Participants across all four READI Chicago communities spent the week working at the Special Olympics Spring Games, running the lunch shifts and feeding the athletes.
It is READI Chicago’s second year partnering with the Chicago Park District on this event. Eileen Guinane, Special Olympics administrator for the Park District, said READI Chicago was requested back this year by popular demand, with participants, staff, and the Park District alike considering the partnership a success.
“This week has been really fun,” said James, a READI Chicago participant. “We’ve gotten new experiences and got to see new people. It’s really fun hanging around with these kids, actually.”
One of the often unseen but vital forces behind READI Chicago is mothers. Many participants live with parents, and outreach workers and job coaches are full of countless stories of mothers who drive their sons to and from work, help mediate conflicts within the program, and answer early morning phone calls to wake sons who overslept. This Mother’s Day, we highlighted just one of the moms helping make READI Chicago a success.
Sharon’s son Marquis has been in READI Chicago for almost a year, and she said she has already seen a huge change in him.
“I see a change in his behavior, his tone, his drive, his thinking,” Sharon said. “He’s not as angry as he used to be.”
Sharon is a recovering addict, and Marquis spent much of his childhood with his grandmother while Sharon worked to get clean. His father was absent, and Marquis dealt with depression before getting into legal trouble. Sharon said the cognitive behavioral therapy Marquis receives in READI Chicago, as well as the support of the staff and their communication with her, is not only helping Marquis with anger and impulse control, but also helping to mend the family’s relationship.
“When he joined the program, it’s like they were reinforcing everything I’ve tried to tell him,” Sharon said. “Whatever they’re doing in that program, it’s getting through to him. I see such a huge change in him. He’s even come back and said, ‘Thank you, Mom, for being hard on me.’ So I’m going to make sure he keeps going and make sure I keep talking to READI Chicago.”
Marquis himself said he would not be where he is today without Sharon’s support. He said she is always quick to let him know that she believes in him and that he is well-loved.
“My mom is ecstatic about my work in READI Chicago,” Marquis said. “She loves to see me going to work every day and working hard. I come home at night and we tell each other about our days.”
Sharon said raising children, and boys especially, in Chicago can be difficult. She has had to steer her four children through peer pressure, drugs, and gangs, all while navigating her own struggles. It was difficult, she said, and hard to imagine the future she is living today. Sharon is now 15 years clean and no longer receives welfare or food stamps, things she never thought would be possible. She said her primary motivation is staying positive so she’s able to keep Marquis and her other children safe and help them thrive.
“I love READI Chicago,” Sharon said. “In my mind, people look at people with a background or a felony a certain way. There’s a stigma, but I see you guys at READI Chicago in the neighborhood with your vests, and I see how the staff interact with these guys. I pick him up, drop him off, and I see the camaraderie and the unity and the love the staff give each other and give the participants. I see a total change in Marquis.”
This month, READI Chicago’s North Lawndale community hosted representatives of the Chicago Bears, including Chairman George McCaskey and running back Tarik Cohen, for a site visit and press conference.
Cohen and McCaskey had a chance to see the program in action before meeting with Senior Director Eddie Bocanegra, READI Chicago staff from UCAN and the North Lawndale Employment Network, and two program participants who shared their personal experiences before and throughout the program.
“To tell a room full of people, half of them you’ve never seen before in your lives, about some [pretty personal details] of your life takes a lot of courage,” McCaskey, who supports READI Chicago through the Chicago Sports Alliance, told the Chicago Tribune. “You see how the program seems to have given them a foothold, something to hold on to. There have to be a lot of pressures on the street, from their so-called friends and neighbors, telling them perhaps on a daily basis to give it up, and they’re sticking to it. It’s admirable.”
Both Cohen and Kyle, one of the READI Chicago participants who shared his personal story with the Bears, lost people close to them at the beginning of this year. Kyle shared that his younger brother was shot and killed in January, while Cohen shared that the death of his childhood friend one month later was part of the reason he chose to visit READI Chicago.
“It’s the exact same violence that’s going on in Chicago,” Cohen told the Tribune. “It might be on a smaller scale where I’m from, but it’s gun violence. So if I can reach someone, maybe I can prevent that from happening in someone else’s life.”
Following the discussion portion of the Bears’ visit, READI Chicago staff and participants stood alongside Cohen in front of media as McCaskey announced a new Bears program committing $1 million to 10 charities nominated by fans, in recognition of the franchise’s 100th season.
“For [George McCaskey] to hear the story of our participants adds not only credibility with the young people we’re working with, but I also think it’s a good exchange,” Eddie said. “Now he knows. He can never say he doesn’t know about this community or these people who are affected by those issues.”
As part of READI Chicago’s re-entry pathway, READI Chicago staff deliver cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to men at the Cook County Jail.
Participants enter READI Chicago through three pathways—referrals from the University of Chicago Urban Labs, community referrals, and re-entry. About 50 men have been connected to READI Chicago upon release from prison or jail through the re-entry pathway, in addition to the more than 100 returning citizens connected to the program through other pathways.
