Program areas at Chicago Veterans
Educational support program (esp): our educational support program helps simplify the transitional process by increasing access and awareness of programs and services in the communities we serve, improving systems navigation for Veterans. In response to covid-19 and the stay-at-home order, we launched our virtual Chicago Veterans academy, creating a series of self-paced courses designed to help Veterans improve their transition. Our academy features courses, workshops, and webinars featuring subject matter experts in the fields of veteran benefits, employment/career opportunities, and available programs to address veteran issues. We launched our suicide prevention course in partnership with living works start which teaches trainees to recognize when someone is thinking about suicide and responding to these events to keep them safe.
Employment readiness program (erp): our employment readiness program helps prepare Veterans employment readiness workshops and virtual training give Veterans an opportunity to practice their interview skills, enhance their resumes, learn best practices and meet local employers. Through our virtual opportunities directly through our website. Chicago Veterans finished 2020, assisting 180 Veterans through our employment preparation workshops. Our virtual employment board featured 87 employment opportunities for Veterans in the chicagoland area. We helped distribute over 500 employment briefcases within our veteran community. At the end of 2020, we revamped this program and will combined it with our educational support program (esp) in 2021.
Social and community involvement program (scip): our social and community involvement program helps Veterans build a positive social support system by providing consistent opportunities and platforms to participate and engage with other Veterans and their local community. Chicago Veterans finished 2020 hosting/partnering on over 30 events allowing over 450 Veterans to participate and meet other Veterans and supporters. We helped address and organize several distributions of items as we identified the needs in the community, to include distributing over 8,000 pounds of food and canned goods, distributing 19 pallets of clothing and 220 pounds of toiletries to military connected families and Veterans, providing over 600 meals to first responders and Veterans, and providing holiday gifts and presents to over 200 families.
no grants or allocations to others Chicago Veterans operates its own programs.