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City Bureau COVID Resource Finder is a free tool that helps Chicagoans search for food, coronavirus testing, cash assistance, mental health resources and more by zip code or need. We have 1,424 resources available in 12 languages including Spanish, Arabic and Tagalog.

Visit https://covid.citybureau.org/en/ y ou can also access the COVID Resource Finder via SMS on any phone by texting “chicago” to 312-436-2280. Regular text messaging costs apply.
New, Reimagined Summer Events 

Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot and DCASE have announced an upcoming slate of new and reimagined summer events including at-home dance parties, drive-in movies, virtual concerts, farmers markets and community meals - in lieu of summer festivals. Some highlights include:  
 
- Millennium Park at Home - Music, arts and recreation programming moves online for Chicagoans and visitors to enjoy from home.

- SummerDance in Place - This at-home version of the summer tradition invites residents to connect online for a 30-minute dance lesson followed by 60 minutes of music on Wednesday evenings in July 

- Taste of Chicago To-Go - Taste will continue to showcase the diversity of Chicago's dining scene, support local nonprofits and frontline workers and delight our fans through new and reimagined events 

- Club Concerts - Beginning in June, in collaboration with local music venues, DCASE will host live events featuring Chicago musicians performing at neighborhood clubs and other unique locations for broadcast  


Year of Chicago Music Extended

Many of Chicago's new, reimagined summer events support the local music industry during the Year of Chicago Music - now extended into 2021.
 
DCASE has also partnered with Do312 to launch a new listing of Year of Chicago Music Virtual Concerts to highlight the local music venues and musicians sharing "Music in the Key of Chicago" digitally. If you're hosting a virtual concert or music event, please send information and an image to [email protected] .  


Chicago City Markets  

Considered essential businesses, most of  Chicago City Markets will open in June and July to increase neighborhood access to fresh and healthy food. DCASE will take necessary precautions to encourage social distancing and protect the safety of customers and vendors. Regrettably, Maxwell Street Market will continue to be postponed through Labor Day weekend (Sunday, September 6).



Millennium Park, Chicago Cultural Center & other DCASE Venues

Millennium Park  will reopen in mid-June with limited in-person programming and in accordance with Public Health safeguards and best practices.
 
The  Chicago Cultural Center , the Clarke House Museum , Expo 72 and the City Gallery in the Historic Water Tower  will remain closed to the public until further notice.
Q & A With Dr. Allison Arwady
Commissioner of Chicago Department of Public Health
June 11, 2020
June 11, 2020
Mayor Lightfoot Announces Chief Sustainability Officer to Join Administration
Experienced community planner and environmental justice expert to lead City’s sustainability and climate policy

Mayor's Press Release


CHICAGO – Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot today announced Angela Tovar will serve as the City of Chicago’s Chief Sustainability Officer. An extensive, nationwide search was conducted to identify the best candidate for the role, which is currently filled by Acting Chief Sustainability Officer Elise Zelechowski. Tovar brings a unique policy skillset focused on racial equity, deep community relationships across the City and a demonstrated track record of combining environmental justice, public health and inclusive economic growth. She will serve a vital role within the administration to help advance the mayor’s environmental and climate agenda.

“I am proud to have Angela joining our team in this critical role for the health of our city’s communities and residents,” said Mayor Lightfoot. “As the COVID-19 crisis has shown us, our everyday environment has a direct impact on our individual health and wellness, and I look forward to working with her in our shared mission to hold violators accountable and tackle the widespread injustices that have impacted our neighborhoods for generations. All of which will be rooted in our values of equity and inclusion that enhances our vision of a better, stronger, and cleaner Chicago for every one of us.”
Angela Tovar joins the City with over fifteen years of experience in nonprofit administration, urban sustainability, policy, environmental and climate justice and community planning. She will report directly to Chief of Policy Dan Lurie and work closely with all City departments to craft and align high priority policy goals, as well as manage external relationships with a range of stakeholders from community advocates to local and national policy experts.

