BACKGROUND
The Lincoln Project was proposed to TIIAP in response to recommendations that came out of another GSU initiative called the Regional Action Project/2000+ (RAP/2000+). In the spring of 1994, with the support of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Chicago Community Trust, GSU partnered with the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association (SSMMA) to implement RAP, a grassroots process designed to identify critical social, economic, and political issues facing the south metro region of the greater Chicago area, and to establish a means to make progress on the identified issues.
Through a variety of town hall meetings, videoconferences, and information sharing sessions, a set of goals and recommendations emerged from the common work of approximately 1,000 people from across the region who participated in seven RAP/2000+ Action Teams that focused on such issues as education, jobs, economic development, transportation, diversity, image, and the environment. (See Appendix A: Shaping the Future Together: The First Annual Report to the South Metropolitan Region) The south metro region has been loosely defined as a 1,900 square mile area reaching from the southern parts of Chicago through south and southwest Cook County, and all of Will and Kankakee Counties. The region, which is one of the most diverse regions in the nation, is home to approximately 1.5 million people and is made up of urban, suburban, and rural working class communities, some of which are the poorest in the country. (See Appendix B: Map of the South Metro Region).
Those who participated in the RAP process were able to reach consensus on a number of cross-cutting issues. First, participants across the board felt that communicating and working together "as a region, for the region" was an important objective. We made it our common goal to develop a sense of community, with neighbors working together on our many shared interests. These goals led to the development of the South Metropolitan Regional Leadership Center (SMRLC) at GSU, which has been carrying the regional dialogue and spirit of cooperation forward. Another area of consensus that emerged from RAP/2000+ was the need for access to local, regional, and national information infrastructures as a mechanism for collaboration and public involvement.