Youth Guidance Chicago

As we continue to celebrate 100 years of Impact here at Youth Guidance, we honor those who have shaped Youth Guidance and those who have allowed us to serve them and make a difference in their lives.

We're still Taking The Block Back with Mayor Johnson!

Join us this Friday at 4:00 pm

📍7000 S. Merrill Street

Approximately 700,000 people die by su***de each year—one every 40 seconds. Su***de is one of the leading causes of death among young people aged 15-29. Here at Youth Guidance, we’re dedicated to changing this reality. Through our BAM and WOW programs, we provide essential support and intervention to empower our youth and save lives. Together, we can make a difference. 💚

***dePrevention"

🌟 Youth Guidance was thrilled to join Mayor Brandon Johnson and fellow community members in Humboldt Park last week for the 'Taking the Block Back' initiative.

April M Curtis-Rivera, MSW, LSW from Youth Guidance, shared a powerful message emphasizing our deep commitment to community involvement, violence prevention, and the positive impact of working together to Take our Blocks Back.

Watch the full video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vjd6ZvzY-IQ

🌟 Happy Labor Day from Youth Guidance! 🌟

Today, we celebrate the incredible hard work and dedication of workers everywhere. Your commitment and perseverance help build a stronger community and inspire us all.

As we honor this day, let’s remember the power of supporting one another and working together towards a brighter future. May your Labor Day be filled with relaxation and pride in the progress we make together.

Here’s to a day of rest and recognition! 💪✨

Join us this Friday as we Take Back The Block with Mayor Johnson! ⁠
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📍1400 -1500 N. Spaulding Street ⁠
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Come out and stop by Youth Guidance’s Table! We can’t wait to see you there! ⁠
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Join us this Friday as we Take Back The Block with Mayor Johnson!

📍1400 -1500 N. Spaulding Street

Come out and stop by Youth Guidance's Table! We can't wait to see you there!

🎉 Happy Women’s Equality Day!🎉

Today, we celebrate the incredible strides women have made toward equality, and we honor the ongoing journey toward a more just and equitable world. At Youth Guidance, we are committed to empowering young women and girls to achieve their full potential through our Working on Womanhood Program. By helping young girls improve self-esteem, emotional wounds, and other challenges with cognitive behavioral therapy, Youth Guidance is guiding young girls to brighter futures.

Let’s continue to uplift, inspire, and support one another as we work together for a future where every voice is heard, every dream is achievable, and every individual is treated with the dignity and respect they deserve.

🗣Our BAM students took their creativity and entrepreneurial skills to the next level this summer! ☀️

They had an incredible opportunity to learn the entire process of shoemaking—from crafting the soles to designing the final product.

How many students do you know who can say they made their own shoes? Our BAM students will be stepping into the new school year in their very own custom-designed kicks! ✨

Drop 👟 in the comments if you would wear one of our students custom-designed kicks!

Our WOW girls at CVS had a blast at their painting party, guided by Chicago artist Lauren "Lanie" Pious. 🌸

Before the creativity began, Lanie led the girls in a grounding and breathing exercise, setting the tone for a relaxing and fun session. The girls got to unleash their creativity by adding their personal touch to pre-drawn pictures. This event was all about building healthy relationships and giving the girls a peaceful space to express themselves and connect with their peers and counselors. 🎨✨

At Youth Guidance, it's a true privilege to help our girls grow and thrive through the Working on Womanhood program. 💜✨ We're committed to empowering young women, building confidence, and shaping strong futures.

The Working on Womanhood (WOW) program aims to support and empower young women by fostering emotional and mental well-being, building strong self-identity, and developing positive relationships. WOW aims to help girls navigate life's challenges, build resilience, and achieve academic and personal success by providing them with the tools and guidance needed to thrive.

Our TFI, Project Prepare, and Alumni had an incredible experience at Amazon’s Chicago Corporate Headquarters for a career exploration event, thanks to the YG Associate’s Board and Amazon.

The event was led by YG Associate Board Member, Anthony Holland. Students engaged in a panel discussion and enjoyed a networking lunch, connecting with leaders in Venture Capital, Entrepreneurship, Law, Orthodontics, and the Military.

Happy International Youth Day! 🎉

Today, we come together to celebrate the remarkable young people in our programs and around the world. At Youth Guidance, we are privileged to work alongside the next generation of leaders, dreamers, and changemakers. Through our BAM, WOW, CAP, Project Prepare, and STRIVE programs, we see firsthand the incredible potential that exists within each of our youth. Their resilience, creativity, and determination inspire us every day.

International Youth Day is a reminder of the power that lies in our young people. They are not just the leaders of tomorrow—they are making a difference today. Whether it's through mentoring, leadership development, academic achievement, or personal growth, our youth are taking bold steps toward a brighter future.

