| Name | Candy |
|---|---|
| Last Name | Johnson |
| Home Address | 730 E. ML King Blvd. Chattanooga, United States: Tennessee 37403 United States |
| Organization Name | Urban League of Greater Chattanooga |
| Describe Your Role In The Organization | President & CEO |
| Organization Address | 730 E. ML King Blvd. Chattanooga, United States: Tennessee 37403 United States |
| Website | https://www.ulchatt.net |
| Best Phone Number To Reach You | 423-756-1762 |
| Alternate Phone Number | 931-561-3123 |
| Email Address | cjohnson@ulchatt.net |
| Alternate Email Address | vbone@ulchatt.net |
| Please Describe Your Project In Detail | Our Mission and Impact: The Urban League of Greater Chattanooga (ULGC) is an affiliate of the National Urban League, the nation’s oldest and largest community-based movement devoted to empowering African Americans and other underserved individuals to enter the economic and social mainstream. For nearly 40 years, our local Urban League affiliate has worked to enable African Americans, other ethnic minorities, and disadvantaged persons to secure economic self-reliance, parity, power, and civil rights to live a better quality of life. The ULGC is at a critical transition point with a new CEO, Candy C. Johnson, who took the helm of the organization in January 2021. Mrs. Johnson has a bold vision to build upon the legacy of the late Warren E. Logan, Jr. and continue to expand the Urban League’s efforts to meet the needs of the Black Chattanoogans and disadvantaged persons in our community. Unfortunately, the pandemic—coupled with historical disparities—has exacerbated racial and economic inequities due to job losses and financial hardships that have hit minority and low-income communities hardest. To address these immediate and long-term challenges and expand its community impact, the ULGC has launched three new Empowerment Centers to streamline programming and services to better serve the needs of the community: Center for Education, Workforce, and Family Empowerment, Center for Economic and African American Business Success, and the Center for Equity and Inclusive Leadership. These centers are designed to meet the emerging needs of people of color and low-income individuals—supporting the overall economic prosperity for those we serve. As we work to build the Urban League of the future and become a landmark institution in the heart of downtown Chattanooga, we are planning to purchase a new facility in the first quarter of 2022 that will help lead the resurgence of the “Big Nine”—African American and minority business development along the MLK Corridor. Securing a new facility will reduce overall operational costs and allow us to expand our footprint as each of our new centers increases programming and impact in the community. Family Prosperity Initiative: The Urban League of Greater Chattanooga (ULGC) launched the Center for Education, Workforce, and Family Empowerment (CEWFE) in 2021, which strives to provide an integrated services approach to address family prosperity through programs and activities which foster educational attainment, personal well-being, and increased economic power. CEWFE is one of three new empowerment centers launched by the Urban League to streamline and expand programming to meet the needs of the underserved in our community. The CEWFE impacts the K-12 and postsecondary education pipeline, supporting programs that improve educational equity for low-income African American and other ethnic minorities. The education programs include the LEAPs Afterschool Program for elementary and middle school students; Urban Youth Summer Camp for middle school students; and the Nationals Achievers Society for high school students. The CEWFE also includes workforce development programming through our Family Prosperity Initiative, which takes an integrated services approach to address family prosperity through programs and activities which foster educational attainment, personal well-being, financial stability, and increased economic power for adults and their families. The Family Prosperity Initiative provides intensive case management with wraparound support to address family prosperity and specifically ensure low-skilled, low wage, or non-credentialed workers of color have the opportunity to gain credentials through various integrated supports in high growth industries such as healthcare, information technology, and construction. Participants persist and complete industry recognized credentials, financial literacy bootcamps, credit repair and homebuyer education in industries. Cohort participants will meet with our family empowerment team in this Center to create a roadmap for upward economic mobility to include assessing their educational and career interest barriers. This model focuses on building programming that works for the individual, not an institution. Education alone is not enough thus we will help remove barriers preventing them from reaching goals. Together, they will create a road map for their Family Prosperity Plan. Participants will then enroll in the appropriate education hub credential program and complete commitment agreements to qualify for the Earn While You Learn Stipend. ULGC will provide participants with access to technology, space for learning, leadership and career skill building sessions, and mentors. Participants who persist in the program and meet benchmarks will be paired with an apprenticeship and/ or connected to an employer interview opportunity aligned to the credential they complete. Overall, ULGC seeks to increase the motivation, knowledge, skills, and earnings potential of all participants in the Family Prosperity Initiative through soft skills training and wrap-around support to ensure equitable access to training, such as stipends to participate in training, childcare support, and digital skills training, resulting in better opportunities and economic self-reliance. With the support of the City of Chattanooga through ARP funds, we will be able to expand the impact of the Family Prosperity Initiative within the Center for Education, Workforce, and Family Empowerment in FY23. Our goal is to accept up to 100 participants in the program in FY23. Our vision—like the Mayor—is to drive equitable economic recovery and create lasting solutions to spark generational change in our community. |
