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About Us 
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Photo from our September 2007 membership meeting.
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The mission of NLEN is to improve the earnings potential of North Lawndale residents through innovative employment initiatives that lead to economic advancement and an improved quality of life.
NLEN is a membership organization that is made up of over 100 partner agencies that form a referral network and programs committee enabling NLEN to:
- help economically isolated individuals, especially former offenders, secure jobs with family-supporting wages;
- assist employers in recruiting and retaining workers;
- advocate on behalf of low-income job-seekers, and
- build the capacity of partner organizations.
NLEN programs include:
- U-Turn Permitted, formerly the Ex-offender Employment Service Network (EESN), which includes job development and business partnerships;
- Building Beyond!, a youth employment program;
- The NLEN Resource Center, which provides a variety of services to the community, including computer literacy, financial coaching and assistance, as well as referral assistance to partner agencies;
- Sweet Beginnings, LLC, a transitional jobs program which creates and sells Beeline products
- Behavioral Interventions, a program funded through the Illinois Department of Corrections.
- Partnership of New Communities, a Chicago Housing Authority Initiative
- Productive Choice
- Emergency Fund
- Community Voicemail
- Real Benefits
- Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
NLEN became a 501c(3) in 2000 and has since grown from a small office with three staff to a thriving organization with 18 staff, a 15-member board of directors, multiple subcontractors and partners, and an annual budget of $1.3 million.
In 2006, NLEN was one of nine nonprofits world-wide to receive the first "Creative and Effective Institutions Award" from the the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Awards are given to small nonprofits and range from $250,000 to $500,000.
For its work in reucing recidivism rates, NLEN was one of four nonprofit organizations awarded with the 6th Annual 2007 ShoreBank "Community Impact Award". NLEN was chosen from 10 finalists, and from nearly 100 entries.
In June 2007, at the 2007 Annual Fatherhood Symposium, Brenda Palms Barber accepted, on behalf of NLEN, the "Women in the Fatherhood Movement Award" for her "direct involvement in the empowerment of men through re-entry, education, and employment services; helping them to gain self-respect."
Also in 2007, the North Lawndale Employment Network's subsidiary, Sweet Beginnings, was an awardee of the first ever Social Venture Network Contest, "Imagine What's Next: Ideas that Will Change the Way the World Does Business". The Social Venture Network (SVN) desires to inspire and support "the next generation of innovative, socially responsible business and nonprofit entrepreneurs." The award grants Sweet Beginnings a one year membership to the Social Venture Network and also supplies one on one mentorship from an accomplished SVN member.
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