History
Helping People, Changing Lives
The roots of the Community and Economic Development Association of Illinois, Inc. (CEDA) can be traced to the passage by Congress of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. The following year, in 1965, the Cook County Office of Economic Opportunity was created by the Cook County Board of Commissioners as the Community Action Agency designated to provide services for residents of Suburban Cook County. In June of 1966 the Cook County Office of Economic Opportunity became incorporated as a private, not-for-profit, and tax exempt corporation later to be renamed as C.E.D.A.
In 1967 the Cook County Office of Economic Opportunity (O.E.O.) was recognized as the designated community action agency for Suburban Cook County. Cook County O.E.O. first received federal funding that year to administer the Head Start program.
In 1969 the community service center approach to providing services, which is still in place today, began taking shape. Suburban Cook County was geographically divided into Community Development Areas or CDA’s. Each C.D.A. had a comprehensive community center designed to serve as the focal point for the coordination of human service and economic development programs in the area. The concept of community planning and decision making at the grass roots level became the hallmark of CEDA’s service delivery system. Working in partnership with local, state and national elected officials, churches, block clubs, community organizations, hospitals, health centers, chambers of commerce, businesses, educational institutions and residents, the CEDA mission was born:
It is CEDA’s mission to work in partnership with communities to empower families and individuals to achieve self-sufficiency and improve their quality of life.
Likewise, the longstanding symbol of CEDA, a single blade of grass became the agency logo representing our commitment to being a grass roots organization.
From its earliest days, CEDA recognized the importance of establishing support for its programs from non-traditional sources. One of CEDA’s strategies over its history has been to identify market opportunities to meet community needs through the development of subsidiary and affiliate corporations. This concept has successfully allowed CEDA to address service gaps while generating non-governmental revenues. The first CEDA subsidiary was created in 1973. Community Action Services Inc. (CASI) was incorporated as a private, non-profit organization to provide transportation and support services for CEDA’s Head Start program.
The 1970’s witnessed significant expansion of CEDA programs and services in Suburban Cook County. In 1974 the Comprehensive Housing Counseling Program began in order to help meet the needs of securing affordable housing for our clients. In 1975 the name of the agency was formally changed from Cook County OEO to the Community and Economic Development Association of Cook County, Inc. or CEDA.
Rising energy costs in the 1970’s provided new challenges to communities in cold weather climates. CEDA’s Home Weatherization Program began in 1976 in an effort to help make homes more energy efficient and reduce the cost of heating. In 1979 CEDA began operating the energy assistance program which is today known as the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program or LIHEAP. LIHEAP provides assistance to low-income residents who pay their own energy bills through a one-time payment to the client’s energy provider. Low-income residents who pay a portion of their rent toward the utility costs of a building are eligible for one-time cash assistance.
Also in 1979 CEDA began operating the Women, Infants and Children (W.I.C.) Supplemental Nutrition Program in Suburban Cook County. This program addresses the health and nutrition needs of mothers and their newborn children. W.I.C. has a long record of helping to greatly reduce infant mortality and improve the health and well being of mothers and their children.
The 1980’s began with the shift of most federal grant programs to state block grant programs. The Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) was established in 1981 to be administered through the Office of Community Services (OCS) in the Department of Health and Human Services. To this day, the Community Service Block Grant provides core funding in support of community action agencies’ comprehensive service delivery system.
In 1982 CEDA responded to the need to provide affordable, nutritious meals to senior citizens by creating its second subsidiary corporation, the Community Nutrition Network or C.N.N. Working with Preferred Meal Systems, Inc. a public/ private sector partnership was established to offer healthy meals to senior citizens in Suburban Cook County. The Community Nutrition Network operated as a for-profit subsidiary for many years, successfully meeting a critical community need while generating non-governmental return on investment. CNN has also offered services in several other markets in the United States. In recent years CNN has become a not-for-profit organization generating substantial private sector support.
