BETHEL NEW LIFE

NEW LIFE NEWS4950 W. THOMAS STREET, CHICAGO, IL, 60651 • 773-473-7870 • BETHELNEWLIFE.ORG

4950 W. THOMAS STREET, CHICAGO, IL, 60651BETHELNEWLIFE.ORG

SUMMER 2013Special Edition: Brand Launch

BETHEL NEW LIFE LAUNCHES NEW BRAND & COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM Organization to Use Improved Communications to Reflect New Approach to Community Investment.

EVENTS

WE'RE HERE. WE'RE HEALTHY. WE'RE FOCUSED

Business Contingency Planning July 24, 2013 - 8:30-10:30 a.m.

1140 N. Lamon, Chicago, IL 60651

Starting a Business in Illinois

August 6, 2013 - 5:00-8:00 p.m.

1140 N. Lamon, Chicago, IL 60651

In July, Bethel New Life announced the launch of its new brand and communications system. Featuring a new logo, web site, and a wide variety of supporting digital and printed material; the new system was created to provide a fresh look and improved com-munications capabilities to support Bethel’s transi-tion into a new breed of community investment organization.

Bethel’s new logo features a series of four individu-als with their heads together in the shape of a cross. The goal was to create a very simple graphical icon that could serve as a visualization of community togetherness and collective thinking, while paying homage to Bethel’s strong faith-based, Lutheran heritage.

“Bethel New Life is embarking on an exciting new path with our programs and investments which are focused on education, community economic devel-opment and senior housing. We needed an equally

exciting new look and tools that would allow us communicate with our audiences in a more effective manner going forward,” said Bethel’s President & CEO Lori Vallelunga, Ph.D.

Bethel New Life is here, healthy and focused. We just launched a new logo and full communication system to better reflect our new attitude and approach. We are excited, energized and working harder than ever to create opportunities for our West Side communities. We are focused on creating opportunities for indi-viduals and families to bring themselves out of poverty. We are working to build policies and systems that help communities thrive. Both of these efforts are nec-essary to bring about the transformation we seek. Our work in education, community economic development, and affordable senior housing is intentional and focused. Assuring that our children have

OUR MISSION

access to high quality education and are prepared for successful lives is essential. We must stop produc-ing teens and young adults that are poorly educated and have little preparation for employment or life if we are to reverse decades of poverty. And while, improving access to good education is necessary, it will not produce community transformation for another generation. Our communities also need more immediate opportunities to transform. Our work in community economic development focuses on build-ing the local economy by building and strengthening local businesses and training residents for jobs in high growth industries. Through these efforts we begin to create a healthier economy for the West Side. Providing affordable housing for our community's seniors has also been a longstanding part of our work. We continue to assure that more than 200 community seniors have a safe and healthy home that they can afford.Thank you for being a blessing to so many,

Lori R. Vallelunga, Ph.D.

Home Buyers SeminarAugust 10, 2013 - 9:30-4:00 p.m.

1900 W. Van Buren St., Chicago 60612

CONTENTS

• Bethel New Life Launches New Brand

• Brain Train Spotlight: Justin B

• Workforce Development Career Prep Spotlight: Ti�any Smith

• Donor’s List: January 1 – March 31, 2013

• President’s Letter

To realize God’s vision of a restored society by creating opportunities for individuals and families to invest in themselves and by promoting policies and systems that help communities thrive.

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT CAREER PREP SPOTLIGHT: TIFFANY SMITH

BRAIN TRAIN SPOTLIGHT: JUSTIN B

THANKS TO ALL OUR DONORSJanuary 1 – March 31, 2013

B E T H E L N E W L I F E . O R G

communities together to address the most pressing challenges on Chicago’s West side.”

When Justin B. began third grade at Spencer Elementary Technology Academy, he had a bit of catching up to do. Starting the school year, he was reading at a Kindergarten level. After joining the Brain Train, things started to change. Justin worked one-on-one with trained parents and teachers who applied precision teaching methods to help him advance his reading ability.

One of Justin’s favorite parts of the Brain Train was earning points by mastering new words and skills and then using them to buy things at the Brain Train shop, but most of all he liked reaching new grade levels in reading. Justin finished third grade this spring, now reading 112 words per minute at a fifth grade level. We have been so impressed by Justin and his peers in Brain Train! They have shown us how far any child can excel with the right support.

