Foreclosure and COVID-19: Tips to help you keep your home

Has your ability to pay your mortgage been effected by the COVID-19 financial crisis?
If so, relief and resources may be available to help you avoid foreclosure and keep your home. Find more information here.

Resources for Small Business

The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity has put together a comprehensive listing of resources available for Illinois businesses harmed by the current crisis
Find a downloadable pdf  here.

Great resources from the Young Center

Thank you to the Young Center staff for putting together these great resources for the community to help cope in these uncertain times. We hope they are helpful to you. 

• Spanish-language resources, including information on financial help, mental health and self-care tips, tools to engage and educate children, and much more from Alianza Americas
• A virtual learning community to help parents cope with COVID-19 through classes taught by expert moms around the country from Mamas Con Poder
• Paula y la Pandemia, a short, Spanish-language e-book for children on remaining safe during a pandemic; you find the English version here. 
• Contact details for state and local health departments from the CDC
• A comic discussing COVID-19 with children in Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia, Braille, Chinese, English, Finnish, German, Italian, and Spanish from NPR
• Tips on managing anxiety during COVID-19 from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology
• Six strategies to help teens care for their mental health during COVID-19 from UNICEF
• Exercises to keep you active and strong from the World Health Organization (WHO)
• Free virtual cooking classes from Milk Street Cooking School
• Liberate, a meditation app with free guides for and by people of color
• Insight Timer, a more general meditation app with thousands of free guides and courses
• Quick tip for working from home: remember the 20-20-20 rule. Stay at least 20 inches away from the screen and every 20 minutes give your eyes a 20 second break.

New hours for alcohol sales

The Commissioner of Health of the City of Chicago has ordered that all liquor stores cease selling alcohol by 9 pm each day. read the full order here.

Know your rights during the COVID-19 crisis

We're Hiring!

                                                         Photo courtesy of Cytonn Photography
The Greater Southwest Development Corporation is hiring. Join our team and help improve the community on Chicago's southwest side. For more information, click on the open position below:

• Maintenance Technician:
• Assistant Property Manager: 
• Commercial Services Director:

Equal Opportunity Employer.

Woman owned business? Read this!

Do you own a business? Are you hurting due to stay-at-home orders and COVID-19? We're here to help.

We're directory of woman owned business to help folks find you and support you through the downturn. If we all help each other out during this time, we'll all make it out on the other side.

If you or your female friends own a business, submit through this form and you'll be included in the public directory. We're launching soon, so please complete ASAP!

FREE business education workshops are now available as WEBINARS!

The City of Chicago Department of Business Affairs & Consumer Protection’s FREE business education workshops are now available as WEBINARS!  To register visit www.chicago.gov/businessworkshops

Wednesday, April 8th at 3PM Webinar: Cutting Through the Clutter: Understanding Your Options to Navigate Your Business During the Pandemic Presented by ChiBizHub Join us to discover all the resources to help your businesses manage through COVID-19 and beyond: ChiBizHub – One stop shop portal for resources Somercor – How can the Paycheck Protection Program Can Help My Business 37 Oaks – How can I promote my local business now, for free Q&A ChiBizHub, an initiative of World Business Chicago, provides Chicago entrepreneurs and small businesses with free, easy access to a large network of service providers offering a wide variety of business-building services for small businesses.This webinar is intended to help you easily understand what you can do NOW to stay afloat.  Register by visiting www.chicago.gov/businessworkshops

Friday, April 10th at 9:30AM Webinar: The One Page Business Plan Presented by Vincent Williams, MBA, Vice President of Economic Empowerment & Director- IL-SBDC @ YWCA Metropolitan Chicago|Woodlawn Resource Center  This webinar will provide the basics behind cultivating and creating a working business plan that can be applied to all of your business ideas. Register by visiting www.chicago.gov/businessworkshops

All webinars are free. To register for a webinar visit www.chicago.gov/businessworkshops

COVID-19 support portal

Information is coming fast-and-furious so ChiBizHub has launched a COVID-19 support portal here, that is updated hourly with all of the city, county, state, federal and private programs available to our small business community.  

Arts for Illinois Relief Fund

The Arts for Illinois Relief Fund provides financial relief to workers and organizations in the creative industries impacted by COVID-19. This includes all artists and artisans, including stage and production members and part-time cultural workers, and large to small arts organizations in all disciplines. Donations to the fund will go directly to artists and arts organizations throughout Illinois. All donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. For details, visit their website.

Hungry?

Lots of tasty choices for delivery or carry out here on the southwest side. Find a downloadable list here.

Applications for the Chicago Small Business Resiliency Fund now open.

The City of Chicago recognizes that COVID-19 has put a difficult burden on our business and non-profit community. As a response to this challenge, the City of Chicago has established the $100 million Chicago Small Business Resiliency Fund (the Resiliency Fund), which will provide small businesses and non-profits with 
emergency cash flow during this health crisis. Funds will be provided to eligible businesses as low-interest loans.For more information, or to apply, go here.

What's for dinner?

Lots of tasty choices for delivery or carry out here on the southwest side. Find a downloadable list here.