Question: What could possibly be better than a partnership that creates jobs for community residents?

Answer: A partnership that, alongside workforce development, also makes housing more energy efficient (and therefore more affordable), while at the same time bringing life to the inner-city and making the environment cleaner and safer. This is the partnership between Bethel New Life, located in West Garfield Park in Chicago, Illinois, and Argonne National Laboratory. The goal is much broader than employment; it is sustainable development.

As a result of businesses and people streaming to suburban areas in search of more land, West Garfield Park has been plagued for years with typical inner-city problems such as unemployment, poverty, crime, and urban decay. In 1979, concerned members of the Bethel Lutheran Church founded Bethel New Life, a community development organization born from the disparity of the riots in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Today Bethel New Life has grown to include over 300 employees and 1000 volunteers.

Bethel has a long history of employment services and job placement. Since the beginning of Bethel's Employment and Training Services 12 years ago, approximately 4,000 people have been placed in full-time employment. Bethel has been involved in several different workforce development initiatives, including the Environmental Initiatives and Industrial Development partnership with Argonne, and a health care career ladder. In this ladder, residents are trained in the health care field at Bethel's Senior Services. After three months, participants may enroll in a 12-week certified nursing assistant's program, which consists of both on-the-job training and hands-on experience. The great demand for CNAs ensures the nurses employment and also allows room for furthering their career in the health care field.

Argonne, operated by the University of Chicago for the US Department of Energy, is the nation's first national laboratory. It specializes in 1) basic science, 2) scientific facilities, 3) energy resources, and 4) environmental management. Argonne employs approximately 4,400 employees and has an annual budget of over $475 million.

The partnership between Bethel New Life and Argonne National Laboratory involves training area residents for environmental careers. The job training initiative offers the following assistance to residents:

• A 3-day training in a lead contractors/supervisors course offered by the Midwest Environmental and Industrial Health Training Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
• A 40-hour course that, upon completion, certifies the trainee as an Occupational Safety and Health Administration- (OSHA) approved environmental assessment technician or hazardous materials handler.
• Canvassing West Garfield Park's employment and technology requirements with the help of the Chicago Manufacturing Center.
• Placing trained residents through Bethel New Life's employment services.

Qualified individuals are encouraged to continue this line of work by starting their own small business. The partnership assists residents with contractor certification, small business training, insurance, and obtaining contracts in exchange for hiring graduates of the environmental training program.

Bethel and Argonne are also partnering with the Chicago Manufacturing Center (CMC) in order to assist the approximately 40 small to medium-sized area manufacturers. The three parties make it possible for nearby companies to evaluate their performance and support them when needed, for example, with job training programs. Bethel, Argonne, and CMC realize that the community prospers most when area businesses thrive.

However, job training and placement are only the beginning. The partnership between Bethel and Argonne brings so much more to the West Side. The partners see the urban decay, yet recognize the abundant possibilities in the West Garfield Park neighborhood, including energy efficiency, building rehabilitation, and brownfield redevelopment. Finding new ways to make old houses more energy efficient can mean affordable housing. Argonne and Bethel, along with community leaders, local utilities (Peoples Gas Company, Commonwealth Edison Company, and Ameritech Corporation), city housing and state energy officials are researching cost-effective ways of implementing energy-saving methods in buildings that do not require demolishing the interior walls ("moderate rehabbing"). For example, "super insulation," which can reduce annual energy costs by over 40 percent, involves insulating the usual areas as well as improving ventilation and using energy-efficient windows and space-heating systems. Argonne and Bethel are experimenting with cellulose insulation, which is made from recycled shredded and treated newspapers.

The partnership is also preserving history through creative adaptive reuse of buildings and saving land by redeveloping brownfields and industrial sites. For example, Bethel New Life purchased St. Anne's Hospital in 1989, shortly after the 100-year old, 9.2-acre inner-city building shut its doors. Rather than becoming a hazardous abandoned site, Bethel bought the buildings and is bringing life and employment back to the inner-city. Bethel has converted the hospital into the "Beth-Anne Life Center," which includes 125 units of affordable housing for the elderly, the Molade Child Development Center, the Small Business Center, and the Cultural and Performing Arts Center. Once again, Argonne is equipping the building with energy-efficient, economically viable technology, such as insulation and heating systems. Beth-Anne Life is employing West Side residents through construction and job placement within the center.

Bethel and Argonne are also conserving area land though brownfield redevelopment. Formerly used for industrial purposes, this land often requires extensive cleanup and therefore typically lies unused. The partners are establishing a process that screens area brownfields to determine which ones can be redeveloped and the best ways to clean them. Graduates of Bethel/Argonne programs such as lead, asbestos, and hazardous waste handling can then be employed to properly clean these sites for redevelopment.

Argonne is also currently working with other Chicago-area agencies, such as the Renacer Westside Community Network and the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA). In 1997, residents of the Cabrini Rowhouse (Near North Side) and Dearborn Homes (Near South Side) were encouraged to attend training involving minor plumbing and window repair, as well as other home improvements. Several of these residents decided to continue with their training and incorporated their own weatherization business that serves both public and private housing. This business, due to benefiting the community, won the 1998 Award of Merit given by the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment.

The partnership between Bethel and Argonne is bringing much more than employment to the area; it allows the residents of the West Garfield Park area to be involved in every step of revitalization in their neighborhood. With training and help from the partners, residents participate in job training, building rehabilitation, and land redevelopment. They are prospering from both sustainable community development and the employment that their efforts bring to the West Garfield Park neighborhood.

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