In today’s economy, you never know what opportu-nities will present themselves. Tiffany Smith, a member of Bethel’s Workforce Development Career Prep program, is investing her time and talent to develop a new, marketable skill set in the field of advanced manufacturing. Tiffany is a West Side native, mother of three, and a trained paralegal who has worked in the legal industry off and on for more than 10 years. When asked why she hopes to leap from law to manufacturing, Tiffany said, “The job landscape is changing dramatically. You need to keep up with skills and to be able to know and learn new things. Anything new or dynamic that you can put on your resume is going to help you out.”

She is eager to challenge herself to learn computer programming and manufacturing skills, and is already working hard in the program to develop aca-demic and career skills. Although Tiffany would like to go back 20 years to start learning earlier, she is optimistic about the future and is truly investing in herself.

INDIVIDUALS $25,000 AND ABOVEGerald A. & Karen A. Kolschowsky Foundation

INDIVIDUALS $7,500 - $24,999Anonymous, Jay and Carrie Weaver

INDIVIDUALS $1,000 - $7,499Carole and Philip Hildebrandt, Lester and Becky Knight, Ronald Kok-Alblas & Kim Morton, Bruce Martin, Mike and Claire Van Konynenburg

INDIVIDUALS $250 - $999John and Laura Anderson, Rev. James Carstensen, Scott A. and Nancy Christopher, Diane and Bruce Erickson, Leigh and Rob Gunther, Dave and Louise Ioder, Michael and Marian Kneafsey, Sandy and Bill Leitsch, Leo and Linda Patterson, Jim and Diana Skogsbergh, Gordon and Karen Souden, Sara Spoonheim, Brian and Suzanne Warner, Laurie Wilkinson, Rozella Youngquist

INDIVIDUALS UNDER $250Bruce and Sara Anderson, Rick and Marilyn Beato, Kurt and Sarah Belinski, Doris Boan, Daniel Burke & Margot McMahon, Kelly Collins, Donna Cooper, Ted Elbert & Vicki Weger, Fayto-nia Fair, Robert and Sue Gehm, Erik Haugen, W. Thomas Holmes, Denise Hoover, Maren K. and Jim Huber, Gladys R. Joh son, Bonnie Kohl, Carl and Virginia Landahl, Mark H. Larson, Victor and Anne Lee, Theodor and Jacqueine Maxeiner, Verna Offermann, Janet M. Pate, Edward and Kathleen Quinn, McLouis and Harriette Robinet, Michael Rohrbeck & Andrea Raila, Lynn I. Sivertsen, Paul and Cynthia Stark, Clark and Mim Zeddies

FOUNDATIONS & CORPORATIONS $30,000 AND ABOVEPolk Bros. Foundation

FOUNDATIONS & CORPORATIONS$5,000 - $29,999Draper and Kramer, Guaranty Bank, Walter S. Mander Foundation

FOUNDATIONS & CORPORATIONSUNDER $5,000Abbott Laboratories Employee Giving Campaign, ABC Bank, AT&T United Way Employee Giving Campaign, Cole Taylor Bank, Community Bank of Oak Park River Forest, Computershare, Illinois Housing Development Authority, Johnson & Bell Ltd., Kittleman & Associates, LISC National Head-quarters, Northern Trust Matching Gift and Volun-teer Grant Program, Roeschley Hybrids, LLC, State Bank Of India, T. A. Cummings Jr. Co., Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, United Insurance, Zenith Fabricating Company

CONGREGATIONSChristian Fellowship for all Nations in Chicago, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Grace Lutheran Church and School of River Forest, Lutheran Church of the Ascension of Northfield, Metropolitan Chicago Synod, Our Saviour's Evan-gelical Lutheran Church of Arlington Heights, Peace Lutheran Church of New Lenox, St. James Lutheran Church of Lake Forest

IN-KIND DONATIONSAustin Weekly News, Community Bank of Oak Park River Forest, The Private Bank

Continued From Cover Story

“We are focused on creating opportunities to bring individuals and families out of poverty as well as bringing about the system and policy changes neces-sary to lift an entire community out of poverty,” added Dr. Vallelunga. “We feel that our new logo provides a great graphical complement to this and we are excited about using improved communica-tion as one of the ways we bring individuals and