About Chicago's West Side

The west side communities served by the Carole Robertson Center rank among the highest concentration of impoverished families in Chicago. These communities are over-represented with individuals receiving public assistance, adults without high school diplomas, and female-headed, single-parent households. Crime rates, particularly from gang and drug-related violence, are among the highest in the city.

• 93% of families served by the Carole Robertson Center are at or below federal poverty guidelines, although the vast majority of these families have a working head of household
• 77% of the children under the age of 5 served by the Center were born to teenagers
• 62% of the families served are African American
• 37% of the families served are Latino, many of whom speak English as a second language

Furthermore, these neighborhoods are truly the digital "have nots." Black and Hispanic households in central cities have an extremely low ownership percentage of personal computers (10.5% of households), yet these groups are also "the most enthusiastic users of on-line services that facilitate economic uplift and empowerment."1

1"Falling Through the Net: A Survey of the "Have Nots" in Rural and Urban America," a study by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (US Department of Commerce) 1995.

The goal project eYouth is to train local youth to deliver web-based solutions to local community problems. The project will assist youth in developing skills for the emerging digital economy and will help break down information barriers within the community.

eYouth integrates applied training with specific community outcomes. As a result, Project eYouth optimally levers funding resources by creating a team of skilled community-based catalysts to address local needs. Project eYouth is designed to address the needs of these communities by engaging and training local youth to identify and solve problems, using newly developed web-based skills.

Some of the specific anticipated outcomes of the project are as follows:

• Twenty-four local youth will be trained in web architecture, specific programming and scripting languages -- including HTML, JavaScript and CGI -- and project and business management.
• The curriculum will encompass certification standards that correspond to observable and marketable skills.
• Youth will learn about the role of the Internet in business, government and society and learn to lever the Internet to further their personal and professional goals.
• The program will provide enhanced economic opportunities by improving job skills and spurring new business creation. Local youth have expressed a strong interest in entrepreneurship and the web provides an excellent environment for the creation of new businesses, including micro-business strategies.
• A minimum of twelve community-based projects will be conducted, reaching a minimum of 100 community residents and 25 community institutions (businesses, nonprofit agencies, educational institutions, government bodies). These projects will solve specific community challenges through the deployment of web-based solutions and through the training of local residents who will participate in and benefit from the solutions. Examples may include the creation of web sites for local nonprofits and small businesses to promote deeper relationships within the community and to facilitate communication among local agencies, businesses, and residents.
• The project will improve the overall technological literacy within the community, reducing the "digital divide" and improving the quality of life for residents.
• The project will provide improved access to PC's and the Internet primarily through the identification and promotion of existing public resources and secondarily through the limited deployment of PC's into the neighborhood.
• The combination of training and web-based solutions will allow local residents and businesses to learn new skills, market their services more effectively and share information more broadly.