Your Link to Your Community
Lincolnparkconnect.com would like to thank Wrightwood Neighbors Conservation Association, the Park West Community Association, Sheffield Neighborhood Association and Mid North Association for the generous grants that helped make the technical development of this site possible.
Lincolnparkconnect.com is a project of the Children’s Memorial Hospital Community-Wide Forum. Our goal is to connect Lincoln Park community services—specifically, those people, groups and institutions who need resources and those that have resources—through a social service and community service website.
Forum History
The Community–Wide Forum was created in 1999 by the community organizations located in Lincoln Park and Children’s Memorial Hospital. The Forum’s mission is to leverage the considerable resources of the Lincoln Park community towards improving the quality of life in our neighborhood.
The Forum’s first project focused on improving the educational experience for students at Lincoln Park High School. Volunteers formed committees, which created an after-school study hall, weekend tutoring program, conflict-resolution speaker series, summer jobs program and an external affairs position to keep the neighbors informed about what’s going on at the school.
After two years at Lincoln Park High School, these programs had been institutionalized and the Local School Council committed to overseeing them.
In the summer of 2002, a steering committee of Lincoln Park community leaders developed the next project, Lincolnparkconnect.com. Committee members wanted the website to focus on community services, to serve as a tool to connect people who need resources with those who have them.
Project Goals
The goal of Lincolnparkconnect.com is to provide a community website to connect residents with all non-profit organizations located in Lincoln Park that provide community services. In addition to social service agencies, the website provides connections to community organizations, schools, churches, museums, and neighborhood festivals. It also informs the community of events, meetings and special community announcements.
Working Groups and Volunteers
More than 50 community volunteers are involved in creating and updating this website. Our efforts began in January 2002, as the volunteers divided themselves into four working groups, each with its own goals and responsibilities.
Infrastructure
- This group develops the website itself, including its location, technical specifications and design, and the technical process for updating its content.
- Volunteers include Tom Coffey (Chairperson), Angela Garbot, James Gohrsch, Eloise Haller, Barbara Maloof, Tom Muscarello, Elliot Nathanson, Marcia Opp, Charles Sykes, and Paul Turner.
Content
- This group develops what appears on the website – specifically, what resources are provided through the website and the process by which new information is collected.
- Volunteers include Walt Crowley (Chairperson), Jeannie Barkan, Fritz Biederman, Judith Lauth Casey, Chuck Eastwood, Bob Ford, Rita Hasner, Rev. Tom Henry, Ken Labok, Nancy Lerman, Mary Kate McGivern, Melissa Morris, Sister Katie Norris, Brian Shields and Ted Wrobleski.
Accessibility
- This group works to ensure that the greatest number of people in Lincoln Park who need resources have access to the website and are introduced to the website. It serves as the primary interface between the defined group of Lincoln Park social service agencies and the Forum.
- Volunteers include Susan Burke (Chairperson), Beryl Clemens, Millicent Collier, Kathleen Ellis, and Judy Marohn.
Marketing
- This group works to encourage the greatest number of people, groups and institutions in Lincoln Park who have resources to use the website to help people who need resources and to encourage participation in the Forum project.
- Volunteers include Cynthia Bathurst (Chairperson), Bridget Dickinson, Colleen Henry, Kim Klausmeier, David Laurenson, Michael Lufrano, Joe Shacter, Ryan VanMeter, and Doug Widener.
Partnership with DePaul University
The Community-Wide Forum is grateful to DePaul University for its strong partnership in this project. DePaul is nationally known for its computer science education program, and the school has graciously donated the time and expertise of their students and faculty to this community project.
For more information about the DePaul Center for Community Technology Support, go to www.ccts.cs.depaul.edu.
The volunteer technical team for the first phase of this website included Kunal Shukla and Daniel Prieto, Project Managers; Gabe Black, and Taral Pancholi.
Special thanks to Neoteric Design
The Community-Wide Forum would also like to thank Nick Gracilla and Michele Kruegel of Neoteric Design for redesigning and helping us to officially launch the site. For more information about Neoteric Design, go to www.neotericdesign.com.