We Believe in Self Care: NLEN, Sweet Beginnings & the beelove café Closed April 21st- 25th

North Lawndale Employment Network, Sweet Beginnings, and the beelove café are closing all operations from Monday, April 21st through Friday, April 25th for our annual All Staff Week of Self-Care. We are taking time to rest and recharge this Spring so we can return to our mission with renewed energy and dedication to our work. You can find more information, including key dates below.

The Critical Importance of Self-Care:

The work of our organization and social impact businesses is critically important and requires the hard work and talents of all of our staff. Workers in social services face extremely high rates of burnout and moral injury due to the intense demands of their work. Just as we work to reframe the narrative around the neighborhood we work in, we also seek to reframe the narrative around the work we do, and the support we need to do this work. That is why centering time to rest and care for ourselves so that we can care for others is so important to our organization.

Key Dates:

North Lawndale Employment Network, Sweet Beginnings and the beelove café are closed from Monday, April 21st through Friday, April 25th. We will not offer any programs or services, ship beelove® purchases, or operate the beelove café during this time.

The beelove café will be open and operate regular Saturday hours (8AM-2PM) on Saturday April 19th and Saturday, April 26th.

We will return to our regularly scheduled hours of operation on Monday, April 28th.

Information for Current Clients:

If you are a current Financial Opportunity Center® client or a current participant of our Workforce Programs, your case worker or coach will be reaching out to you regarding our upcoming campus closures. If you need any immediate supportive services during our campus closure, we highly recommend contacting these local resources:

211: Dial 211 to connect with a comprehensive network of service providers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for everything from housing assistance, nutrition support, and more.

311: Dial 311 or visit 311.chicago.gov to be connected with City of Chicago services.

988: Dial 988 if you or a loved one is facing a mental health crisis or concern. 988 is operated by mental health clinicians and will also dispatch police for situations involving an immediate threat to safety.

Crisis Assistance Response and Engagement (CARE): The CARE program is operated by the Chicago Department of Public Health and operates teams of mental health care workers to respond to mental health crisis calls. CARE operates Monday-Friday from 10AM to 4:30PM in limited regions across Chicago. You can find the service maps at this link. Call 911 and request a CARE team in order to have CARE dispatched to a crisis call.

Information for Social Enterprises Vendors:

Our Sweet Beginnings and beelove café still are contacting all current vendors regarding our campus closure in order to update and align delivery schedules. For immediate inquiries, contact us at beelove@nlen.org and thebeelovecafe@nlen.org.

Information for Stakeholders and Community Partners:

During our closure, we will not be present at any off-site events or taking meetings with any prospective or current partners. We will resume our partner and stakeholder engagement activities once we reopen! If you are interested in collaborating with our organization, contact us at outreach@nlen.org.

How NLEN is Celebrating our Self-Care Week:

Our staff will be spending our Self Care Week in a variety of ways, from simply resting and relaxing, to travel, visiting friends and family, catching up on DIY tasks and hobbies, and more!

We also encourage our clients, social enterprise customers, vendors and partners to find time to do the same. We will share more insights from staff on how they engaged in self-care on our social media once we reopen our campus!

Follow us at @nlen_jobs @beelovebuzzofficial and @thebeelovecafe on Instagram and Threads, @nlen.jobs on TikTok and at North Lawndale Employment Network on Facebook and LinkedIn!

Bee Well from all of us at North Lawndale Employment Network, Sweet Beginnings, LLC and the beelove café!