The University of Chicago's Career Pathways Initiative has reached the century mark in job placements for South Side residents.
The program was established to provide greater awareness among neighborhood residents about employment on campus. University, community and program leaders recently gathered to celebrate the initiative, which has helped 111 mid-South Side residents find quality permanent and temporary jobs with the possibility of permanent employment.
"I grew up in Woodlawn, and I was looking for work. Career Pathways helped me get a maintenance job with real estate operations with the University," Carlos Watson said at the gathering. "I like the atmosphere of working at the University. Everything they say about Career Pathways is true. It is a pathway. I started out with a temporary job, and now what I have is permanent."
Denise Singleton also said she had been promoted in her housekeeping job at the Medical Center. "I started out working evenings, but now I'm working a day shift and get lots of positive feedback from the people I work with. My passion is cleanliness, and I like what I do."
The Career Pathways Initiative launched in October 2007 and is a partnership with the Chicago Mayor's Office of Workforce Development and The Cara Program, a leading nonprofit agency that provides intensive career development training and support to job seekers in the city.
The initiative's early success is greatly the result of the power of collaboration, organizers said.
"MOWD's resources provided critical training opportunities to job seekers that increased their employability in the job market. The Cara Program's reputation for providing quality candidates engaged many employment partners to continuously hire many of our participants," said Gina Barrett, Project Director of Career Pathways.
"Neighboring organizations and community leaders provided great support and guidance to us. All these factors combined really allowed the residents who are motivated and talented to shine and build wonderful careers at great organizations," she added.
The initiative was born when the University approached the city to bring additional workforce development resources to the South Side. The University and Medical Center employ more than 12,500 people. New jobs are listed online, and local residents can also visit the Career Pathways Resource Center at 950 E. 61st St. in the Woodlawn Social Services Center.
By helping neighborhood residents find secure employment, the University's goal is to extend its commitment to the surrounding communities. "We were fortunate to be able to work with the City, local elected officials, neighborhood organizations and the community to bring additional workforce development resources to the South Side," said Sonya Malunda, Associate Vice President for Civic Engagement at the University.
The Cara Program's staff of professional coaches works with employers and employees to ensure successful job placement. It also develops training so the employee can be promoted to one or two positions above entry-level.
Through Mayor Daley's WorkNet Chicago, the Mayor's Office of Workforce Development meets the evolving workforce needs of Chicago businesses and creates training and career opportunities for Chicago residents by building strategic public and private partnerships. For more information on the Career Pathways Resource Center, call (773) 752-0687 or visit www.careerpathwayschicago.org. For more information on MOWD, or for a referral to a WorkNet Chicago location, call (312) 746-7777 (TTY: 312-746-7769) or visit www.cityofchicago.org/mowd.
