Martha Palmer, a former NIU CHANCE program counselor, is directing a program to bring relief to public aid recipients living on Chicago’s West Side.

Palmer, whose unrenewed NIU contract spurred cries of racism last December, is now employed by Bethel New Life Inc., an organization which works to improve declining neighborhoods through education, housing and employment programs.

The voluntary program, which will begin Oct. 1, centers on the belief that community groups can offer more effective assistance than public caseworkers. The program will be run experimentally in the West Garfield neighborhood for five years.