“I am thrilled to join Mayor Lightfoot in advancing a robust climate and sustainability agenda that is rooted in equity and is aimed at mitigating environmental harm in our most overburdened communities,” Tovar said. “I carry with me a strong commitment to build partnerships with stakeholders throughout the City of Chicago to help uplift community-based solutions and to create new opportunities for our most underserved residents.”

Most recently Tovar served as a Program Manager at the Cook County Department of Environment and Sustainability, building strategic partnerships with Cook County municipalities on their sustainability goals. In that role she oversaw the creation of an environmental justice screening tool in coordination with UIC, Cook County GIS and additional stakeholders. She also helped advance various clean energy initiatives including the newly launched Cook County Solar Schools and helped lead Cook County’s five-year Policy Roadmap.


Prior to her most current role, Tovar served as the Director of Community Development at The Point CDC and the Director of Policy and Research at Sustainable South Bronx in the Bronx, New York City. She is a native of the South Chicago neighborhood in Chicago and a graduate of Hunter College at the City University of New York in its Master of Urban Planning program. Prior to that she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Urban Studies from the College of Charleston.
This appointment is the Lightfoot administration’s latest effort to build an environmental policy agenda that can both support community needs and vision, address racial disparities in health and wealth, and help invest public and private dollars towards inclusive economic growth.  The administration has made progress toward its aggressive 2025 and 2035 environmental goals, including harnessing more renewable energy to power municipal buildings, reduce the amount of greenhouse gases, and advancing efforts for the adoption of electric vehicles throughout the city.
For more information about the City’s latest environmental efforts visit  Chicago.gov .

June 11, 2020
Mayor Lightfoot and Citadel Announce Full Lineup For ‘Graduation 2020: For Chicago. By Chicago.’
Virtual graduation features Hamilton star Miguel Cervantes, commencement address by Oprah Winfrey, and celebrity appearances including award-winning hip-hop artist Common; special to air Sunday, June 14 at 1:00 p.m. CDT on television and radio stations across Chicago and stream online

Mayor's Press Release


CHICAGO – Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot today announced the lineup of Chicago and national celebrities who have come together to celebrate and pay tribute to the over 35,000 graduating high school seniors across Chicago. "Graduation 2020: For Chicago. By Chicago.” is a live, commercial-free 60-minute ceremony hosted and co-created by the City of Chicago and Citadel to recognize the achievements and tenacity of the Class of 2020. This first-of-its-kind citywide virtual graduation will feature Chicago’s “Hamilton” star Miguel Cervantes as emcee and a keynote commencement address by Oprah Winfrey. The show airs Sunday, June 14, from 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. CDT on select stations throughout the Chicagoland area.

“This is an incredible opportunity to give the graduates of 2020 the celebration they deserve” said Mayor Lightfoot. “Completing high school is a momentous occasion and while this year’s graduation ceremony might not be what they expected, this is an opportunity to send our students off in style.”
The star-studded lineup will deliver tributes and well-wishes to all Chicago’s graduating seniors. Among the featured performances, Chicago native and “The Voice” finalist Katie Kadan will join students to perform the national anthem, and Chicago’s hometown Emmy®, Grammy® and Academy Award® -winning hip-hop recording artist Common will deliver an original opening dedication to the 2020 graduates.
Additional appearances range from student performances to local leaders, celebrities and sports stars. Those joining Mayor Lightfoot to celebrate the graduates include Illinois Governor JB Pritzker; CEO of Chicago Public Schools Janice Jackson, EdD; CEO of My Block, My Hood, My City Jahmal Cole; Chicago sports stars including Chicago Blackhawks’ Patrick Kane; Chicago Cubs’ Kris Bryant, Jason Heyward and Kyle Schwarber; Chicago White Sox’s Tim Anderson; Chicago Bulls’ Daniel Gafford; Chicago Bears’ Charles Leno; and Chicago Sky’s Diamond Deshields and Cheyenne Parker. The after-show will also include appearances from Chicago and national performers, musicians and celebrities including the Second City, DJ Khaled, Ellie King, Jagged Little Pill musical performers, Thomas Rhett, Andy Grammer, Louis the Child and X Ambassadors.

