store at 62nd ST. and Western closed over ten years ago, it left a big hole in the Chicago Lawn community.  Gone were the opportunities for families to shop at a major department store.  Soon, the Jewel grocery store and the movie theater were gone as well.  Left behind was a large swath of vacant land that neither provided shopping opportunities nor jobs for community residents.   As SWOP’s Reclaiming Southwest Chicago campaign began to show real…

Read More Read More

SWOP is excited about today’s launching of the Chicago CityKey Program. There is a Community Day on Monday! Cards will be printed on Monday, April 30 at Kennedy King College’s W Building located at 6301 S. Halsted Street from 10:00 AM until 7:00 PM.  Their appointment system is currently booked through the month of May and June (Yes, the demand is high!), so we recommend sending residents to the events taking place in neighborhoods across Chicago. Here is the calendar: https://www.chicityclerk.com/chicagocitykey/how-apply/make-appointment/citykey-mobile-sites If individuals need…

Read More Read More

Every day at 4 p.m. Andre, Carla, Mirna, and Myra, meet in a storefront on West 63rd ST.  They are there to debrief activity in the community and to make a plan of action for the day of work ahead.  The four are community outreach and violence interrupters for SWOP’s CeaseFire program.  The four of them, along with Rafi Peterson, SWOP’s director of anti-violence programs, are working hard to lower crime and violence in Southwest Chicago. SWOP receives funding from…

Read More Read More

Early on Saturday, March 10, 2018 SWOP staff and volunteers gathered at St. Clare of Montefalco Church. They set up tables and laid out materials as they waited for people to make their way to the Church, a member institution of SWOP. The staff and volunteers were there to host one of SWOP’s monthly Citizenship Workshops.  At these events, SWOP helps applicants complete their N-400 form and other documents they need to apply for Citizenship. On this particular Saturday, 74…

Read More Read More

SWOP, with support from the Marguerite Casey Foundation’s Equal Voices Campaign, is undertaking a non-partisan voter registration drive and Get Out The Vote campaign.  Two leaders, Azalia Martinez and Stephanie Maltos, are working in schools and faith institutions to find and register new voters and to get people who have not voted in recent elections to come out and vote in the Illinois Primary Election on March 20th.  SWOP’s goal is to register 250 new voters and contact and move…

Read More Read More