If you haven't had a chance, go check out "Cafe Too" at 4715 N. Sheridan. Cafe Too's full menu is listed on their website here. Folks like Tony have been given skills to turn their life around and that's something that is greatly needed in our neighborhood. Bravo.
We need MORE organizations like this in Uptown that enable people to change their lives and earn their wages rather than making more people dependent on handouts.
NO NO NO! I used to be a huge fan of Cafe Too. With Inspiration Corp's support of Labor Ready coming to Uptown, however, they have lost all my support. It is not so much that they are supporting something that I disagree with (that will happen from time to time). My anger is with the fact that they feel it totally unnecessary to communicate with the larger community. As a nonprofit that gets public support in the form of restaurant patronage, donations and tax benefits, they owe it to the community to be transparent about their actions. It is not too much to ask for them to just be on-record and above board about the things that they support. For goodness sake, they should try to enlighten the rest of us if they think there is a smidgeon of good that might come out of those scum-suckers coming here. Why does Inspiration Corp want to be a part of the destructive style of politics that divides this community???!!!
Now, I am not sure what to do. I still want to support the folks who work there but I feel I can't until Inspiration Corp deals with the community honestly.
Has anyone talked to Inspiration Corporation about why they supported Labor Ready? I know that they were mentioned for supporting the zoning change, but as was discovered with O.N.E., could it be a case of exaggerated support?
I encourage Update readers to contact Inspiration Cafe to found out the "real" story. We will be doing the same.
It would be nice if we could stop for a moment and acknowledge one tiny shred of positive progress somewhere in our ward without politicizing it and jumping on the phones to demand answers.
Agreed, Christopher. However, I have paused and reflected on the positive progress that Inspiration Cafe/Cafe Too have brought to the neighborhood for years. I have encouraged people to eat there and have chosen to celebrate holidays there. That is why I am so devastated by what I believed to be a true beacon of light in our community---something that brought people of different situations together to create some solutions.
And, you are right...Tony is a great guy. I always tip heavily and I just wish that I could feel good about returning. All Inspiration needs to do is talk to us and keep the dialog open and honest.
I love Inspiration Cafe. It was a faux pas to support Labor Ready. They could have told Helen that before they would support it, they wanted to first hear from the residents and the local block clubs.
Sure it's Helen's job to make sure everyone is heard, but they also know Helen is notorious for not getting input from residents. That's why they should have checked.
I hoped they learned their lesson. If they want the support of the community, they will also need to support the community. They clearly did not this time around.
if inspiration cafe is so wonderful why isn't located in mayor daley's hood, or in lincoln park or at 4th presby church - uptown has too many subsidized social service agencies - why not make these agencies available city wide?
The Inspiration Cafe model should be spread throughout the city. Despite their secret-cabal style support of Labor Ready, they seem to be a quality organization that deserves more financial backing to expand to under-served areas of Chicago. Actually, the South Loop would be a great location for a Cafe Trois because there is a restaurant clientele there and people who are looking for transitional skills training. However, Inspiration Corp has got to develop a better relationship with this community if we are expected to help convince other areas of Chicago to give them a shot. Their recent actions call into question how much of a community partner they really want to be.
It wasn't a "faux pas" for Inspiration to support Labor Ready. They met with Labor Ready and their support indicates that they think it will work for the neighborhood. Given the overwhelming community sentiment against LR (particularly at this location) then Inspiration will have to step up to make sure that it DOES work. Stepping up means not only the good neighbor stuff that most residents are concerned about but funding and organizing additional supports that will help mitigate the fact that day laboring is a path to nowhere.
"Stepping up means not only the good neighbor stuff that most residents are concerned about but funding and organizing additional supports that will help mitigate the fact that day laboring is a path to nowhere."
What do you mean, "Good neighbor stuff that most residents are concerned about?" This "good neighbor stuff" is something that everyone should be promoting, including the social services and Helen. And what do you mean we need more "additional supports?"
Let's spread the "additional supports" around to other areas of the city so that residents outside of Uptown get to enjoy our same type of "diversity."
Until Uptown can do a good job with the "supports" that are already here, we sure as hell don't need anymore.
I was the previous poster. Basically, all I was saying is that the groups who were active in bringing Labor Ready here should now be held accountable for them because Labor Ready cannot has no obligation to be socially accountable. All you can make them do is follow State/Fed law. (And even then you've usually got to take them to court...) That is why they shouldn't come here in the first place. But, if Shiller and these orgs think it will work..then fine...make it work! Every citizen of Uptown wants to see less poverty, homelessness and economic displacement.