The virtual graduation ceremony has been produced in partnership with ABC7/WLS-TV Chicago and ABC’s Localish digital network and will be broadcast on  major local TV and radio stations throughout Chicago, including ABC7, NBC5, CBS2, WGN-TV, WCIU-TV, WTTW, FOX32, Univision Chicago (WGBO-TV), and streaming live on the ABC Localish Network. WBEZ Chicago will air portions of the graduation celebration on 91.5 FM and stream it live on WBEZ.org and CBS2 will air it on Sunday night. The ceremony will be provided in closed captioning as well as in Spanish on Univision Chicago (WGBO-TV). The City of Chicago will also provide a live-stream feed on Mayor Lightfoot’s social media channels including  Facebook  and  Twitter . For more information, visit  chicagograd2020.com .

CONGRATULATIONS to Morton Elementary for being approved for their 2020-21 Gifted Regional Center!  

Sincerely,
Walter Burnett, Jr.
Alderman, 27th Ward



Morton Elementary 2020 Program Award/ 22 CPS Schools receive $18M to expand Academy

Dear Colleagues, Families, and Supporters, 

To help students continue building on their historic momentum, and to further expand rigorous learning opportunities for
children in all parts of the city, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is pleased to announce that we are investing $18 million in new high-quality academic programming over the next six years.

This investment will support new STEM, dual-language, and International Baccalaureate (IB) opportunities, along with programs focused on the arts, world language, and personalized learning. Two highlights of this investment include a new fine and performing arts program at Julian High School, the first of its kind on the city’s far south side, and the district’s first gifted program on the west side at Morton School of Excellence. In total, the investments announced today will enhance the educational experience of nearly 10,000 CPS students in 22 schools.

You can find a complete list here later today of the CPS schools that will receive a new academic program beginning in the 2020-2021 school year.

Schools were selected to receive new academic programs based on a thorough evaluation process, beginning with an application outlining the investments that would benefit their students most. To assist our schools in developing their applications, CPS held five community-based information sessions and three administrator workshops earlier this year. Each application was carefully reviewed, and schools that were not selected for an investment in 2020 were given clear feedback to help them strengthen their applications in the future. Four schools that were not selected for new programs in 2019 are receiving a programmatic award this year, and CPS has pledged to support schools in a similar situation throughout the next application cycle, which is scheduled to begin later in 2020.    

As part of the promise of improved equity established by our Five-Year Vision , the investments announced today will help fill programmatic gaps in 11 of the 16 geographic regions established by the district’s Annual Regional Analysis, or ARA. We created the ARA in 2018 to provide CPS families with information on school quality, enrollment patterns, and program offerings in their communities, and to empower them to work with their schools to apply for new investments that best meet the needs of their children. Today, we launched a new ARA website to deliver this information in a more interactive and accessible format that is available in eight different languages. 

In addition, to gather feedback from families and community members on how we can strengthen neighborhood schools, CPS will be holding four virtual community workshops later this summer. More information on these upcoming workshops can be found at

We are excited by these critical investments and are confident they will move us closer to our goal of providing every child from every community in Chicago with the high-quality education they deserve. 

Sincerely,

Janice K. Jackson
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public Schools
LaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public Schools
Career Opportunity: Manager of Construction Initiatives -
Apply Now!
The Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership (The Partnership) is seeking a Manager of Construction Initiatives. Details are provided below and via the job description at The Partnership’s website.
 
This is a grant-funded 30-month position, with the possibility of renewal. The qualified candidate will direct all activities of the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership’s contract to operate the ConstructionWorks initiative and future construction sector initiatives. The overarching goal is to raise the profile of careers in construction and increase the number of historically under-represented individuals entering apprenticeships and other quality employment in skilled trade occupations that are prevalent within the Illinois Tollway. The Manager leads a coordinated regional workforce initiative while managing contracts with up to 20 sub-grantees. This position also manages relationships with affiliate partners and oversees the ConstructionWorks Advisory Committee. Also communicates all contract activities and outcomes both internally and externally, including regular reports to the Illinois Tollway Authority and additional funders.
 
The Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership is an equal opportunity employer as defined  here . All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or veteran status. Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities.
 
To apply and for more details on the position please visit the link below: