Not "Goodbye" but "See you later"

On July 6th, 2009, my first day at Cabrini Connections, the first day of the 2009 Edgewood College Experience, I was greeted by three students: Savon Clark, Sean Mayfield, and Charles Hill. They welcomed me with open arms and we clicked right away. At that point, I had no idea how great of an experience working at Cabrini Connections would be and how much I would get to know these three young men and so many others over the course of 132 tutoring sessions, 19 Youth Leadership Council meetings, eight college visits, and more.

Two years later, here I am again with Savon, Sean, and Charles (above) at the 2011 Edgewood College Experience. They are juniors in high school now. Sadly, however, where they once welcomed me in, they are now seeing me off. Yesterday, July 15th, 2011, was my last day at Cabrini Connections. I was laid off due to the organization's continued financial struggles. Over the last 20 pay periods dating back to September 2010, the staff has been paid in-full and on-time only six times. Next week's Golf Benefit could make or break the organization.

While it has been a tough year and I am sad to see it end like this, I am proud of our accomplishments and I know I personally have learned a lot from everyone I worked with at Cabrini Connections - especially my "partner in crime" EL Da' Sheon Nix. Together, we led a program that won awards from the Department of Family & Support Services Youth Division in 2009 and 2010 for being the best mentoring program funded by the City of Chicago and we had five seniors graduate this year who are all headed to college in the fall. Not too bad, eh?

Thank you all for keeping track of the program on my blog (I had 5228 absolute unique visitors!) and thank you for reading all of my stories (This is my 217th blog post!). I hope they made you smile, and laugh, and think, and reflect. Major cities like Chicago will always have thousands of youth in need of educational and financial assistance. A tutoring and mentoring program like Cabrini Connections can change a young person's life. I've seen it happen. Please continue to support nonprofits like this one with your time and dollars. We are all a part of the solution. One love.

All in a day's work

11am
Last Thursday, EL Da' Sheon and I attended a Delegate Agency Meeting & Recognition Luncheon for the City of Chicago Department of Family & Support Services Youth Division. You may remember, last year we won an award "For Outstanding Performance in Youth Development." Well, this year, we were honored again, "For Outstanding Performance in Youth Opportunities." Of all the programs funded by the city for mentoring, we are the best! Thank you to every student, volunteer, staff member, board member, and donor for making this possible. I hope you will continue to support us as we go for a three-peat in 2011!

6pm
On Thursday night, we held our last tutor/mentor session of the quarter. It was an "open" session for the holidays, meaning students could bring food and play games if they chose to, or continue working as usual. Attendance continues to be fantastic and both students and volunteers finished at over 85% for the quarter. (Our goal is 80%.) Listen to holiday messages from our students below.


8pm
A parent called at the end of the night to warn her daughter about a shooting in Cabrini Green on Cambridge Avenue where they live. Two fellow students ended up walking her from our center to the area. A policeman had to walk her the rest of the way to her house. It is stunning to think that someone was being shot at on the other side of the bridge while we were celebrating the holidays at 800 W. Huron. It is a sad reminder of why programs like Cabrini Connections are still needed in this area and in high-poverty areas around Chicago. Mike Trakan's recent series of maps does a good job of picturing this situation. I recommend viewing them on his blog here.

Thanks for reading. Happy Holidays!

Cabrini-Green gone? Cabrini Connections gone?

My boss Daniel Bassill wrote last week about the false perception that some have that Cabrini-Green is almost "gone." He linked to a Chicago Sun-Times article which includes maps, statistics, and details about plans for the area moving forth. If you do the math, as Dan does, you will realize that hundreds of low-income kids still live in the area. Cabrini Connections has the capacity for 80 students and we are always full. These students continue to grow, continue to learn, and they need your support (in spirit and in dollars).

Cabrini-Green's historical markers - namely, the high-rise towers - may be gone, but many of the families who lived in them still call the area "home." It is a community like any other and our students are proud of their roots there. As we write-off the negative memories of Cabrini-Green which made it infamous, please insert stories of our students' hopes and dreams from this time forward. You can read their profiles here. Thank you.

One year later

Today, we kicked off our 12th annual Edgewood College Experience, a three day mini-camp during which youth from our program work with graduate students in education from Edgewood College in Madison, Wisconsin, on fun activities, brain games, and more. Last year, this was my first day on the job. You can read my introduction here and my Edgewood recap here.

It's hard to believe all that has transpired in the last 365 days. When I read my predecessor's "One year later" post last summer, I could sense his love for this work, but I couldn't feel it yet. I couldn't comprehend it. One year later, I know exactly what he was talking about. I am so happy with my position here and I am so grateful to be surrounded by more than 70 young people, almost 100 adult volunteers, and five invaluable staff members.