CEDA has long recognized the importance of economic development in addressing the long range needs of communities and residents. In 1983 CEDA’s Small Business Loan Program was established with a two-fold purpose: to stimulate the economic growth and expansion of small businesses through the provision of below market interest rate loans and secondly in doing so to create new job opportunities for unemployed or underemployed residents. Businesses are required to train and hire at least one CEDA client in need of a job for every $20,000 loaned. The dollar amount has fluctuated since the inception of the program but the goals remain the same: support small businesses, stimulate economic development in communities and create quality jobs for unemployed and underemployed individuals.
Also during the 1980’s CEDA began operating its Self Employment Entrepreneurial Training Program (S.E.T.P.). Aspiring individuals seeking to start their own business are provided with expert training from professionals in all phases of business management culminating with the completion of a business plan and incorporation. Numerous S.E.T.P. graduates now run highly successful businesses and many have expanded and hired low and moderate income residents in need of a job.
The 1990’s were a year of explosive growth for CEDA marked by dramatic expansion of existing programs as well as the addition of a multitude of new program endeavors. It was during this decade that CEDA President and CEO Charles David Hughes Jr. retired after 29 remarkable years of service. Robert L. Wharton, the current President and CEO, assumed his position in 1997. 1997 also witnessed the move of CEDA’s corporate headquarters to its current location at 208 S. LaSalle. The move was symbolic in bringing CEDA Central to the heart of Chicago’s financial district and in close proximity to the headquarters of its major funding sources. A major theme of the 1990’s was the goal of partnering with financial institutions and the private sector for the mutual benefit of both parties and the expansion of CEDA services and revenues.
During the 1990’s CEDA began operating a number of major programs within the City of Chicago. In 1991 CEDA began to administer LIHEAP services in Chicago followed by the opening of WIC offices in Chicago in 1993. In 1996 CEDA expanded its Weatherization Program significantly by providing services to Chicago residents. The Self Employment Training Program was also offered in Chicago during the 1990’s. Late in the decade CEDA began operating the Chicago Small Business Loan Program on a contractual basis with the city.
Several new subsidiary and affiliate corporations were developed in the 1990’s. In 1994 CEDA established the Community Initiatives Fund (CIF), a private foundation created to support partnership projects at the local level involving the private sector. In response to the growing need for affordable housing the CEDA Neighborhood Development Corporation (CNDC) was founded as an affiliate in 1996. CNDC has purchased, rehabilitated and resold existing homes making them safer, more efficient and more affordable, contributing to the improvement of the community. CNDC currently is constructing new affordable homes for low to moderate income residents. In 1999 the creation of the CEDA Community Development Fund (CCDF) marked the culmination of a major effort to promote access to capital and financial services in order to stimulate local economic growth. CCDF has been recognized as a financial institution by the United States Department of the Treasury. It has already opened ATM machines in communities without financial institutions and seeks to bring major banks to areas without such facilities.
The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996 commonly known as the Welfare Reform Act of 1996 focused community action upon job creation, training, education and placement. Case management, in order to ensure the successful transition from Welfare to Work, became an even greater focus. CEDA invested significantly in enhancing the case management credentials of its staff by training its field staff through the Family and Community Development Certification Training Program operated by the Illinois Community Action Agency in partnership with the University of Iowa. The need for extended pre-school education and day care for working parents was met with CEDA beginning to administer Early Head Start for children from newborns to three years of age. Expanded wrap around services with before and after school care providers also was a highlight of this effort which continues today.
The new millennium has witnessed the continued growth and expansion of CEDA. A new subsidiary corporation, the Community Economic Development Corporation (CEDC) was formed. CEDC trains clients in construction technique through a deconstruction program that salvages valuable components of older structures prior to their demolition.
Our Community Development Areas have developed substantial partnerships to improve and expand services and generate new sources of funding. Technology and systems upgrades are making it possible for CEDA to operate more efficiently and effectively than ever before.
As we celebrate more than forty years of remarkable achievement, we never forget our singular purpose: To improve the quality of life for the people and the communities of Cook County.