Every year the 2024 Chicago Marathon is a celebration of joy, community, and the power of play, drawing thousands of people out for the fun. Yet, in the very neighborhoods that host this iconic event, many Chicago youth and families still lack access to sports and play opportunities. This year, our Charity team is lacing…
On Friday, December 6th, 25 members of the Urban Initiatives Junior Board met 25 Work to Play and Take the Lead kids from Nobel to take in the Zoo Lights at Lincoln Park Zoo.
During an average week, Urban Initiatives moves to the sounds of teammates chattering, coaches instructing, and apples crunching. Over the past three months, though, our staff and supporters have been dancing to a long list of new, carefully selected beats compliments of Localized @ the Bedford.
Urban Initiatives would not be where it is today without supporters like the Doerr family. As we celebrate 10 years of impactful programming, it is important to take a moment to stop and reflect upon the fact that it has truly been a team effort that has accomplished our remarkable milestones of growth, success, and…
Two weeks ago, in an effort to get healthier at lunch, the Palmer Panthers had their first lunchroom challenge! For one week, teachers tallied the junk food items students brought in their lunches. The winner would be the class that brought the fewest junk foods to lunch. This sparked new enthusiasm with the kids to…
Urban Initiatives Team Captains have a reputation for dedication and enthusiasm when it comes to soccer and leadership. They proved that reputation true again on saturday, november 2nd, when team captains from urban initiatives schools around Chicago gathered at otis elementary school for a day full of leadership training through fun and challenging games and…
Gabriel Diaz is the REC Coordinator at Louis Pasteur Elementary in West Elsdon. Gabe also coached flag football this fall, and will coach basketball during the winter season. Gabe played high school basketball at Kennedy, where he averaged 14 points per game his senior year. At Urban Initiatives, we often focus on the big problems…
Urban Initiatives had an awesome turn out for the junior board hosted annual halloween Bash at estAte ultra Bar on friday, October 25th.
The 2013 Work to Play fall season saw a record number of boys and girls sharply dressed in their brand new Nike jerseys, shorts, socks and shin guards kick the soccer ball all around Chicago. 821 soccer players from our 26 partner schools wrapped up our strongest ever Work to Play season this past week.
This Fall, Nobel school participated in the CPS soccer league for the first time ever, and had such success that they will be competing in the city-wide finals this weekend. Nobel has never had a soccer team for the middle school before, but the demand is very high, so when Coach Veronica became the REC…
Attucks, Reavis and Tarkington recieved a special visit from some great volunteers from Bank of America at this past Friday’s Game Day.
Last week, a news team from ABC came to Daley Elementary to show the great work Urban Initiatives is doing for the school community. Check out the whole story here.
