ESLARP Staff located at the NTAC Office

Billie Turner Community Liaison

First Illinois Bank Building 327Missouri Avenue East St. Louis, IL 62205 618-271-9605 billiegt@uiuc.edu

Origins

The success of past university and community-based improvement projects has generated significant local and Federal government interest in neighborhood-based revitalization efforts. The Governor’s Illinois Workforce Advantage program and the Department of Housing and Urban Development continue to support such efforts. The NTAC serves as the University's local support system for many University projects in East St. Louis. Through the efforts of Billie Turner, Campus students, faculty and staff gain direct contact with the residents of East St. Louis and the surrounding areas.

The growing number of neighborhood organizations and non-profits engaged in local community development efforts need ongoing technical assistance to strengthen their organizational, research, planning and design skills. Ms. Turner serves as a daily resource to community-based organizations looking to strengthen their capacity to develop workable plans and proposals in order to solve important physical and social problems faced by the community.

The NTAC is a place where residents and organizations in the Greater East St. Louis Enterprise Community can request one-stop technical assistance, training and volunteer assistance. Through the NTAC residents can be connected with class-based assistance

Partners

In recent years, the NTAC has been funded by the Enterprise Community, the St. Clair County Intergovernmental Grants Department, HUD-COPC New Directions, the Corella and Bertram F. Bonner Foundation, Illinois Workforce Advantage, and the University of Illinois. These partnerships have allowed the NTAC to offer increased technical assistance to local nonprofit and community-based organizations, connect local colleges and universities to the community in mutually beneficial relationships, and maintain our open door policy as a locally based resource for the University of Illinois East St. Louis Action Research Project.