• Assisting in the development of neighborhood planning projects in ways that enable neighborhood residents to develop their own strategies for neighborhood maintenance and revitalization.

• Performing land use and housing quality surveys, feasibility studies, market analyses, food and social service access analyses, grant writing assistance, and database construction.

• Mapping assistance and spatial analyses using the department's Geographic Information System (GIS) laboratory.

• Maintaining documents and data pertaining to land use, community health, housing, economic development, and community planning.

The Calumet Environmental Resource Center (CERC) is a unit of the Fredrick Blum Neighborhood Assistance Center (NAC) and is a repository for environmental information relating to the Calumet region in southeastern Chicago/Cook County and in northwestern Indiana. CERC resources are available to students, faculty, and members of the community.

The NAC is named after Fredrick Blum, emeritus professor of Geography, long-time supporter of community planning and neighborhood development, and originator of the idea for the NAC.