December 6, 2009
Southtown Star
By: Donna Vickroy

Food tops the wish for a lot of people this holiday.

At CEDA Center for Community Action in Harvey, there has been a 30 percent increase in the number of people asking for food, executive director Carolyn Taylor said.

The center, which serves Harvey, Riverdale, Dolton, Burnham, Phoenix and South Holland, plans to distribute at least 500 food baskets this Christmas. The baskets are made possible by Project Share, the SouthtownStar's annual holiday food drive.

November 27, 2009
CBS Broadcasting
By: Reporter Dorothy Tucker

Do you know how to use a hammer? Can you steady a ladder? Are you willing to learn a new trade? If so, you're the perfect candidate for one of 500 new jobs for a government backed program that's expanding with the use of stimulus money.

CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker reports that the non-profit Community and Economic Development Association of Cook County is looking to hire.

November 20, 2009
The Chicago Tribune
By: Dennis Sullivan

Home heating costs are expected to be lower this winter, but that's cold comfort to cash-strapped south suburban residents like Reginald Thompson, who has gone without heat at his Calumet City home since his service was shut off in March.

November 8, 2009
La Raza

Hay varios programas para ayudarle a pagar sus recibos de gas y electricidad

Usted podría ser elegible para recibir ayuda de uno de los programas de CEDA, ComEd y/o Peoples Gas, que asisten a los residentes de Illinois con sus recibos de gas y electricidad durante los meses de invierno.

November 2, 2009
The Chicago Tribune
By: Ann Meyer

To grow his health care supply manufacturing company, Ash Luthra needed money and workers.

He got both from the Community and Economic Development Association of Cook County Inc., also known as CEDA, a nonprofit organization that offers loans to small businesses that agree to create jobs for low-income workers in Cook County.

November 2, 2009
Door & Window Manufacturer Magazine

Serious Materials announced last week that the Community and Economic Development Association of Cook County (CEDA), Ill., is using its super-insulating, high R-value Serious Windows for the Illinois Home Weatherization Assistance Program. The windows are being installed to provide enhanced energy efficiency in three income-eligible multi-family projects administered by CEDA, in Chicago and suburban Cook County.

October 30, 2009
Apollo News Service
By: Andrea Buffa

On Oct. 30, the federal government’s Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board released new data about American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) spending and job creation. It reported that $160 billion in federal grants and loans have been awarded nationally, resulting in the retention or creation of more than 640,000 jobs. Earlier this month, the board announced that $16 billion in ARRA contracts had been awarded, saving or creating more than 30,000 jobs.

October 30, 2009
In These Times
By: Kari Lydersen

Serious Materials, the California company that bought Republic Windows and Doors factory after workers occupied the suddenly-closed factory last year, announced today it will supply windows for the country’s largest home weatherization agency, the Community Economic Development Association of Cook County (CEDA).

October 30, 2009
Glass Magazine

The Community and Economic Development Association of Cook County, Chicago, is using Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Serious Materials' super-insulating, high R-value SeriousWindows for the Illinois Home Weatherization Assistance Program, according to an Oct. 30 release. Use of these windows will enhance energy efficiency and increase savings for income-eligible families on their heating and cooling costs. CEDA now plans to install super-insulating windows in most or all multifamily housing units that qualify for weatherization. By including super-insulating windows in CEDA’s weatherization program, hundreds of new local manufacturing and installation jobs can be created. If all weatherization agencies nationwide were to include super-insulating windows in weatherization programs, thousands of jobs would be created.

October 30, 2009

Serious Materials , a leading energy-saving building materials company in the U.S., today announced that the largest weatherization agency in the United States, the Community and Economic Development Association of Cook County (CEDA), is using its super-insulating, high R-value SeriousWindows for the Illinois Home Weatherization Assistance Program. Use of SeriousWindows will increase savings for income-eligible families on their heating and cooling costs. SeriousWindows are being installed to demonstrate the enhanced energy efficiency that can be achieved in income-eligible multi-family projects administered by CEDA in Chicago and suburban Cook County. CEDA now plans to install super-insulating windows in most or all multi-family housing units that qualify for weatherization. By including super-insulating windows in CEDA’s weatherization program, hundreds of new local manufacturing and installation jobs can be created. If all weatherization agencies nationwide were to include super-insulating windows in weatherization programs, thousands of jobs would be created.

October 28, 2009
The Wall Street Journal
PR Newswire

Utility bill payment assistance programs are available to residents now until funds are exhausted.

To help eligible customers prepare for cold temperatures, CEDA, ComEd and Peoples Gas will hold a series of community events to make residents aware of energy assistance programs that are available now.

August 14, 2009
The New York Times
By Peter Behr of Climatewire

In the midst of an often bitter recession, the "green" economy continues to generate jobs and headlines.

Vestas American Wind Technology opened a new wind turbine factory in Windsor, Colo., last year and created 650 jobs. The Danish company -- the world's largest wind turbine manufacturer -- plans to establish research centers in Houston and Boston as part of a $1 billion U.S. expansion.

