Forty-six years after the Kennedy/ Johnson administration began “to fight the war on poverty,” Arrowhead Economic Opportunity Agency (AEOA), a private nonprofit based in Virginia, Minnesota, continues to fulfill its mission “to strengthen communities by providing opportunities for people experiencing social and economic challenges.” Executive Director Harlan Tardy appeared before the Cook County Board of Commissioners on November 22 to give them a rundown of all that AEOA does right here in Cook County.
AEOA’s initiatives range from Head Start to senior services, including transit, employment and training, and housing programs. AEOA is involved in numerous programs that operate under different names. In Cook County alone, AEOA employed seven people in 2010 and organized 74 retired senior volunteers who donated over 6,125 hours to Cook County nonprofit agencies.
Arrowhead Transit provided 21,480 rides totaling over 65,000 miles in Cook County. Rural Rides provided 889 work-related rides for people with transportation needs outside the parameters of the regular AEOA bus.
The senior nutrition program provided 7,334 meals to seniors, 3,451 of them delivered to the homebound, and the Food Shelf served 436 people.
Adult Basic Education assisted 15 Cook County residents with basic literacy, employment, and education. Forty-one people on public assistance received employmentrelated help.
Seven Cook County homes received rehabs, a rehab project was started at Grand Marais Apartments, which houses 16 seniors and people with disabilities, and a first-time homebuyer class was held in Grand Portage. Energy assistance was provided to 230 households, and six energy-related repairs were completed.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 has allowed AEOA to hire 86 employees to weatherize houses. The workers received David-Bacon wages, guaranteeing them “no less than the locally prevailing wages and fringe benefits for corresponding work on similar projects in the area,” according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Many of the jobs were temporary, Tardy said, but they gave workers good job experience and skill training, which helped some of them obtain jobs in the mining industry. Despite the opinions of some, Tardy said, he “would argue that ARRA dollars work.”
Tardy said he appreciates Cook County’s involvement on the 33-member AEOA board, which oversees an annual budget of over $34 million. Commissioner Sue Hakes is on the board, with Commissioner Jan Hall as an alternate. Along with Andra Lilienthal of Cook County Community Education, he said, they have made great contributions to the board.
Tardy said people wonder why AEOA doesn’t advertise its services in local papers. The agency gets so many referrals that it would not be able to handle all the requests for help it would receive if it advertised. “We’ve got waiting lists coming out our ears,” he said.
“If AEOA was not present in the community,” states a 2010 Cook County fact sheet, “struggling households would be less likely to have their basic needs met; homebound seniors might be forced to go to nursing homes; transportation would be more difficult; low-income children would be less prepared to enter kindergarten; low-income job seekers would have a more difficult time finding work; and employers would have a smaller labor pool from which to draw. There would be just under $800,000 removed from the Cook County economy; seven people would need to work somewhere else or not work at all; and perhaps most importantly, the talents of the most vulnerable Cook County citizens would not be used as fully as possible.”
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