In The News

Crews broke ground Thursday on a new 51,000 square-foot facility in the 5100-block of West Harrison Street. The $20 million community center will house art and music studios, a basketball gym, a game room, a mental health center and more. See the article here: https://abc7.ws/3hsp1Cl

BUILD Chicago developed a Mobile Mental Health bus that brings therapists to mediate crisis situations and offer proactive counseling services to under-resourced schools. Read more about the our new Mobile Mental Health program using this link

Carlos Vega is a former gang member who served 14 years in prison. Since he turned his life around, he’s been on mission to stop other young people from going down the same path. Vega is an intervention navigator for BUILD Chicago. The nonprofit, based on the West Side, focuses…

This summer the young people in BUILD’s Building Futures Program are participating in a law internship and legal boot camp with Ropes & Gray LLP.  So far, they have been introduced to corporate legal, injunction hearings, panel discussions, and a speaker series. In addition to learning how to use their skills and…

The Donna Dudley Peace Project started back in the mid-80s as a softball league to attract gang involved youth to play against each other and form healthier, more accepting relationships with rival gang members.  After a year off due to the pandemic, the BUILD Peace League is back! And this…

Chief Program Officer, Andres Alvear, talks with ABC7 Chicago’s Judy Hsu about what BUILD is doing to stop the violence in our communities and create safe and meaningful summer opportunities for our young people. Watch the segment here.

Austin Has the Mic is a youth media partnership between BUILD, Austin Coming Together and Westside Health Authority. The aim of partnership is to use digital media platforms and podcasting to reclaim the narrative of the west side, and empower youth participants and community members with a platform to tell the positive stories that larger news…

Max Cerda spent over six years at BUILD working on the streets with at-risk young people, developing relationships, building trust and mentoring them to leave the gangs and make better choices. He invested countless hours of heartfelt effort immersed in what is essentially a lifesaving mission. Now he is leaving BUILD…

In Chicago, another beneficiary of MBKA’s support is BUILD Inc. As one of Chicago’s leading gang intervention, violence prevention, and youth development organizations, BUILD (which stands for Broader Urban Involvement & Leadership Development) engages at-risk youth in schools and on the streets in order to help them fulfill their educational and career…