Maria Joins New Life Centers after Waiting 22 Years for U.S. Residency
As soon as Abelardo Colin, Director of Food Distribution, found out the great news, he encouraged Maria to apply for a job at New Life Centers. Maria Delgado is officially joining our team as paid staff!
"I am so happy! This is home for me. They loved and cared for me. I am very excited to have this opportunity," said Maria.
New Life Centers is so happy to have Maria on our team as she offers our community her beautiful smile and contagious positivity every week.
Maria Delgado first arrived at New Life Community Church in Little Village, which shares building space with New Life Centers, as an Aerobics instructor for community members. She quickly became popular among mothers in the Little Village community. Her love for neighbors motivated her to use her free time to serve them and share the love of Jesus.
Providing a Safe Space for CPS Students amid COVID surge
We are so happy to be back in our buildings as most of our staff took a two-week break over the holidays. However, due to an increase in COVID-19 cases, we have asked office personnel to work from home as much as possible to prevent the spread. We have also asked mentors who work closely with youth, to find creative ways to cultivate relationships while hanging out in smaller groups. Please pray for our team as we navigate serving during this new COVID-19 surge.
Our Humboldt Park location opened its doors from 8:00 AM-5:00 PM to CPS students and parents while classes have been canceled since last week. Some students spent time playing sports, socializing with other peers and even practicing their musical talents! The proper sanitary protocols were taken to keep them safe from the virus and provide a safe space.
On Monday morning, New Life Centers along with other community stakeholders, held a press conference to call on CTU and CPS to come to an agreement about student learning.
Students have been the most affected during this time as they have been left with no option of going to class remotely or in person. Later that evening, we learned that CPS students will be returning to in-person instruction as soon as Wednesday. Please join us as we pray for continued resources in schools to help keep them safe from this virus. We also pray they are able to focus on their learning in the midst of loss and constant changes.
Giving, Celebrating and Breaking Bread with Families for Christmas
LITTLE VILLAGE
In the last few weeks, our programs held Christmas parties before break! The young women from the GEMS program had a chance to dress up and have a beautiful dinner at Carnivale.
La Semilla after-school participants went to Navy Pier's "Light up the Lake" event where they got to take countless photos with beautiful lights, ice skate and even go on the Centennial Ferris Wheel!
HUMBOLDT PARK
At our Humboldt Park location, staff held a Christmas party for participants' families. It was a time of joy and full of the holiday spirit. The Arise Creations and YEP programs also held another Christmas party for the youth, where they got to create their own ugly sweaters!
FOOD PANTRY
Last Tuesday we held our last food pantry distribution for 2021. Of course, we had to make is special! Thousands of people were able to take home turkeys, hams, and chickens. Later that day, thousands of children were given Christmas gifts. It was an evening full of celebration with a live mariachi band sharing the joy of Christmas. We are very thankful to every volunteer, staff and partner that made this day possible. Our food pantry will resume operations January 5, 2022!
Choose to Change Mentor to Start Skateboarding Classes
Esteban Caldero is a new mentor under our Choose to Change program implemented in CPS schools. He will be sharing his love for skateboarding with the young people he encounters. Thanks to the donation of 7 skateboards from our local skate shop Prosper, he will be able to use these to teach them basics and even new tricks. This will be a great and unique way to connect with them and build life-on-life relationships.
The Vine Focuses on Student Voice and Ownership
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We’ve enjoyed seeing the students build community through video games as they compete side by side instead of zoning out on their phones. We had our first cooking class this month where we made open-faced sandwiches with chocolate chip peanut butter and apple slices. We are looking forward to seeing more student engagement as we continue empower them.
Giving and Building Community Thanksgiving Weekend
Tuesday before Thanksgiving Day, Pan de Vida gave out over 6,000 turkeys, 2,000 hams, 2,000 chickens, and all the sides for Thanksgiving-on top of the regular 90 pounds of food they give families every week! We are thankful for all of our volunteers and staff who spent hours distributing food. We couldn't have done it without them!
TURKEY BOWL
The week of Thanksgiving, our Street Outreach team held three Turkey Bowls including the 1st Annual Turkey Bowl in Brighton Park's Kelly Park. They were able to give out free turkeys, tamales and champurrado all while youth competed in a game of flag football. Despite the cold temperatures and a little bit of snow, we enjoyed this time creating the beloved community.
Conquering Fears Through Rock Climbing
We concluded the session with a debrief and a deep talk with questions such as:
YEP is a safe space for youth to experience life through a different lens. Youth learn to develop soft skills and are opened up to opportunities outside of what they are used to. This program is designed for 7th-12th grade young women and men.
New Life Centers joins Choose to Change
We are currently hiring and putting a team together who will be in-school mentors at different CPS schools in Little Village. Our goal is to have a total of 8 mentors. This effort comes in collaboration with CPS who expanded their Choose to Change program and will implement a new, hyperlocal pilot version of it with New Life Centers in Little Village, Lifeline to Hope in West Garfield Park, and BUILD Chicago in Humboldt Park. Together we will reach 300 students.
The program will serve a total of 1,000 students who may have school attendance challenges, involvement with the justice system, and/or have been exposed to violence and trauma. The program provides intensive youth and family support and weekly behavioral health sessions.
“The impressive results of the Choose to Change program demonstrate that it will be an important strategy to safeguard our students from the harmful effects of trauma,” said CPS CEO Pedro Martinez. “While we are overjoyed to have returned to in-person learning, we know that our students are coping with issues beyond the classroom and it is imperative that we look to programs like Choose to Change to help ensure that we are supporting all of our students, especially in the area of promoting their emotional well-being.”
Crosstown Classic 2021: Playing for Peace
Throughout the summer we hosted a summer softball league on the west side of Little Village with a total of 8 teams and another one on the East side with a total 13 teams. Each night we had kids games, food, music and hundreds of people coming out to build community. This is what peacemaking and building the beloved community looks like. It’s hot dogs, softball, kids games, laughter, music and love.
In the coming weeks, we are having the top 3 teams from each side compete against each other for the Crosstown Classic Softball Game. We will soon be announcing the time and date on our social media platforms! The purpose is to “play for peace” and break down walls between neighborhood divisions through sports.
Justice Rising: Project 77 Partnership
Recently we announced a new partnership with local organizations: Breakthrough, BUILD, and Lawndale Christian Legal Center with the purpose of strengthening public safety via holistic social services and restorative justice. This initiative is called Justice Rising: Project 77. The goal is to break the cycle of arrest, incarceration and recidivism by addressing underlying issues that can lead to negative behavior – and ultimately expand this model to all 77 Chicago neighborhoods
The partnership will assign free attorneys to clients who have pending cases in the juvenile and adult courts of the Circuit Court of Cook County. Clients will be connected to services for employment, school, trauma counseling, health care, mental health, entrepreneurship, mentoring, housing, spiritual guidance, sports, violence prevention and substance use.
“The past 18 months have been extremely difficult. Our neighborhoods have been hit hard by COVID-19, violence and injustice. Our young people need hope, healing, restoration and justice. Justice Rising will work to transform the systems around us, focus on wrapping around young people under 25 caught up in the criminal justice system, and build something new for the future. New Life Centers is excited to be part of the Justice Rising movement," said Matt DeMateo, Executive Director at New Life Centers.