| Please explain how your project meets the requirements of the American Rescue Plan | Serving nearly 14,000 people annually, our primary constituents come from high poverty, urban neighborhoods where youth, young adults, and families struggle with economic hardships, building assets, and low educational attainment. In our service area, 76% of residents aged 25+ have not earned a college degree, and 20% of individuals do not hold a high school diploma. The lack of educational attainment has led to a cycle of generational poverty in Chattanooga’s urban core. In our primary service area, the poverty rate is 32%, which is more than double the poverty rate in Hamilton County (12.8%) and the state (15.2%). There are many historical disadvantages faced by racial and ethnic minorities that must be addressed as a path to inclusive economic recovery in communities, especially those that have been impacted by the COVID pandemic. In Chattanooga, the degree attainment rate of African Americans is less than 18%, compared to 30% of all others, and African Americans continue to remain at the bottom for household income as nearly 50% of Black residents make less than $30,000 annually. Further, the racial gap in household earnings in Hamilton County remains 30% greater than in the US average, with the typical white household in Chattanooga earning twice as much as the average black household. By 2025, 60% of all jobs will require workers to have a degree or credential beyond high school. Education is also a major factor in helping individuals achieve upward economic mobility. Lack of educational attainment has an adverse effect on poverty as nearly 40% of individuals with less than a high school diploma are impoverished, compared to 6% of individuals with a college degree. These historical disparities coupled with the COVID-19 crisis are exacerbating the existing challenges low-income, low-wage, and under skilled individuals experience. To address these disparities in educational attainment and economic potential, the Urban League launched our Center for Education, Workforce, and Family Empowerment in 2021, which takes an integrated services approach to address family prosperity through programs and activities which foster educational attainment, personal well-being, financial stability and increased economic power. The Family Prosperity Initiative will support economic recovery through training and credentialing programs focused on helping low-skilled, low wage, or non-credentialed workers of color who have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID pandemic, which addresses the goals of the American Rescue Plan. |
| Where would your project take place? | The Center for Education, Workforce, and Family Empowerment is housed at the Urban League, which will be moving into a new facility along the MLK Corridor in April 2022. Training and credentialing programs will primarily take place at the Urban League, but we also partner with other agencies that may host training or other services on site at their organizations. |
| How much will your project cost in total? | 1706856 |
| Do you have any matching funding sources from other local governments, private entities, non-profits, or philanthropic entities for your project? | Yes |
| Please describe the source and list amounts of any other funding. | The Urban League has secured the following support for the Center for Education, Workforce, and Family Empowerment: 1. Tennessee Department of Education- $350,356 (committed) 2. National Urban League- $31,500 (committed) 3. Colby Foundation- $25,000 (committed) 4. IRS, $200,000 (FY23) 5. $100,000 (funds applied for through other organizations) |
| What portion of the project are you asking the city to fund? | We are requesting $1,000,000, which is 60% of the total cost of the program in FY23. |
| If funded, when would your project start? | July 1, 2022 |
| How long would your project take to complete? | The Family Prosperity Initiative is a new initiative at the Urban League and will be expanded further when we move into our new facility in April 2022. With additional funding we could scale this initiative and help lift 100 Black families out of poverty. We expect this program to continue to be expanded and sustained long-term to meet the economic recovery needs of the community. Funding from the City will allow us to fully meet our impact goals for our initial program year. |
| What milestones would you use to measure your project’s progress? | Success will be measured by the following milestones: 1. Number of prospects who are low-income or unemployed registered to participate in the Family Prosperity Initiative. 2. Number of participants who enroll, persist and complete/ earn an industry-recognized credential in high growth industries such as IT, healthcare and construction. 3. Number of families who improve the financial position of their household and have achieved at least three of the following; ● improved credit score ● having at least two months of income invested into a savings accounts ● in a job paying a living wage based on family size as reported by the MIT living wage calculator ● Qualify for a home mortgage |
| How would you ensure accountability and transparency throughout the project lifecycle? | The ULGC has strong track record with managing large federal and state grants and will ensure there is accountability and transparency throughout the project lifecycle. Our CEO, Candy Johnson, provides overall strategic leadership for each of our empowerment centers and the Family Prosperity Initiative. Compliance and outcome tracking for all of our programs is led by Vickye Bone, Compliance and special projects Officer. In addition, the new director for the center for education, workforce and family employment, Robin Sturnes will provide overall accountability for the program and will lead the staff within our Center for Education, Workforce, and Family Empowerment to ensure the Family Prosperity Initiative meets its target goals. Our CFO, Pierre Pinkerton, will manage the financial management of the project and ensure compliance with any financial reporting requirements for the City. |
