NLC Boxing Builds Camaraderie Between Neighborhoods
Youth from St. Michael's Social Center located in the neighborhood of Back of the Yards have begun training with youth from Little Village at the Chicago Youth Boxing Club. Through this boxing partnership, youth are able to build community with others from different neighborhoods of the city. The experience has been great and youth from Little Village who have been training longer have taken it upon themselves to train the new members from Back of the Yards. Outside of the boxing gym, they had the opportunity to travel together to Briar Street Theater and experience a viewing of the Blue Man group. They had a blast during this trip and were able to relax and hang out with each other. It’s through sports that New Life Centers is able to bring youth from around the city together and help build camaraderie.
Blessing Mothers On Their Special Day
On Mother's Day, New Life Centers and its participants brought flowers to the mothers of the Little Village neighborhood to show them our appreciation for their support and entrusting us with their children. These flowers were also passed out to the mothers of youth that have been lost to street violence to remind them that they are not forgotten and have our full support.
NLC Youth Engage In Paintball Battle with Alpha Psi Lambda
New Life Centers youth participated in paintballing with the brothers of the intercollegiate fraternity Alpha Psi Lambda. The group of youth that we took from Little Village had never experienced paintballing and were excited try it. It was an evenly matched battle as the teams were mixed with both NLC youth and Alpha Psi Lambda brothers. It was a great experience for them to interact with the men from the fraternity who encouraged them to attend college and experience new things.
McDonald's Works with Youth to Help Them Get Jobs
New Life Centers, La Villita Church and Central States SER partnered with McDonald's to offer a hiring event for Little Village and North Lawndale youth! McDonalds Corporate employees representing 10 locations in the Chicagoland area had the chance to meet Little Village candidates and interview them for part-time and full-time employment. Over 20 youth, prepared, interviewed and now await anxiously to hear the status of their potential employment.
400 Attend Little League Opening Day
Little Village Little League (LVLL) Opening Day was the biggest so far with 400 attendees. During the opening ceremony sponsors were thanked as they made the baseball league possible, mariachi played and parents of players were recognized for their time commitment and support. For the rest of the day, players and families enjoyed games, food and getting their baseball pictures taken.
God provided a beautiful day for the start of a great baseball season!
Bright Colors & Fun for Running Forward First Run of the Season
This was the 2nd year that Running Forward youth participated in the 5K Color Run in Wheaton. Our runners finished looking more colorful than ever. This was the first run of the season; the youth had a lot of fun and are excited for the next race that will be the Cinco de Miler race which will be a 5 mile race. Stay tuned!
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Little League Expands This Year with New Age Division
Little Village Little League season has officially started! The players are practicing every week preparing for opening day on May 4th. This is the first year that we have a Junior division for ages 13-15 and we were able to create 3 teams for that division. There are a total of 230 youth playing in our division this year, an increase of 50 players from last year! We are excited for this 2019 season and are grateful to be able to provide safe spaces for youth in the Little Village neighborhood.
Teaching Restorative Justice In St. Louis
NLC staff were able to facilitate two workshops at the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis. The workshops highlighted the restorative justice and alternative to detention programming that NLC staff administers to young people in the city of Chicago. Students and practitioners from St. Louis and southern Illinois were able to walk away with practical tools they can use when working with youth and emerging adults in their agencies and communities.
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NLC Staff Members Graduate from Metropolitan Peace Academy
NLC staff members, Andre and Victoria, were part of the Metropolitan Peace Academy, a citywide Training academy for street outreach workers, in partnership with Metropolitan Family Services and Communities Partnering for Peace. This 144 hour training focuses on the field of street outreach and how to become a better outreach worker. Andre and Victoria worked hard for months and went above and beyond as they grew together with the second cohort of this new initiative. We are excited to continue to build a citywide coalition of street outreach workers and to see our own team become stronger. Please pray for our outreach team as they run to the places of violence and walk with some of our most disconnected young people.
NLC Youth On Stage with Obama at MBK Rising
New Life Centers was chosen as a seed grant winner with the Obama Foundation’s My Brothers Keeper Initiative. Last week we headed to Oakland for MBK Rising, a national summit for young men of color and organizations serving them across the US. It was an energizing time where Matt DeMateo, our Executive Director, and Jorge Roque, Director of Mentoring, took two young people to Oakland. Alex, one of our young people, was able to be on the stage with President Obama and Stephen Curry from the Golden State Warriors. We spent time with President Obama, other national partners, and talked about building a movement of youth mentoring and violence prevention work. We were honored to be a voice at the table and are excited to see what doors open in 2019 and beyond!
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