AARP Purpose Prize Fellow Renita White

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​We provide one-stop-shop services for people in Chicago who need help finding stable jobs and housing so they can thrive. Our trauma-informed counseling and employment readiness training

set them up for success, as do our connections with companies and housing opportunities. Since we started in 2020, we’ve served about 350 clients a year, most of whom are now in good-paying

jobs and permanent homes.​​

​​Over the decades, Chicago’s South Side, where I grew up, and many other city neighborhoods have been severely disinvested by government and business. Today, close to 50 percent of

residents in some areas are not in the labor force, while many who do work receive wages that keep them below the poverty line. ​​Even when services are available for housing or employment,

residents often don’t know how to access them. Job stability is also a problem because people haven’t been taught skills like showing up on time or negotiating conflict with coworkers. Our

research revealed that more than half our target population has lost employment at some point due to these issues.

​​I learned to value community service from my grandparents and parents, when I saw them letting unemployed patrons run tabs in the family grocery store even though they knew they’d likely

never see the money. I spent my entire career in nonprofits, helping large agencies expand their offerings. But I always felt these agencies could be doing more, and as an executive, I was

removed from the people we were serving. ​​As I drove to work, I’d pass long lines of Chicagoans outside food pantries and job centers, even in the bitter cold and snow. I knew I could use

my skills to help these people more directly.