The rally is for the Roseland Children's Initiative aimed at supporting kids and their families through a variety of neighborhood services.
The rally included an appearance by Geoffrey Canada founder and CEO of the highly successful Harlem Children's Zone Project in New York City, which serves as a model for the Roseland Initiative. The initiative's goals include helping kids perform better through high school into college and ultimately life after school.
"Some folks want to do teen pregnancy prevention, some want to do gang prevention, some want to do early childhood. We say in some of these communities, you really have to do it all. It's a complex, comprehensive approach that we think really works and it matters," Canada said.
Canada spoke at a reception Saturday night at the Art Institute. ABC7's "Windy City LIVE" host Ryan Chiaverini served as the event's emcee.