Our Chicago: BUILD Chicago & Think Outside Da Block
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Since 1969, BUILD Chicago has been working with young people in some of the city's most challenged neighborhoods.
Based on the city's West Side, BUILD is a gang intervention, violence prevention and youth development organization. "We're always in the business of finding out what our young people need to be their best and to thrive in today's world and get ready for their futures," said CEO Adam Alonso, "We work with young people as young as six all the way into their late 20s. And really just helping to navigate some of the challenges they may be experiencing and additionally, we just really provide a wide array of programs that are engaging for our young people and things that will complement what they've learned in school, things that will actually put them, pique their interest so that they can find a career that's something that they want to do for their futures."
Our Chicago Part 1
With classes for Chicago Public School students wrapping up on June 7th, BUILD is ramping up for the summer, "We'll probably have about a thousand young people who are engaged this summer which is amazing now that we have new space to have all of our activities and programs in it allows us to serve more young people. We'll have about 300 youth who will be employed this summer working 20 hours this week. We'll have four summer camp locations totaling almost 300 kids who will be engaged from
8:30 in the morning to about 5 o'clock in the afternoon." And Alonso said they're getting ready to be open until midnight this summer. He said there will be programming that transitions when the camps are over and it opens up to communities. "So parents and young people can enjoy the space and activities until midnight."
Our Chicago Part 2
In Chicago's Englewood neighborhood, Pha'Tal Perkins founded Think Outside Da Block. He started the organization to improve the lives of disadvantaged children and build community. Perkins said he wanted to do something to address the conditions he grew up in. "The term Da Block is something that I think that resonates in hoods all across the country, right. Everyone always talks about their block and where they're from. For a lot of people that grow up in environments like Englewood the block is their ceiling, right. And they never really reach their full potential and so this idea of thinking outside the block was something that came to me and it just made sense to name an organization that."
One program that Think Outside Da Block officers is Getcha Mind Right. "I began organizing a series of events called Getcha Mind Right. We made people aware of the trauma and things that may have traumatized them in the past that they may not know affect their everyday choices and decisions and behaviors."