There are certainly needs here and a lot of these organizations should be here. However, many of them have gotten sloppy. They are pursuing bad public policies unchecked and ignoring needs that exist elsewhere. They don't seem to understand themselves as powerful actors who are really shaping Uptown and the City. With power comes responsibility.
News flash: The needy here mostly come into Uptown from all parts of the rest of the city, state, and out-of-state because of the social services here. Bring in more support services and more needy will come to Uptown. It's the social services and Helen who want you to think otherwise. Don't tell me you didn't know that. Stop bringing in all the services.
Social services and certainly Helen have no incentive to make Labor Ready a good neighbor to the community. We can't get most of the social services and managers of subsidized housing here to be good neighbors. What makes you think Labor Ready will have any pressure to behave?
Inspiration Cafe goofed it because rather than look at the big picture of what's best for the entire community, they only looked out for one small segment. Sure they will look out for their clients, but they forgot to realize that there is already way too much so called support available for the needy.
Their other major goof was supporting a service that really doesn't help the needy either. Inspiration Cafe needs to do a better job of working with the community. The fact that so many people are angry about this shows they were out of touch with us.
"The needy here mostly come into Uptown from all parts of the rest of the city, state, and out-of-state because of the social services here."
Pretty true. Uptown has been a receiving ground for all kinds of people for decades. But whether the services attract people here or the people are here already (and need the services) is a moot point. You are virtually powerless to fight the strengths of the interests. People inside and outside of this ward fight hard to make Uptown the place where this should all be. (This goes straight up to the Mayor.)
People have been noting the concentration of services for 30 years. Every time local residents do, they get called the nastiest names and it provides an opportunity for those outside to "stand up for the disadvantaged" all the while pretending that they are not doing what they can to keep homeless shelters, low income housing, etc. out of their own back yards. I guess my feeling is that if do-gooders insist on doing good here, we need to make sure that they do it! Let's see some results. Let's not carelessly enter into new problems that we can't manage. Look at the community plan article on this blog. Someone here said it looked like a lot of well-meaning people without the right skills/tools to enact positive change. I say, let's confront how poorly managed this all is. Inspiration looked like an exception. If we are stuck with their bad decisions, we should call on them to make Uptown the first location in the nation where Labor Ready does not exploit the social services but truly partners with them to create change.
In the meantime, the next time Inspiration Cafe is called on for an opinion, they sure as hell better check with the people who live here. They need to work with the community if they want the support of the community.
Inspiration Cafe's philosophy of putting as many social services as possible in Uptown will make local residents angry enough so that Inspiration Cafe will live to regret their approach. (Did you ever notice they have 2 locations blocks away from one another?) They don't regret it yet, but in time they will realize that it will cost them, especially when they really start struggling for funding as all social services are beginning to feel the heat of budget cuts.
I won't be going to Cafe II for a while. I'd rather support social services outside of Uptown where they understand how important it is to work with the community.
I take exception that Inspiration Corporation is an exception. I once went to a beat meeting and they talked about an Inspiration client who was doing drug deals in that apartment building above Inspiration Cafe. It had been going on for quite some time and Inspiration wasn't doing anything about it.
I'm not convinced Inspiration is much better than any of the others.
I am furiously angry with Inspiration Corp right now, but I will say that are a number of things that they do well. Obviously, there approach is innovative. The jobs skills they work on are appropriate for where job growth is headed in Chicago (service sector). They make a concerted effort to treat their clients with dignity and it seems as if it engenders a sense of dignity within their clients. The alumni seem to be sticking around and they provide good role models to people who are just starting in the program.
Appropriate Skills training + affordable housing + no substance abuse + nutritious food + tight community of alumni and staff = better chances of reaching self-sufficiency.
What we don't need to be doing is warehousing the poor here only to serve them up to the lowest bidder (who will use them and then put them back on the streets with a few bucks but no skills, no prospects and worsening health.) Where is the dignity in that? Do we think that they actually won't notice that they are being used as just a "warm body" and that the good jobs with real pay are always out of their reach?
Besides being upset with Inspiration Cafe with not checking in with the surrounding community for their input (God forbid Helen would), it's troublesome that Inspiration would say yes to an organization that takes advantage of the poor. IC's support for Labor Ready hurts their credibility in more ways than one.
It will go beyond waiting for things to settle for them to recoup. They have some recovery work with the community to do.
Tony is amazing ... ! Tip him heavily.
ReplyDeleteWe need MORE organizations like this in Uptown that enable people to change their lives and earn their wages rather than making more people dependent on handouts.
