Mission

The North Lawndale Employment Network’s mission 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.

What We Do

We believe that everyone deserves the opportunity to work! More importantly, we also believe that our community flourishes when good jobs give residents both paychecks and self-worth. We help unemployed and underemployed people in the North Lawndale neighborhood and beyond prepare for, find, and succeed at their jobs. Our programs include:

U-Turn Permitted (UTP). 4-week, 110-hour, cognitive-based job readiness training for men and women returning from incarceration. Includes anger management and the W.K Kellogg Foundation-funded racial healing initiative, where police and participants build connections resulting in fewer future arrests. NLEN has been offering UTP for more than 10 years. 160/yr.

Sweet Beginnings, LLC. NLEN’s social enterprise hires UTP graduates into 3 month, full-time transitional jobs, where they gain an income and work history, along with learning all aspects of running a small business by engaging in all aspects of the business, which produces and sells natural urban honey and honey-infused beelove™ skin care products. 388 employed to date; 20-40/yr.

U-Turn Express. 1-week job readiness training, modeled on UTP but designed for clients without a felony conviction and have recent work experience. 75/yr.

Center for Working Families. Financial coaching on budgeting, savings, credit repair; access to credit-building products and bank accounts; computer training; and access to income supports and health care insurance enrollment. Designed to help low-wage earners to make the most of their incomes. 1200/yr.

Resource Center. Computer and other resources for independent job searches. 1000/yr.