Dear Partners,
I hope you all had a great summer. As many of you know, for the past 13 years, community organizations across Chicago have united – through basketball – to empower residents to reclaim their streets and promote peace through LISC Chicago’s Hoops in the Hood program.
This year, there was a Hoops event every day in at least one of our partners neighborhoods from the end of June through August. We served 3,000 youth, nearly 10,000 community members and together hosted 160 Hoops events. Over the last 13 years we have reached more than 30,000 kids!
Every summer I see firsthand the difference this program makes in our communities and I want you to see too. With support from our long-time partner, State Farm and State Farm Bank, we have produced the following Hoops in the Hood video.
As you will see in the video, Hoops is about so much more than basketball – it's about creating safe spaces for youth to interact and build positive relationships with peers and caring adults, while making visible use of public spaces and fostering a sense of community. Hoops in the Hood is about creating an environment where kids can just be kids and where they learn life lessons about the importance of community, friendship and hard work...And, it is where me and dozens of incredibly committed adults from our neighborhoods spend our summers.
Here are some of the messages we got back from our programs and youth who participated:
Back of the Yards (BYNC): Hello, my name is Armani. I have played in the Hoops in the Hood program for two years now. This year I would go to all the games with my brother and our friends. I grew up by Davis Square Park and went to Cornell and Sherman park games to play too. A community worker named Agustins would pick me up and drop me off at games at the other parks. Whenever we would play everyone would cheer my team on. I hung out with boys I had never met before. It was nice to make new friends! Even though I am soft spoken I love to learn and working at basketball. I can't wait to get better and play again next year!
Little Village (New Life Centers of Chicagoland): We had a participant who started last year with us and returned this year very committed. This year we watched him become a strong young leader. He got along with everyone around him each week. He is currently applying to West Point Academy and we have been asked to write a letter of recommendation. It is an honor to watch our young people grow and succeed. It is always exciting to support these requests.
Near North/Cabrini (Project Education Plus): There were a few kids, but one in particular who was born and grew up in the neighborhood whose parents have never let them come to Seward Park. Now 12 years old, she came to the Hoops in the Hood with him each time. By the third time, she admitted that things in the hood had changed. She even allowed him to come to the last two events by himself. She did come and see him play that evening and said to us that she was pleased with the outcome of all the events.
Chicago Lawn (Southwest Organizing Project): Martez is an 8th grader. He is the youngest of 5 boys. All of the older brothers are known for being gang affiliated. Martez attended every event, showed up early, and stayed late. When I asked why he always was so early or even coming around when there was no Hoops event, he responded and told me for those 3 hours a day he knows that he and his brothers are safe and having fun. They don't care about anything else in those moments and he wishes that we could do this beyond summer. It really spoke to how important and how much life could be saved throughout the city if the Hoops program was extended.
Roseland/West Pullman (Hands around the Hundreds): One of our youth who attended the Citywide tournament in Grant Park thought he was out of town. He's a 13 year-old young man who has never been outside his neighborhood.
Our goal is to expand the program. I ask you to please consider supporting Hoops in the Hood, share the video and next year come out and see firsthand!
And, a big thanks to State Farm for your support and making this video possible.