| If successful, how would your project benefit the community? | At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic Chattanooga was named as one of 15 cities in the southern U.S. that would be hit the hardest by the long-term impacts of the pandemic (Bloomberg, McKinsey and Oxford Economics 2019). Nearly 9,000 jobs were lost with only 6,000 returning by Q2 of 2021 and of those hit the hardest Black and Brown residents were disproportionately overrepresented in these industries by the recession manufacturing, accommodation and food services, retail, and transport. We also know that only 17% of African Americans in Chattanooga hold a bachelors degree or higher and less than 10% have an associate’s degree or credential. The Federal Reserve Bank reports that a family of color has 8 times less wealth than a White family which will cause substantial GDP loss ($1.5 trillion by 2028) to the U.S. economy if we do not address the racial wealth gap. Local communities like Chattanooga with pre-existing racial and economic disparities for people of color, prior to COVID-19 economic downturn, will also face upward mobility challenges if we do not ensure that inclusive economic recovery is at the center of our rebuilding efforts. In addition, Black Chattanoogan mortgage applicants are denied almost 108% more often for conventional mortgage loans compared to White applicants which prevents a path to homeownership which supports wealth building power. .3,224 Black Chattanoogan households were living in poverty in 2019 and if we can decrease the Black household poverty rate of the MSA average (9.2%): 1,726 Black families would be lifted out of poverty. If their wages were increased to at least the median MSA wage ($53,126), it could add roughly $93M to the local economy, annually. While our efforts would not be able to serve all 1,726 families in poverty we can serve at least 100 families to lessen dependency and improve the economic conditions of those families which also add money to the local economy. The Family Prosperity Initiative is designed to address these disparities by increasing the motivation, knowledge, skills, wrap-around support and earnings potential of all participants. The Initiative will also ensure equitable access to training, earn while you learn stipends to participate in training, childcare support, and digital skills, technology, mentorship and mental health supports resulting in better opportunities and economic self-reliance. Our targeted outcomes and impact include: ● Outcome 1: 100 low-income or unemployed individuals to participate in the Family Prosperity Initiative. ● Outcome 2: 60 percent of participants earn industry-recognized credentials in high growth industries in fields with paths toward upward economic mobility. ● Outcome 3: Improved financial position of at least 70 percent of the families enrolled in the program. ● Outcome 4: At least 60 percent of participants connected to a living wage job. |
| How will you attract community buy-in for your project? | Serving the community for over 40 years, the ULGC has a long history of community building and collaboration within the community, which has been essential to aligning our strategies with community needs and bringing together partners from across the community to work alongside us in addressing these needs. The ULGC has been involved with a variety of initiatives that impact education, economic empowerment, and equity in our community. We will recruit participants from our already existing relationships with ULGC clients who have students enrolled in our after school programs, VITA tax clients, Shoes for Schools Participants and others. Core partners supporting our workforce development and economic empowerment initiatives including, but are not limited to, governmental agencies, higher education institutions, philanthropic organizations, faith-based organizations, neighborhood associations, private industries, and many other organizations. Our education partners are critical to the success of our afterschool programming and include Hamilton County Schools, GCLA, Howard Connect Academy, Barger Academy, Woodmore Elementary, Orchard Knob Elementary, UTC, Chattanooga Public Library, TN Aquarium, La Paz, Unum, Southeast Tennessee Development District, Urban League Young Professionals and others. |
| Is there anything else you would like us to know about your project? | At our core, the ULGC is focused on addressing racial and economic inequities that affect our entire community and ensuring Chattanooga is a caring and inclusive community where all can thrive—regardless of gender, race, education, zip code, or socioeconomic status. The root cause for too many of the issues faced by individuals and families in our community is generational poverty, lack of access to success, segregation, and institutional racism which continue to disproportionately impact people of color from experiencing greater prosperity in the Chattanooga region. Now more than ever before, civil rights organizations like the Urban League must lead targeted efforts for economic recovery for communities of color, post-pandemic, and focus on wealth-building opportunities leading to longer term family prosperity. This proposal equates to approximately $10,000 invested into each family’s journey toward upward economic mobility. Costs include, but are not limited to child care support, education credentials, earn while you learn stipend, mental health support, transportation, and other fees associated with participation over the length of the program, one year. |