Category Archive
A big congratulations to Christian Gordon and Willie Mae Brooks, two Urban Initiatives soccer players at Sherman School of Excellence, who took 1st and 2nd place respectively at their school-wide poetry contest! The following is an excerpt from Christian’s poem, which speaks about economic struggle: Unemployment is like playing soccer and you just want to…
Urban Initiatives was fortunate to have been asked to run a soccer-based health activity for kids at Mayor Emanuel’s community celebration on May 14th in Grant Park. It was a great opportunity for Urban Initiatives to connect with members of the community and supporters of our new Mayor. The highlight of the day was when…
On Monday, May 9th, Urban Initiatives’ Founders Jim Dower and Dan Isherwood were invited to Mayor Daley’s farewell open house. They attended the event and appreciated the opportunity to give thanks and bid goodbye to a man who has been a supporter of education and soccer-based youth development initiatives in the City of Chicago. From…
When Urban Initiatives started the Work to Play Program at Tarkington we were confident that our program would be a great fit in the West Lawn neighborhood. No one predicted, however, how popular the program would be and how quickly it would impact the Tarkington community. Currently we are serving 48 committed students at Tarkington…
On a recent field trip with the Attucks soccer team, Urban Initiatives’ staff had an opportunity to chat with parents and hear their feedback on the Work to Play Program. Urban Initiatives thanks the parents for their input as well as for participating in the field trip. Committed parents are critical in raising committed youth!…
Urban Initiatives is pleased to announce that partner school, Walsh Elementary has received federal recognition as Gold from the National Healthy Schools Campaign. Walsh is one of the first Chicago Public Schools to receive this honor. To be selected as a recipient of this award Walsh has committed to the health and nutrition of their…