In The News

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 had more total killings than any other U.S. city, with 27 people killed since the beginning of the month. Racial…

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 Kelvyn Park. One day, a 15-year-old showed up to the church looking for the pastor. He wasn’t there. Alonso was.…

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 to each other.”   Watch entire video here

“Betcha didn’t know hiphop came from the blues,” said the 60 year old bluesman to the school-age rapper Saturday in Hubbard Park. “No, I didn’t know, ” said the boy, who had just showed his talent for rhymes and responses. “You know now.” Generations did not seem so far apart…

Cook County Commissioner Richard Boykin hosted a town hall meeting Monday to gather community input on the creation of a community court in Austin. About 40 residents, local leaders, judges and several others discussed the functions of a community court and the logistics of how one could be established in the…

From his hospital bed, the eighth-grader was already plotting how to kill the kid who had put him there. It had been a month since Latee Smith’s 15th birthday and a week since a bullet blew a hole through his right hip, tearing into muscle and bone and leaving him…

AUSTIN WEEKLY NEWS: A local nonprofit is looking to blanket a portion of the West Side with positivity next month when it hosts its Summer of Opportunity on Aug. 17. The nonprofit BUILD Chicago (short for Broader Urban Involvement & Leadership Development), which focuses on gang intervention, youth development and…

Hoops in the Hood is about to have its biggest summer ever. The sports-based community safety initiative by LISC Chicago creates safe spaces for youth to interact and build positive relationships with peers and caring adults while making visible use of public spaces and fostering a sense of community. Over the last 12 years,…

Gangs can do a lot of harm to a community. They’re a big factor in the gun violence problem in Chicago. Newsy’s Jay Strubberg interviewed two intervention specialists with BUILD Chicago. The group tries to stop young people from joining gangs by giving them resources to lead a better life.…

CHICAGO (WLS) — Employees from Disney and ABC7 came together for a global week of volunteer service. Several ABC7 colleagues are volunteering Thursday help build the Jovan Peace Garden at Build INC youth center in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood. The garden is named for the son of a Build INC staff…

They have overcome all sorts of challenges – parents divorcing, a father going to prison, multiple moves, bad grades, trouble paying rent and problems with peers. But that’s not what stood out on a recent Thursday night at the headquarters of BUILD, a nonprofit that works with young people in Austin…

By Brianna Bilter, Christopher Vazquez and Ben Schachter for MEDILL March 14, 2018 Max Cerda was only 16 years old when he watched two members of his rival gang fire 13 bullets into his brother’s body. He died in Cerda’s arms, squeezing his thumb. Cerda’s brother was not a blood…