MAKING CONNECTIONS CHICAGO
In West Chicago, where rates of violence are high and economic investment and employment opportunities are limited, poverty, trauma, and stress are widespread, especially among the community’s youngest residents.
How would relationships and communities change if we replaced fear with trust? In West Chicago, the Chicago Making Connections coalition asked this question and chose safe places to play as the change lab. With a vision of men and boys of color feeling a sense of belonging, ownership, and safety in a thriving community, Chicago Making Connections has created safe environments for play, mentorship, and community action.
How They're Solving the Problem
How They're Solving the Problem
Coalition Partners are collaborating to:
- Lead afterschool coaching and mentoring programs in the Little Village neighborhood of West Chicago. These programs offer sports like basketball as well as support and mentoring to help young men be better able to communicate their needs, understand their emotions, and problem solve.
- Empower young men to lead the development and implementation of these programs, called Beyond the Ball Boys and La Villita Warriors, through a Youth Board of Directors.
- Create meaningful employment opportunities for men 16-65 as coaches and mentors of younger men.
- Position Beyond the Ball, the area’s leading organization in sport for development, as an agent of community change by leveraging the power of sport and play to reclaim space, unite the community, and develop a culture through which hope and opportunities are cultivated.
Impact
Impact
Beyond the Ball has improved the mental health and wellbeing of boys and young men of color in Chicago neighborhoods where violence and trauma are the norm. By creating safe spaces for play, peer-support programs and meaningful employment opportunities, the program has improved social connectedness and healthy relationships among men. It has also promoted civic engagement and advocacy.
Participating Organizations
Beyond the Ball
Sinai Health System
Joseph E. Gary School Elementary School
Ortiz de Dominguez Elementary School
John Spry Elementary School