The UIC Neighborhoods and Nonprofits Network is a partnership among the University of Illinois at Chicago, the Information Technology Resource Center, the Donors Forum of Chicago, and 50 community-based organizations in two low-income neighborhoods adjacent to the University. The purpose of this partnership and network is to improve the quality of life in urban neighborhoods by strengthening the communication and information linkages between local community organizations, the University, ordinary citizens, foundation and corporate donors, and nonprofit organizations.
This goal will be achieved by providing community-based organizations and nonprofits with telecommunication education and Internet access to other community development and nonprofit professionals; to faculty and staff involved in urban research, education, and service; and, to a broad range of new and existing data sets and information related to fundraising and program development and implementation in the areas of economic development and jobs, housing, and community education and health.
While public and private resources are shrinking, social needs are expanding. This increases the importance of a strong nonprofit sector to community development initiatives. Further, timely, accurate, secure, and appropriate information access and sharing strengthens the delivery system (nonprofit organizations) that implements government programs and goals, develops local programs, and sustains individuals, families and their communities. Thus, a related second objective is to pilot and evaluate a larger network to serve the diverse nonprofit and donor organizations of the Chicago metropolitan area. Common missions and needs, geographic proximity, information and funding dependency, and similar experiences are the basis for demonstrating the potential value of a regional nonprofit and donor virtual community.
The expanding role of online information in policy making, community development and education, and planning and program design poses serious challenges for participatory approaches to community building in low-income, under-represented urban neighborhoods. Moreover, lack of access and expertise blocks the ordinary citizens in these neighborhoods from entering into an information dialogue with the people who are creating plans, policies, and programs for their communities. Yet, this problem is exasperated because the nonprofits and local community organizations that serve these populations also lack the resources and appropriate skills to participate in the online information community. Most important, without the views of the information and material poor, decisions that impact neighborhood conditions will lack the insights that ordinary experience provides, and attempts at participatory approaches to community building will be less effective.