Newsletters

makes this all possible! We have another very exciting year planned and we hope that you will continue to be our partner and provide these amazing opportunities for youth in the West Humboldt Park Community.

 Most of you have heard about the increased violence in our community this year. Our leaders think its time for a change -how about you?

~ Mayor Daley described violence on Chicago streets as the city's most immediate and pressing challenge. He went on to say ""Incident after incident. A total disregard of human life. And that's what it is. I plead with people. These are your children and our children,

too,".

~U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan says youth violence in Chicago and other parts of the country is "staggering" and "absolutely unacceptable." "We don't live in Iraq, our children have to be safe going to and from school," says Duncan. "There's clearly a huge amount of work to be done." 

Lastly, a short story from President Obama;

~"I was a young organizer , intent on fighting joblessness and poverty on the South Side, and I still remember one of the very first meetings I put together. We had worked on it for days, but no one showed up. Our volunteers felt so defeated, they wanted to quit. And to be honest, so did I. 

But at that moment, I looked outside and saw some young boys tossing stones at a boarded-up apartment building across the street. They were like boys in so many cities across the country - boys without prospects, without guidance, without hope. And I turned to the volunteers, and I asked them, "Before you quit, I want you to answer one question. What will happen to those boys?" And the volunteers looked out that window, and they decided that night to keep going - to keep organizing, keep fighting for better schools, and better jobs, and better health care. And so did I. And slowly, but surely, in the weeks and months to come, the community began to change. 

You see, the challenges we face will not be solved with one meeting in one night. Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. 

We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek. We are the hope of those boys who have little; who've been told that they cannot have what they dream; that they cannot be what they imagine. 

Yes they can. "

For the Holidays this year- make a difference!

or mail you contribution to :

Graffiti Zone  832 N Ridgeway  Chicago,IL 60651