A home weatherization program in greater Chicago, targeted at lower-income households, has filled 60 new staff positions and doubled its number of neighborhood contractors to take advantage of $37 million in new federal stimulus funding.

By Carmen Greco Jr.
Special to the Tribune
July 8, 2009

Mamie Smith saw it as one-stop shopping for the medical tests she has been putting off because she lacks health insurance. For a nominal fee, the Calumet Park senior had her blood pressure and cholesterol checked and found out, to her relief, she did not have diabetes. She even had her spine examined by a doctor who gave her some helpful advice.

Tribune staff report
January 16, 2009

Resources to help families with their natural gas and electric bills The Community and Economic Development Association of Cook County, also known as CEDA, provides once-a-year help for low-income families in the Chicago area. The grants are available for families who live at or below 150 percent of poverty income guidelines. For a family of four, gross monthly income 30 days before the application is filed must fall at or below $2,650, said Marsha Belcher, Director of Marketing and Resource Development for CEDA.

November 30, 2008

On Tuesday, November 25th, Cicero Town President Larry Dominick met with representatives from the Community and Economic Development Association of Cook County (CEDA) and Nicor, Inc. to discuss their Weatherization Program available to Cicero residents in need.

Daily Herald
November 25, 2008
By: Marni Pyke

A couple with a young baby and people of all ages and walks of life waited upstairs at the CEDA headquarters in Mount Prospect Monday, seeking assistance from the nonprofit community organization. Downstairs, Jim Shatkus surveyed the contents of a storeroom packed to the ceiling with food. "It goes out pretty quick. If you came here last week, it would have been empty," said Shatkus, coordinator of The Food Connection. Local high schools collecting donations to give hungry families a real Thanksgiving dinner came to Shatkus' rescue this week. But like other agencies that serve the needy in the suburbs, CEDA, the Community Economic Development Assistance group, is challenged by a surge in people who can't pay for food even as obtaining donations grows more difficult.

November 9, 2008
By Rena F, Staff writer

Dressed in a red Santa hat and a sequined tie, Charlene Hawthorne brought her holiday spirit to the kickoff meeting for Project Share, the SouthtownStar's annual holiday food drive. But the holidays may not be so cheerful for some of our Southland neighbors, said Hawthorne, of the Community and Economic Development Association's Center for Community Action in Harvey.

Daily Herald
December 1, 2007
By: Ames Boykin

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin urged housing agencies to streamline services so homeowners facing foreclosure have a clearer path to help. Confusion over knowing what to do or where they can seek services remains the biggest hurdle for homeowners, Durbin said Friday at a meeting with housing groups in Rolling Meadows.

The Social Service Corporation in Oak Lawn recently granted the Children's Museum in Oak Lawn $4,500 to serve economically disadvantaged families. Through a partnership with CEDA WIC Program in Oak Lawn, the Children's Museum in Oak Lawn will admit any mother and her children into the museum at no charge when the mother presents her WIC card at the door.

West Suburban Journal-News
November 2, 2007
By: L. Nicole Trottie

Experts expect number of foreclosures to impede low-income neighborhoods’ progress November 1, 2007 Dozens of housing and public policy experts projected a bleak forecast for foreclosures, with some predicting the worst is still ahead, particularly in minority neighborhoods’.

Chicago Tribune
October 26, 2007
By: Ray Quintanilla

More than two dozen housing and public-policy experts painted a gloomy portrait Thursday of the home foreclosure crisis across the Chicago area, with some worrying that the worst is yet to come.

Chicago Defender
September 24 - 30, 2007
By: Defender Reporter

Robert L. Wharton, president and chief executive officer of the Community and Economic Development Association of Cook County was honored as “Business Man of the Year” during the 2008 Minority Business Expo held earlier this month. The event was held at Governors State University in south suburban University Park.

Profitwise News and Views
May 2007
By: Mary Jo Cannistra

After President Lyndon Johnson declared an "unconditional war on poverty" in 1964, the Economic Opportunity Act was drafted, and numerous organizations quickly formed to wage battle in communities around the country. The Community and Economic Development Association of Cook County, Inc. (CEDA) was one such group. Established in 1966, CEDA began at the grassroots level - in schools, churches, storefronts, and community centers. It is now one of the largest private nonprofit organizations in the U.S., with over 200 offices throughout Cook County.

Chicago Citizen's Newspaper
Week of January 10, 2007
By: La Risa Lynch

Capitalism. That one word may symbolically be the reason why Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Poor People’s Campaign failed to be realized in 1968.

Profitwise News and Views
Spring 2003
By: Harry Pestine

In January 2003, a community development financial institution (CDFI) placed automatic teller machines (ATMs) in the financially underserved communities of Ford Heights and Robbins, Illinois. This move is particularly noteworthy, as the ATMs are operated by a nonprofit organization, the Community Economic Development Association of Cook County (CEDA), and not by a regulated financial institution.