News & Events

BUILD is honored and grateful to have been awarded a prestigious Obama Foundation’s My Brother’s Keeper (MBK) Community Challenge Seed Grant – one of five grants in Chicago and 19 nationwide. Our Apprentice Mentor Program (AMP) will train…

“It’s not safe like it used to be,” Keshayla said of growing up in of Chicago. “It’s like everybody’s just dying and getting killed.” At 19, she has experienced the…

“Local Program Helps Empower Teens To Escape Community Violence” BUILD Chicago is an organization that helps empower at-risk youth in the Chicago area, helping thousands of teens escape the violence…

BUILD is proud to be part of the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation‘s $26 million strategy. Thriving communities require strong, resilient, generative, and compassionate organizations that are tackling…

Once it was a hot spot for gun violence and drug trafficking, but now Hubbard Park is teeming with drum circles, barbecues and community bonding. What’s happening at Hubbard Park is happening…

When the final bell of the school year rings, some kids flip the switch and power down their brains until autumn – the dreaded “summer slide” sets in. Nine months…

It was a hot day at the ballpark on August 2 when BUILD celebrated its 40th edition of the Peace League Softball All-Star Game. The tradition lived on at Little…

Chicago Violence Toll Tied to Poor Neighborhoods In an analysis of Chicago crime data, Axios reports that while the city’s homicide rate is not the highest in the U.S., Chicago has consistently…

At age 24, Adam Alonso realized his calling. It was a chance encounter in 1995. Alonso was working at Casa Central, which used the basement of Vida Nueva church near…

In one of Chicago’s most violent neighborhoods, ex-gang members and police officers now play friendly games of softball together in this summer’s Peace League by BUILD Chicago. “It brings us closer…