We celebrate our youth and young people around the world today and every day. Your voices, your dreams, and your actions are shaping a better world for us all.

Here's to your bright futures and the incredible journey ahead.

Students from Aldridge Elementary attended a summer field trip to Millennium Park and Maggie Daley Park with Resource Coordinator A'Tierrah Reid Hart and ARC Tosha Kerby. During the trip, they participated in a downtown Chicago scavenger hunt, exploring the city's museums, stores, artifacts, shopping districts, and statues. This experience aimed to enhance their cultural awareness, historical knowledge, and understanding of horticulture.

At Youth Guidance, we are incredibly grateful for our partnership with Hilco Global! This summer, our scholars had the amazing opportunity to participate in summer internships at Hilco Global. The internships culminated in an event where the interns presented everything they learned during their internships, including finance, marketing, business, and career advice.

We extend heartfelt thanks to Karen Bubrowski, Gary Epstein, and Alyse Shapiro at Hilco for providing valuable and thoughtful internships to Anasia Beckham, a current WOW student, Harsha Kota, a sophomore at the University of Illinois in Urbana, and Abolarinwa Kalejaiye, a senior at Illinois State University.

Guiding kids to brighter futures wouldn't be possible without partners like Hilco!

Our BAM students from Shields Elementary School had an amazing summer field trip to The Forge Adventure Park, where they climbed and ziplined!

It was a fantastic opportunity for students and counselors to bond through team-building activities.

At Youth Guidance, we love providing safe and fun experiences for our youth during their summer break.

YG was thrilled to have the voices of our alumni and BAM and WOW participants elevated at the Mayor’s Office Youth Budget Engagement Roundtable this week at the Garfield Park Conservatory where they were able to share their perspective on what investments should be made to make our communities stronger.⁠
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We appreciate Mayor Brandon Johnson’s invitation to make sure our youth’s vision for our city and their communities is reflected in the city’s budget priorities.⁠
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Youth Guidance teamed up with the City of Chicago DFSS and the My Chi My Future youth initiative for a vibrant Community Block Party in the Garfield neighborhood on the West Side of Chicago! Healing trauma, pain, and addressing disinvestment in our communities truly requires a collective effort, and we’re proud to be part of that effort at Youth Guidance.

We gathered youth, families, churches, CAPS, and other partners to celebrate and collaborate in keeping hope alive.

It takes all of us to create safe communities. Youth Guidance’s WOW and BAM staff members and students were proud to show up to support Mayor Brandon Johnson’s Take Back the Block community event in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood! A huge thank you to all the community organizations, city representatives & departments, and businesses who joined us to reclaim the block! We’re already looking forward to the next community event!

We believe capacity building is at the epicenter of organizational effectiveness. Yet historically in our sector, it hasn’t worked as well as it should. It’s expensive – each org has to figure it out for themselves – and typical “white paper” offerings often don’t take into account the practical complexities of how nonprofits will implement in the real world.

Each year, in collaboration with our members, we create a series of cohort-based Capacity-Building Program Tracks designed to solve for these challenges. By looking across our 100+ member orgs, we work to understand what the most urgent capacity building priorities are in our community, and then design deeply responsive, high impact programming. This programming is:

1️⃣ Included in our membership fee with no additional cost to member orgs, enabling more leaders to do more of it.
2️⃣ Done in cohorts, so that peer learning and accountability are built in, enabling leaders to understand all the ways these same needs and challenges show up across our sector.
3️⃣ Explicitly designed not as a “white paper,” but a series of practitioner-led sessions resulting in a co-created blueprint that leaders can take back to their orgs, ready for implementation.

This year, 70% of all member organizations are participating in our capacity building programming. Congrats to Adelante Mujeres, Afterschool Alliance, City Year, DoSomething, Surge Institute, Generation Citizen, Let's Get Ready, The Literacy Lab, Youth Guidance Chicago, PENCIL, Peace First, First Place for Youth, One Million Degrees, and YouthBuild USA on completing our recent Engine 1/Engine 2 Innovation Program Track.

To learn more about joining the Alliance, reach out to Sadiq Ali at [email protected]

Youth Guidance’s was honored to join Big Brothers Big Sisters for an incredible panel discussion at Accenture’s Rooted & Rising: Cultivating Community Leadership event.

The panel explored actionable strategies to promote equity and inclusion in mentorship to create tomorrow's leaders and problem-solvers.

Thank you, , for hosting such an inspiring panel and a special shout-out to WOW’s Director of Program Administration, Shykira Richards, and WOW Alum, Naharay Lopez, for representing Youth Guidance on the panel!