Metropolitan Family Services To Manage Center for Working Families at Kennedy-King College
Contact:
Susana Vasquez (LISC), svasquez@lisc.org, 312.422.9557
Ann Pinkney (Metropolitan Family Services), pinkneya@metrofamily.org, 312.986.4032
In the wake of Jane Addams Hull House Association’s bankruptcy and closing, Metropolitan Family Services has assumed operations of the 63rd Street Corridor Center for Working Families, ensuring uninterrupted continuity of services to the Englewood, Woodlawn and Washington Park communities, and preserving the jobs of the staff in the Center.
The Center – a collaboration of LISC Chicago, Kennedy-King College, Alderman Willie Cochran, Teamwork Englewood, Washington Park Consortium, Network of Woodlawn, and now Metropolitan Family Services – provides job placement and career advancement, financial counseling and literacy, income supports, and digital literacy training.
Once Hull House became certain of its impending closure and bankruptcy, it engaged Metropolitan Family Services to assume several of its social service programs, including the Center for Working Families at 747 W. 63rd St. on the Kennedy-King College campus. Recognizing the high-quality services provided by the Center to its target communities and the need for a seamless transition to a new operator, LISC Chicago began working with Metropolitan Family Services as the replacement partner agency for the Center. LISC reached out to the core funders of the Center, including the federal Corporation of National and Community Service, to quickly assess Metropolitan’s eligibility as an operator and grantee, and to ensure the expeditious transfer of the Center’s funding resources from Hull House to Metropolitan.
Hull House ceased all operations on Friday, January 27, 2012, and Metropolitan commenced operation of the Center for Working Families on Monday, January 30, 2012. Metropolitan’s dual goals – to guarantee retention of the staff in the Center and assure continuity of the services provided by the Center to the community – have been achieved.
LISC Chicago 135 S. LaSalle St., Suite 2230 Chicago, IL 60603 312.422.9550 www.lisc-chicago.org