Chicago Youth Centers Overview: Safer & Smarter

Transcription

1 Chicago Youth Centers Overview: Safer & Smarter February, 2008

2 It is a rare public policy initiative that promotes fairness and social justice and, at the same time, promotes productivity in the economy and in society at large. Investing in disadvantaged young children is such a policy. --James J. Hickman, Nobel Laureate in Economics University of Chicago 2

3 CYC Invests in Youth in Underserved Chicago Neighborhoods to Help Them Discover and Realize Their Full Potential. Early Childhood Development and Head Start ~ After-school Program Teen Leadership Development ~ College and Career Readiness ~ Summer Day Camps ~ Residential Camp Rosenthal in Southwestern Michigan Founded by Elliott Donnelley and Sidney Epstein in 1956 Chicago s largest multi-site, independent, locally based youth services agency Members sign up to attend and participate in a Continuum of Caring curriculum designed to improve academic performance as well as life and social skills. Serves more than 5,000 at-risk young people ages 3 to 19 and parents annually 100% low income; 81% African American, 17% Latino, and 2% Caucasian; 54% female and 46% male. 3

4 CYC s Ultimate Objective is to Produce Youth Who are College- and Life-ready Ages 3 to 5 Ages 5 to 12 Ages 13 to 18 College & Career Early Childhood Development Head Start After School Program Summer Fun After School Program Summer Fun Teen Leadership Development Mentoring Scholarships College & Career Readiness Academic Enrichment Leadership Development Activities for Teens The Arts Community Service Projects Recreation, Sports, and Character Development Parental Involvement Mentorship ITW-Watson Scholars Program 4

5 Specialized Programs Educational Support Initiative (for wards of the state) 21st Century Academic Support (at schools on academic watch list) Comprehensive Community-based Youth Services (crisis intervention) Mentoring Children of Prisoners 5

6 Recent Initiatives College & Career Readiness Centers Language Arts Media Center Environmental Education Visual and Performing Arts Client Outcomes Tracking System In fall 2009, 85 CYC alumni enrolled in 31 colleges and universities most with CYC-generated scholarships. 6

7 Ambitions Not Circumscribed by Zip Codes and School Districts CYC MEMBERS ENROLLED IN COLLEGE ARE ASKED ABOUT THEIR ACADEMIC AND CAREER GOALS: Marvelas L. Hare University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Engineer Michelle Howard Richard J. Daley College Girls basketball coach Joanna Arellano University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Special Education Deonte Harris The University of Wisconsin-Madison Music Composition Nicholas Bikos University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Electrical engineering Brittany Darrough DePaul University Political Science and Sociology British Lassiter University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Kinesiology and Community Health Perla Perez Washburne Culinary Institute Own my own restaurant Alexis Ware Saint Xavier University State attorney Arturo Fernandez Northern Illinois University Biology Sheila Concepcion Northeastern Illinois University Graphic Design Jasmin Dominguez Illinois Institute of Art - Chicago Visual Communications Arleys Jimenez The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago Animator Dwayne Moore Southern Illinois University Carbondale Architect Dominque Ganier Western Illinois University Construction Management Keith Haywood Kennedy-King College Police officer Chantell Johnson Carleton College Professor at a college or university Bradley Thomas University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Urban and Regional Planning 7

8 CYC Camp Rosenthal Campers make life-long friends, learn self-reliance and team-building, and experience the natural world and their place in it in a safe, beautiful environment. One of only five remaining camps for underserved kids in the region 530 wooded acres in Southwest Michigan plus 30-acre Rowe Lake Rowing, sailing, bicycling, hiking, rope climbing, talent shows, cooking, storytelling Study of flora and fauna, pond and lake life, and the camp eco-system 8

9 Volunteers and Mentors Poverty, I realized, wasn t only a lack of financial resources; it was isolation from the kind of people that could help you make more of yourself. Keith Ferrazzi, in his national bestseller on the power of relationships, Never Eat Alone CYC depends on 1,000 volunteers annually to help support programming at eight centers plus mentors who meet with their mentees twice a month to provide friendship and guidance that helps keep them in school and on the right track. 9

10 CYC s Neighborhoods MT. MORIAH-TAYLOR CENTRO NUESTRO Avondale Rachel s Learning Center 2 Rachel s Learning Center 1 ABC POLK BROS. FELLOWSHIP HOUSE Young Women s Leadership Charter ELLIOTT DONNELLEY (Mentoring Services Office) Charles S. Deneen Elementary Anthony Overton Elementary Price Elementary CYC YOUTH CENTER 21 ST CENTURY PARTNER SCHOOL HEAD START/CHILDHOOD PARTNER LCOATION REBECCA K. CROWN Pathways 1 Shining Star 1 Lots of Love Shining Star 2 Tots Express Little Elite Academy ROSELAND & YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICES Granny s Day Care DOROTHY GAUTREAUX 10

11 50th Anniversary Building Futures Campaign Raising $5,000,000 toward Full-time Youth Workers and Mentor Supervisors Center and Camp Rosenthal Improvements Program and Curriculum Development 11