Inside the Black Box - Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago

SER Central States
Year Started
Location
Mission
Area of Service Delivery
Description of Services
1987, following a reorganization of SER of Cook County. SER-Jobs
for Progress of Cook County (the predecessor of Central States SER-
Jobs for Progress); was founded in 1970.
Little Village Center: 3948 W. 26th Street, Suite 213, Chicago, IL
Garfield Workforce Center: 10 S. Kedzie, Chicago, IL
Cicero: 2138 S. 61th Court, Chicago, IL
SER Central States promotes economic self-sufficiency and upward
mobility for low-income community residents through education and
employment.
Little Village Center: A largely immigrant and Latino neighborhood
Garfield Workforce Center: A predominately African American
neighborhood on the west side
Cicero: A town west of the city with a large Mexican and Hispanic
population
SER Central States offers programs for youth, adults and seniors.
These include:
• For youth, PODER (a 21 st Century Community Learning
Center), WIA YES program for out-of-school youth, “GED
on Wheels”, a career development center, and a Gang
Intervention program.
• For adults, SER Central States offers a Healthcare Careers
Pathway Program, a Transitional Jobs program and the
Garfield Workforce Center.
• For seniors, SER offers the Senior Community Employment
Services Program (SCSEP), which provides job training and
permanent job placements.
SER also operates a community technology center—a resource center
for community residents.
Funding
Website
Description
Length of Program
SER Central States is a Centers for Working Families site, offering
financial counseling and services.
The majority of funding for SER Central States is public funding—
federal (DOL, WIA), state (IDHS), city (DFSS, DCD) and county,
with some private funding.
www.centralstatesser.org
Program(s) of primary focus in this report
Healthcare Careers Pathway Program
SER’s Healthcare Careers Pathway Programs involve two main
components: helping lower-skilled, lower-income adults gain access
to training that leads to a viable career in healthcare, and helping
local healthcare employers find quality staff. The program helps
individuals complete a contextualized literacy and numeracy
program so that they may gain admission into a healthcare-focused
occupational training program at Chicago City Colleges and
ultimately find employment at a healthcare facility.
8 weeks for the bridge and 8 weeks for CNA training
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