Last July, in the middle of a violent year, Cook County commissioner Richard Boykin gathered Austin residents at the west-side neighborhood’s By the Hand Club for Kids. For three and a half hours, around 100 community members, civic leaders, and elected officials met to discuss what was needed to end the violence in Austin. In 2016, 88 of the city’s 783 shootings, or 11 percent, occurred there.
As a result of the summit, a $1 million job training program is now in the works, thanks to money set aside in the 2017 county budget. The program, called Employment and Training Services for Opportunity Youth, will target the South Shore, Back of the Yards, and Austin neighborhoods, and will offer employment and training services for people ages 16 through 24 who aren’t connected to either employment or education, according to a statement from the county’s Justice Advisory Council.
“We’ve been quite clear that reversing the rash of gun violence in our communities will require a multi-faceted approach, and importantly, the will to pursue such an approach,” Shuftan wrote. “The communities suffering the worst violence also have the highest levels of unemployment, lowest levels of education, poorest housing stock and closed school buildings. We must commit to revitalizing these communities and giving their residents hope. Only then will we see real and sustainable progress.”
Constantina Davis, another GAIPO member who attended the June meeting, says that more needs to be done especially to ensure people get jobs.