ReplyDeleteTeach a man to fish ...
ReplyDeleteThanks to Helen Shiller they have a good spot in Uptown!
ReplyDeleteNO NO NO! I used to be a huge fan of Cafe Too. With Inspiration Corp's support of Labor Ready coming to Uptown, however, they have lost all my support. It is not so much that they are supporting something that I disagree with (that will happen from time to time). My anger is with the fact that they feel it totally unnecessary to communicate with the larger community. As a nonprofit that gets public support in the form of restaurant patronage, donations and tax benefits, they owe it to the community to be transparent about their actions. It is not too much to ask for them to just be on-record and above board about the things that they support. For goodness sake, they should try to enlighten the rest of us if they think there is a smidgeon of good that might come out of those scum-suckers coming here. Why does Inspiration Corp want to be a part of the destructive style of politics that divides this community???!!!
ReplyDeleteNow, I am not sure what to do. I still want to support the folks who work there but I feel I can't until Inspiration Corp deals with the community honestly.
We always had a great meal there and hope to have more in the future!
ReplyDeleteHas anyone talked to Inspiration Corporation about why they supported Labor Ready? I know that they were mentioned for supporting the zoning change, but as was discovered with O.N.E., could it be a case of exaggerated support?
ReplyDeleteI encourage Update readers to contact Inspiration Cafe to found out the "real" story. We will be doing the same.
It would be nice if we could stop for a moment and acknowledge one tiny shred of positive progress somewhere in our ward without politicizing it and jumping on the phones to demand answers.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, Christopher. However, I have paused and reflected on the positive progress that Inspiration Cafe/Cafe Too have brought to the neighborhood for years. I have encouraged people to eat there and have chosen to celebrate holidays there. That is why I am so devastated by what I believed to be a true beacon of light in our community---something that brought people of different situations together to create some solutions.
ReplyDeleteAnd, you are right...Tony is a great guy. I always tip heavily and I just wish that I could feel good about returning. All Inspiration needs to do is talk to us and keep the dialog open and honest.
I love Inspiration Cafe. It was a faux pas to support Labor Ready. They could have told Helen that before they would support it, they wanted to first hear from the residents and the local block clubs.
ReplyDeleteSure it's Helen's job to make sure everyone is heard, but they also know Helen is notorious for not getting input from residents. That's why they should have checked.
I hoped they learned their lesson. If they want the support of the community, they will also need to support the community. They clearly did not this time around.
Labor Ready Rocks!
ReplyDeleteif inspiration cafe is so wonderful why isn't located in mayor daley's hood, or in lincoln park or at 4th presby church - uptown has too many subsidized social service agencies - why not make these agencies available city wide?
ReplyDeleteThe Inspiration Cafe model should be spread throughout the city. Despite their secret-cabal style support of Labor Ready, they seem to be a quality organization that deserves more financial backing to expand to under-served areas of Chicago. Actually, the South Loop would be a great location for a Cafe Trois because there is a restaurant clientele there and people who are looking for transitional skills training. However, Inspiration Corp has got to develop a better relationship with this community if we are expected to help convince other areas of Chicago to give them a shot. Their recent actions call into question how much of a community partner they really want to be.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't a "faux pas" for Inspiration to support Labor Ready. They met with Labor Ready and their support indicates that they think it will work for the neighborhood. Given the overwhelming community sentiment against LR (particularly at this location) then Inspiration will have to step up to make sure that it DOES work. Stepping up means not only the good neighbor stuff that most residents are concerned about but funding and organizing additional supports that will help mitigate the fact that day laboring is a path to nowhere.
ReplyDelete"Stepping up means not only the good neighbor stuff that most residents are concerned about but funding and organizing additional supports that will help mitigate the fact that day laboring is a path to nowhere."
ReplyDeleteWhat do you mean, "Good neighbor stuff that most residents are concerned about?" This "good neighbor stuff" is something that everyone should be promoting, including the social services and Helen. And what do you mean we need more "additional supports?"
Let's spread the "additional supports" around to other areas of the city so that residents outside of Uptown get to enjoy our same type of "diversity."
Until Uptown can do a good job with the "supports" that are already here, we sure as hell don't need anymore.
I was the previous poster. Basically, all I was saying is that the groups who were active in bringing Labor Ready here should now be held accountable for them because Labor Ready cannot has no obligation to be socially accountable. All you can make them do is follow State/Fed law. (And even then you've usually got to take them to court...) That is why they shouldn't come here in the first place. But, if Shiller and these orgs think it will work..then fine...make it work! Every citizen of Uptown wants to see less poverty, homelessness and economic displacement.
