Residents of Chicago's Humboldt Park and West Town communities will have an enhanced opportunity to learn computer skills and better position themselves in the job market with the help of newly created resources offered through a partnership between DePaul University and the Association House of Chicago.

     The Learning By Association Community Technology Center will be operated from Association House sites in Humboldt Park and West Town. The West Town center will be officially launched at a grand opening celebration May 11th from 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at 2150 W. North Ave. The Humboldt Park center will be expanded in 2001.

     "Humboldt Park and West Town have been challenged by very low educational achievement and high rates of substance abuse, unemployment, residents on public aid, and domestic and general violence," said Roxanne F. Owens, an assistant professor of Education at DePaul and one of the principal designers of the center. "DePaul has been working with Association House to provide enhanced educational opportunities by bridging the digital divide. We will have the additional tools needed to meet the problems head on by expanding our work in West Town and Humboldt Park."

     Residents in West Town can look to the center for programs that include literacy support, adult education, GED preparation, English as a second language, career development, job readiness, and training and employment services. There also will be entrepreneurial programs that work in conjunction with the Mayor's Office of Workforce Development.

     Originally funded through a Vincentian Endowment Grant and an Illinois Reading Council Grant in 1997, the West Town center started with four computers, one printer and a variety of books. Students from DePaul's School of Education used the lab as part of a literacy tutoring program with elementary school children. The program received a boost when it was chosen by the U.S. Department of Education last September to receive a $739,000 grant to expand the centers.

     DePaul will provide the human resources for the centers. Along with a full-time director, a part-time assistant and a research assistant, 20 students currently work at the West Town center serving as tutors for elementary school students. With the expansion, the number of DePaul students is expected to swell to 50 by next year with additional Association House volunteers also working in the centers.

     "This was probably the most incredible experience I had while at DePaul," said John Parilli, a School of Education graduate who traded a career in the law to become a teacher. "I learned that it's important to have a lot of tools at your disposal, including books and computers. I gained much more than I gave by participating in this project."

     DePaul and Association House are natural allies in this aggressive effort to offer a brighter future to residents living in these historically immigrant and poor communities. Association House, a 100-year-old non-profit social service agency, currently serves the needs of more than 20,000 community members annually through a wide array of services including education and employment training and after school programs. DePaul, another 100-year-old Chicago institution, works collaboratively with Association House in many of its programs, most notably through the after school literacy support program.

     "By working together, DePaul and Association House will be able to bring the combined resources of two stellar institutions to two underserved communities where residents could most benefit from the chance to learn marketable skills," said Harriet Sadauskas, CEO of Association House. "These centers will have a real impact by giving individuals a chance to change the quality of their own lives."