Let’s talk about 1991.
The year the Cold War officially ended(!); the year of the Gulf War.
In 1991, an amateur tape of police beating an unarmed man sparked the Los Angeles Riots.
Estonia and Latvia declared independence from the Soviet Union.
South African apartheid was beginning to crumble a year after Nelson Mandela’s release from prison.
Comedy Central launched.
I signed up for my first email account on Prodigy.
A democratic governor from Arkansas announced his campaign for the 1992 presidential election.
It was a big year.
Also happening in 1991, Chicago entrepreneur and philanthropist Tom Owens founded The Cara Program, using his own car as its first office. While many of the events of 1991 have either passed completely out of the collective cultural consciousness or been reduced to punchlines, The Cara Program has grown beyond the four doors of Tom Owen’s vehicle to become a thriving job-training and placement provider. With 20 years of service, The Cara Program has placed over 2,700 individuals into quality employment, catalyzing families to break the seemingly impenetrable cycle of poverty.
The Cara staff provides not only resources and support, but also hope. Hope that despite a fickle cultural memory and an overwhelming 24-hour news cycle, that our underserved and impoverished will not go unnoticed. Hope that, after 20 years, there remain plenty of individuals and organizations dedicated to empowering families and transforming lives.
Join the Cara Program’s
20th Anniversary Celebration of Hope
Friday, September 16, 2011
7:00pm – 11:00pm
House of Blues Chicago
329 North Dearborn Street
Tickets can be purchased online.
$125 advance purchase/$150 at the door
After all, 20 years of service deserves a proper fete. Enjoy an open bar, a live and silent auction, fantastic raffle prizes, and dance a bit to the stylings of local favorites JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound. All proceeds benefit the Cara Program and support their efforts to reduce homelessness and poverty in Chicago and will help launch them into the next 20 years.
JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound – I Am Trying to Break Your Heart
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