A DIY Mother’s Day Gift is The Most Thoughtful Way to Say “I Love You”
This year’s Mother’s Day was quite different for all of us. BUILD’s Intervention Specialist and Restoring Individuals through Supportive Environments (R.I.S.E.) mentor Pablo Galvez thought long and hard about how to keep the Mother’s day tradition that he and his group would host for moms every year. See the video here! What Pablo decided to do to keep…
Read MoreBUILD Is Still Working Hard to Uplift High-Risk Youth In Chicago During the COVID-19 Pandemic
BUILD has been lifting up youth in Chicago’s toughest neighborhoods since 1969. It started with street violence intervention and gang detachments, but has now expanded to after-school programs; academic and college counseling; art, music, and sports leagues; community outreach; and mental health care. BUILD youth were teens and tweens growing up in the constant trauma of…
Read MoreIN BUILD, CHICAGO YOUTH FIND AN ALTERNATIVE TO GANG VIOLENCE
By Shreya BansalMedill Reports CHICAGO — It’s the day before Thanksgiving and a group of young and old men have come out to play football as a part of their “turkey bowl.” When a police car passes by, the officers wave and smile at the players. One of the older men waves back and shouts,…
Read MoreImportant Update From BUILD, Inc.
Dear Friends and Colleagues, BUILD has always put the safety of our youth and our communities first, and this drives all our decisions. As a community institution, it’s also our responsibility to think bigger, and be part of collective, state-wide action to slow down the spread of COVID-19 as it threatens the most vulnerable members…
Read MoreImportant Update from BUILD Regarding Coronavirus (COVID-19)
BUILD has always put the safety of our youth and our communities first, and this drives all our decisions. In the case of the CPS strike, for example, we opened our doors and extended our hours to give *all* youth a safe place to go during that time. Today, we are facing another challenge to…
Read MoreThank you!
We want to thank everybody who supported our youth at BUILD’s annual Art Show, 365 +1: Stories Around The Sun this weekend! Whether you attended the show or bid from home, you were part of an incredible night that will help our youth continue to counter violence with creativity and connection. And, it’s not over yet: BUILD still needs…
Read MoreBUILD Receives Access to Justice Grant
We were proud to join the Illinois Department of Human Services, the Westside Justice Center, and The Resurrection Project as we announced the 60 non-profit organizations selected as recipients of the Access to Justice Grants Program (A2J). Access to Justice is an Illinois statewide program that seeks to mitigate the devastating consequences of incarceration and…
Read MoreChicago Bulls Dish out a Pair of Assists at BUILD
We want to send a special thank you to Chicago Bulls point guard Ryan Arcidiacono and agent Joel Bell for coming out to BUILD and providing our youth with first-hand insight into different types of careers in sports! (Stay tuned for the podcast our youth led with Arcidiacono as well!) We also want to thank the Chicago Bulls Community…
Read MoreBehind the Scenes with BUILD Youth
We are proud of our Bridges to Pathways youth for writing, directing, acting in, and shooting their own short film! Their piece speaks out against bullying, and will premiere in April. Thanks to our friends International Children’s Media Center for inspiring BUILD youth with this awesome program!
Read MoreBUILDing Futures Hosts Wellness Session
Our BUILDing Futures team recently hosted a youth wellness session at BUILD Headquarters. Youth were able to enjoy a peaceful 60 minute yoga session and learn about mandalas and henna tattoos. The group also created their own ‘stress-less’ self care boxes that included chocolate, stress balls, face masks, silly puddy, lip balm, smooth rocks, and positive reflective messages, and…
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