As part of READI Chicago’s relentless engagement and recruitment, Corrections Project Manager Sophia Manuel and other staff deliver weekly CBT to men in the Sheriff’s Anti-Violence Effort (SAVE), a program inside the jail aimed at preventing young men from returning to jail after their release. The CBT group comprises SAVE participants who are awaiting trial, all of whom have been identified as at high risk of gun violence involvement, and who live in the six zip codes READI Chicago serves.
Participants in the jail CBT group receive an introduction to the behavioral change intervention, discussing CBT components such as cost-benefit analysis, relating their actions to their values, and methods of staying out of jail upon their release. These men say their primary goal upon release is finding a job, which is why READI Chicago is so appealing.
“I need a job when I get out because I know fast money in the short-term will just land me back here,” one participant said. “If I get a real job when I get out, the money will be slower, but I won’t end up back here. If I had a job, I’d have less free time to sell drugs or get in trouble.”
Because the majority of men in the group, and all of READI Chicago participants, are at the very highest risk of gun violence, many of them have not previously been engaged with social services and have never sought out services. Through meeting their most immediate need upon release by connecting them with a job and a steady income, the program is able to leverage the trust participants build in READI Chicago staff to help participants make connections to wrap-around services and supports that are essential to avoiding recidivism.
“Because there aren’t as many resources for guys who are on parole or re-entering society, it’s a struggle for them,” said Patrick Daniels, a READI Chicago outreach supervisor from UCAN. “We’re here to support these guys, help these guys get employment, get their driver’s license, become self-sufficient citizens. These are people who aren’t looking to go back to jail.”
By offering a long-term, 18-month transitional job and by engaging men at a critical juncture, directly prior to and after their release from jail, READI Chicago is able to start the shift in thinking that is at the core of CBT during a natural shift in environment and thinking. By providing the safety net of employment and infusing principles of CBT throughout the program, READI Chicago works to reduce the likelihood of recidivism among these key populations.
While the majority of the men agreed to the jail CBT group in the hopes of having a job ready for them upon release, they are aware that this will only be the case for half the group, because of the randomized control trial. However, whether they’re selected to participate in READI Chicago or not, the men still feel that the group is worth their time.
“Even if I don’t get the job, at least I’m learning something here,” one participant said. “This is a privilege. It gives you something to look forward to, something to occupy your time.”
The men said the environment and space created by the CBT group are unique in jail. It is so easy to focus only on the negative of their situation, they said, that it is helpful having a place to focus on positivity and the future.
“Being in a small group like this, you get to open up more and talk about stuff you can’t in front of everyone else in here,” one participant said. “This is stuff you already know, but they help you realize it. I would have kept doing the same thing when I got out, but this lets me think about something else and think things through.”
As one of a select few sponsors of the 2019 Masters Tournament, AT&T launched several new commercials to tell the world who they are and what they stand for, including by highlighting how their employees are building up their communities through the AT&T Believes program. Heartland Alliance’s READI Chicago program was featured prominently in one of AT&T’s commercials, which ran multiple times over the weekend. We are grateful for AT&T’s investment in READI Chicago and their broader commitment to demonstrating their partnership with the participants and communities we are reaching with READI Chicago.
Omar looking at screen, Sankofa, Austin, Chicago, 2019
The exhibition will open with a non-narrative documentary of the making of a film by READI Chicago participants, followed by a panel discussion featuring Austin community activist Zerlina Smith and Heartland Housing Chief Operating Officer Rob Breymaier, moderated by Sasha. The event will conclude with a performance by DJ “Looney Givenchy,” also a READI Chicago participant.
Throughout her fellowship, Sasha has spent time working with a group of participants from the Austin/West Garfield Park READI Chicago community to write, act in, shoot, and partially produce a short narrative film based on their own experiences. That film will debut in the coming months, so stay connected for more information.
“I realized there was a strength in them being able to tell their own stories through fictionalization loosely based on themselves,” Sasha said. “It was a way for them to talk about things that they deal with on a day-to-day basis.”
Sasha stressed that her role in the film is simply that of facilitator—the credit and responsibility lie fully with the participants. At the beginning of the project, the participants quickly fell into and owned their various roles—director, actor, writer, etc.—with Sasha providing increasingly limited technical support as they became more adept with the film equipment.
“I hope people take away the fact that this is a group of intelligent, creative, curious, hard-working people who are interested in making things for themselves and something that speaks on their community and their life,” Sasha said. “These are people who want the opportunity to create things and it’s a shame that they live in communities that are so disinvested that they can only do so through a program like READI Chicago. It’s a crime to let so much talent go to waste.”
The Diane Dammeyer Fellowship in Photographic Arts and Social Issues creates a space for a socially engaged artist to produce a compelling and dynamic body of work highlighting human rights and social issues. Sasha describes her photography practice as inclusive and focused on using photography education as community empowerment, while this exhibition explores the impact of disinvestment through redlining on the Austin community.