ReplyDeleteThere are certainly needs here and a lot of these organizations should be here. However, many of them have gotten sloppy. They are pursuing bad public policies unchecked and ignoring needs that exist elsewhere. They don't seem to understand themselves as powerful actors who are really shaping Uptown and the City. With power comes responsibility.
News flash: The needy here mostly come into Uptown from all parts of the rest of the city, state, and out-of-state because of the social services here. Bring in more support services and more needy will come to Uptown. It's the social services and Helen who want you to think otherwise. Don't tell me you didn't know that. Stop bringing in all the services.
ReplyDeleteSocial services and certainly Helen have no incentive to make Labor Ready a good neighbor to the community. We can't get most of the social services and managers of subsidized housing here to be good neighbors. What makes you think Labor Ready will have any pressure to behave?
Inspiration Cafe goofed it because rather than look at the big picture of what's best for the entire community, they only looked out for one small segment. Sure they will look out for their clients, but they forgot to realize that there is already way too much so called support available for the needy.
Their other major goof was supporting a service that really doesn't help the needy either. Inspiration Cafe needs to do a better job of working with the community. The fact that so many people are angry about this shows they were out of touch with us.
"The needy here mostly come into Uptown from all parts of the rest of the city, state, and out-of-state because of the social services here."
ReplyDeletePretty true. Uptown has been a receiving ground for all kinds of people for decades. But whether the services attract people here or the people are here already (and need the services) is a moot point. You are virtually powerless to fight the strengths of the interests. People inside and outside of this ward fight hard to make Uptown the place where this should all be. (This goes straight up to the Mayor.)
People have been noting the concentration of services for 30 years. Every time local residents do, they get called the nastiest names and it provides an opportunity for those outside to "stand up for the disadvantaged" all the while pretending that they are not doing what they can to keep homeless shelters, low income housing, etc. out of their own back yards. I guess my feeling is that if do-gooders insist on doing good here, we need to make sure that they do it! Let's see some results. Let's not carelessly enter into new problems that we can't manage. Look at the community plan article on this blog. Someone here said it looked like a lot of well-meaning people without the right skills/tools to enact positive change. I say, let's confront how poorly managed this all is. Inspiration looked like an exception. If we are stuck with their bad decisions, we should call on them to make Uptown the first location in the nation where Labor Ready does not exploit the social services but truly partners with them to create change.
In the meantime, the next time Inspiration Cafe is called on for an opinion, they sure as hell better check with the people who live here. They need to work with the community if they want the support of the community.
ReplyDeleteInspiration Cafe's philosophy of putting as many social services as possible in Uptown will make local residents angry enough so that Inspiration Cafe will live to regret their approach. (Did you ever notice they have 2 locations blocks away from one another?) They don't regret it yet, but in time they will realize that it will cost them, especially when they really start struggling for funding as all social services are beginning to feel the heat of budget cuts.
I won't be going to Cafe II for a while. I'd rather support social services outside of Uptown where they understand how important it is to work with the community.
I take exception that Inspiration Corporation is an exception. I once went to a beat meeting and they talked about an Inspiration client who was doing drug deals in that apartment building above Inspiration Cafe. It had been going on for quite some time and Inspiration wasn't doing anything about it.
ReplyDeleteI'm not convinced Inspiration is much better than any of the others.
I am furiously angry with Inspiration Corp right now, but I will say that are a number of things that they do well. Obviously, there approach is innovative. The jobs skills they work on are appropriate for where job growth is headed in Chicago (service sector). They make a concerted effort to treat their clients with dignity and it seems as if it engenders a sense of dignity within their clients. The alumni seem to be sticking around and they provide good role models to people who are just starting in the program.
ReplyDeleteAppropriate Skills training + affordable housing + no substance abuse + nutritious food + tight community of alumni and staff = better chances of reaching self-sufficiency.
What we don't need to be doing is warehousing the poor here only to serve them up to the lowest bidder (who will use them and then put them back on the streets with a few bucks but no skills, no prospects and worsening health.) Where is the dignity in that? Do we think that they actually won't notice that they are being used as just a "warm body" and that the good jobs with real pay are always out of their reach?
ReplyDeleteBesides being upset with Inspiration Cafe with not checking in with the surrounding community for their input (God forbid Helen would), it's troublesome that Inspiration would say yes to an organization that takes advantage of the poor. IC's support for Labor Ready hurts their credibility in more ways than one.
ReplyDeleteIt will go beyond waiting for things to settle for them to recoup. They have some recovery work with the community to do.