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Some Austin teens set for summer work

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Dozens of West Side youth spent spring break attending a week-long youth empowerment and job readiness program. They’re guaranteed jobs this summer, and community leaders hope that means fewer juvenile arrests.

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Austin wants to count in 2010 census

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By Mark Hertvik

Residents of the West Side’s Austin neighborhood believe the community was undercounted in 2000, and are working to gain full representation for their neighborhood in the 2010 census. The 2000 census counted 117,527 people living inside the city-defined borders of Austin, representing 4.1 percent of Chicagoans. Community activist Malcolm Crawford says this number is inaccurate, and estimates Austin’s true population to be as much as 20 percent higher because the population is wary of being counted. “[There is] a lack of information, a lack of understanding of what the census is,” said Crawford, whose nonprofit Sankofa Cultural Arts and Business Center is involved in promoting census awareness in Austin. “A lot of our people are in precarious situations” and don’t like to talk to outsiders or the government, he said.

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In Austin, sit-down restaurants a rarity

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Gritty storefronts, boarded-up gas station windows, graffiti-covered pavement and a plethora of fast food restaurants are the sights that will meet your eyes on a drive through one of Chicago’s toughest neighborhoods. Located on the city’s West Side,  Austin’s population is nearing 130,000, and as the population rises in what community activists call Chicago’s “forgotten child,” so do the number of fast food restaurants in a neighborhood that already lacks grocery stores and healthy sit-down options. Elce Redmond, assistant director of the South Austin Coalition, said business owners, specifically fast food restaurant owners, decided Austin wasn’t a community that wanted or would support anything but fast food. “For some reason, people have this idea that Austin can only sustain fast food restaurants,” he said. “I mean, no matter where you are in Austin, all you see are fast food joints.

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Christ the King work-study program offers unique glimpse into corporate world

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By Wendy Wohlfeill

Instead of toting her backpack to school on Friday mornings, high school sophomore Kyara Lee strays from her usual schedule to venture outside the classroom. For one day each week, she sets aside her school books to work alongside investment professionals. Lee remembers her first day of work last September, being nervous as she took the elevator to the 22nd floor of a Chicago high-rise. Her nerves soon settled, and now she completes daily office tasks with ease and confidence. This is her second year participating in the corporate work-study program at Christ the King College Preparatory High School, which just moved classes to a new $28 million facility in Austin.

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Austin program for ex-offenders nearly overwhelmed by demand for services

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By Wendy Wohlfeill

Officials at a far West Side organization fear if client demand continues to rise, more and more recently released prisoners will be left fending for themselves. Roger Ehmen, director of Westside Health Authority’s Prisoner Re-Entry Center, said a recent jump in numbers shows the dire need for the program in Austin. Ehmen said the center saw an increase of 104 percent more clients over the last two years. In 2008, the office helped just over 5,000 clients, while last year the program assisted close to 11,000. The biggest concern now is that the numbers will continue to rise, and many more ex-offenders in need will be left without services.