Archives: Civic Innovation in Chicago

The Launch of Convicted in Cook

Civic Innovation in Chicago

Today we’re launching Convicted in Cook, a joint project of Smart Chicago, the Chicago Justice Project, and FreeGeek Chicago’s Supreme Chi-Town Coding Crew (SC3).

Convicted in Cook is an analysis of five years worth of conviction data received through the Office of the Chief Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County by Tracy Siska of the Chicago Justice Project. The goal is to shed a light on criminal convictions in Cook County.

The project is part of the Smart Chicago Collaborative’s Civic Works Project, a program funded by the Knight Foundation and the Chicago Community Trust to spur and support civic innovation in Chicago.

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mRelief: Mobilizing social service relief in Chicago

Civic Innovation in Chicago, Civic Startups, Launch

Last week marked the launch of mRelief,  a site that simplifies the social service qualifying process with an easy-to-use form that can be accessed online and through SMS. Residents can check to see if they’re eligible for a variety of programs including food stamps, medicaid, WIC, and more. Here’s the press release by mRelief creators on day of launch.

mRelief is made by an all-woman team hailing from different backgrounds and walks of life dedicated to making an impact with technology. Smart Chicago has supported mRelief under our CivicWorks Project funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

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mRelief is already deployed at the Martin Luther King Jr Community Services Center. The Community Service Centers are run by the City of Chicago’s Department of Family and Support Services.  DFSS Community Service Centers help individuals and families in need access a wide range of resources from shelter, food and clothing to domestic violence assistance, job training/placement and services for the formerly incarcerated. Staff members are using mRelief to help streamline the process of evaluating their eligibility. The mRelief team has also partnered with Purple Binder to refer residents to other useful local resources if they are ineligible for public assistance.

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The Launch of Chicago Localwiki

Civic Innovation in Chicago, Launch

Today we’re stoked to announce the launch of Chicago’s LocalWiki, an online hyperlocal encyclopedia that anyone can edit. There are already several cities with LocalWiki including Oakland, Ann Arbor,  and Santa Cruz.

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In order to launch LocalWiki in Chicago, we partnered with the Chicago Public Library and local writer Mairead Case. As you explore the wiki, you’ll definitely notice a literary bent.

Right now, the Chicago LocalWiki is seeded with information about local writers, places, and books that have a Chicago connection. However, this is only the beginning for LocalWiki. Because LocalWikis can be edited by anyone, there’s a huge opportunity for people to write about the rich history of their own neighborhoods. Signing up is easy and you’ll be helping people learn more about our great city.  LocalWiki also has an API. We’ll also be hosting write-a-thons at Chicago Public Library locations to help fill out the LocalWiki.

This project is part of our CivicWorks Project – program funded by the Knight Foundation and the Chicago Community Trust to spur support civic innovation in Chicago. The program will produce 200 content pieces, 5 apps that solve government problems, and 5 apps that solve community problems.

 

CivicWorks Project Extended

Civic Innovation in Chicago

Big update on our CivicWorks Project— it has been extended and we’re getting lots more work done.

Free Geek Chicago Launch of Crime and Punishment Website

The Civic Works Project (formerly known as the Civic Innovation in Chicago project) is program funded by the Knight Foundation and the Chicago Community Trust to spur support civic innovation in Chicago. The program’s original goal was to produce 200 content pieces, 5 apps that solve government problems, and 5 apps that solve community problems. We also ran the Illinois OpenTech Challenge through the grant as well.

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