April is financial literacy month, and we’re excited to share that our Englewood participants have been learning business and entrepreneurship skills through a professional development group led by the READI Chicago Englewood outreach team.
The training course is based on an eight-week curriculum developed by Junior Achievement, which also donated teaching materials for the class. Upon completion, participants will receive a certificate of entrepreneurship training.
“The reason I wanted to get into entrepreneurship was to be independent,” said staff member Reality Lovett. “I wanted to create my own lane and be in charge of my future, and I know those are things our participants want, too.”
The course, co-led by Outreach Manager Paul Mireles, covers the basics of business and entrepreneurship and helps participants understand how they’ve already begun to develop these skills in their day-to-day lives. Alongside learning about business skills such as market research and knowing your customer demographics, participants were asked to list their own “side hustles” or those of their friends. These ranged from t-shirt sales to rap videos to making and selling packaged meals.
“See, you’re already doing and practicing a lot of this,” Reality told the group. “So many of these entrepreneurship skills from the street translate to a business environment.”
Much of the course focuses on how to create a business plan, and as participants progress through the course, staff hope to work with them individually to focus in on specific industries they want to pursue.
“I started doing these side hustles just because it was fun, but I didn’t think I could eventually make money off it,” one participant said.
Above all, Reality and Paul try to stress that the key to success is not being afraid to try new things or explore new environments.
“You have to take the opportunity and not be scared,” Reality said. “You’re not scared on the block, so don’t be scared in business.”
This month, Mutual of America hosted a hometown luncheon to recognize READI Chicago as a Merit Finalist Award recipient in the Mutual of America 2018 Community Partnership award competition.
The annual award recognizes nonprofit organizations that have demonstrated exemplary leadership, facilitating partnerships to build collaborative communities.
“READI Chicago set bold and courageous goals—to engage nearly 1200 of the hardest to reach young men in our city and to connect 500 of them to our innovative program by this spring,” Heartland Alliance President Evelyn Diaz said. “I am proud to say that together we are well on our way to achieving this goal. As of just a few weeks ago, we had engaged over 825 people in READI Chicago, and 430 have been connected to a transitional job. Nearly 60 percent of our participants are actively working.”
READI Chicago participant Seke, from the North Lawndale community, shared his personal story at the luncheon, reflecting on growing up on Chicago’s West Side and becoming involved with READI Chicago.
“READI Chicago has taught me to be independent and helped me develop my work ethic,” Seke said. “I’ve learned how to manage my anger and know that it’s okay to walk away sometimes. All the tools I’ve learned from READI Chicago, I know I’ll be using those in my everyday life.”
Mutual of America also awarded individuals significant to the success of READI Chicago, recognizing Crew Chief Terrance Woods from the Austin community, Job Coach Sadie Joseph from the North Lawndale community, and Outreach Worker Reality Lovett from the Englewood com
Last month, Chicago CRED—Creating Real Economic Diversity—and more than 50 community organizations, including READI Chicago, launched the inVEST (Violence Ends Starting Today) campaign, calling on Chicago to provide $150 million annually to identify the 10,000 individuals at highest risk of violence involvement and set them on a new path. Together, these organizations call on issue experts, community organizations, and grassroots activists to help decrease homicides in the city by 80 percent over the next five years. Like READI Chicago, the inVEST campaign aims to disrupt violence through prevention, intervention, and community involvement.
Chicago CRED launched the campaign at a public forum, titled Cities Striving for Peace, bringing together five mayors with demonstrated success reducing gun violence in their cities. The event opened with a video featuring a READI Chicago participant speaking about his own experiences with violence, as well as Senior Director Eddie Bocanegra on the role READI Chicago plays in violence reduction and prevention.
“It is going to take an entire community and an entire village to address the issue, but I think it’s a very realistic goal, and I think that if we didn’t shoot for this we would be selling ourselves short,” Eddie said. “There is no one solution and no one person who can solve this, but through real talk, real hope, real love, and taking a bold, collective approach, we can make a difference.”
From left to right: Evelyn Diaz, Heartland Alliance President; Brenda Palms Barber, NLEN President and CEO; Amy Rule, first lady of Chicago; Whitney Smith, JPMorgan Chase Midwest Global Philanthropy Executive Director
Evelyn has served as Heartland Alliance’s president since 2015, where she is responsible for directing domestic and global strategy for the organization’s five nonprofit corporate entities, with a combined budget of $120 million and 1,400 employees in 12 countries.
“NLEN was more than honored to present Evelyn Diaz with our 2019 Voice of the Voiceless award,” NLEN President and CEO Brenda Palms Barber said. “This award recognizes and lifts up her pioneering and bold efforts to connect those without a voice, and often unseen, with jobs, real connections, and a restoration of their sense of belonging.”
NLEN also honored two former clients at the Sweet Beginnings Tea, presenting the Creating a Community That Works Award to Sadie Joseph, who now works as a coach at the North Lawndale READI Chicago community.
Last month, 