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…
Home to Urban Initiatives’ soccer practices full of 2nd to 4th graders in the morning, the Arthur A. Libby Elementary gym hosted a much bigger and louder contest last Thursday. Thanks to a grant from Good Sports that Urban Initiatives secured, Libby received brand new basketballs, enabling it to host eight different elementary schools’ basketball teams as…
Thanks to Coach Simba, the On-Site Program Director at Jenner Academy, for this blog post. You see her walking down Elm Street at 7:20 AM with all three of her kids. Holding her youngest child Davarius by the hand she carefully crosses the street and enters the cafeteria with a smile and a warm greeting,…
While Daley’s Urban Initiatives team reviewed its 5-4-3-2-1-Go! lesson after practice in the gym, the No Child Left Behind committee was down the hall having a health lesson for parents, with a healthy breakfast to start the day off right! As a Healthy Places school, Urban Initiatives has been working to provide workshops for parents…
Urban Initiatives would like to thank our tremendous partner Storck USA for their ongoing support. Their dedication to corporate responsibility is absolutely incredible and we are grateful to have them on our team. We are extremely grateful for all they do to support us and for serving as The Presenting Sponsor of The Soccer Ball.…
A critical component of our Work To Play Program is the health and character handouts that we give to our soccer players on a weekly basis. These fun-focused handouts build on the health and character discussions from that week. The soccer players are asked to complete the weekly handout and turn them back into their…
The lunch room at Daley Academy is usually a sea of students’ hunter green uniforms, but a different shade of green is popping up these days – salad green! When Daley received their HealthierUS Schools Challenge award, the Wellness Committee (which includes Urban Initiatives staff from the Healthy Places project) worked with the lunch room…
The U.S. Soccer Foundation has awarded a $10,000 grant to Urban Initiatives in support of our flagship Work to Play Program. Urban Initiatives’ Executive Director Jim Dower is thrilled about the partnership, "Urban Initiatives is extremely excited to partner with The U.S. Soccer Foundation. Their support will be key to helping us expand the impact…
More than 750 guests attended Urban Initiatives’ sixth annual Soccer Ball fundraiser on January 27th at Chicago’s River East Art Center. It was an enchanted evening of mingling for many Chicago professionals, young and old alike, who were swaying to the cool sounds of DJ Duncan and devouring the innovative culinary concoctions and specialty cocktails of J&L Catering.…
Written by Jim Dower, Founder and Executive Director of Urban Initiatives On Friday, January 20th, our friend Troy Cameron was tragically gunned down while working at Walgreens. Troy was one of my first students at Byrd school when I began teaching nine years ago, and he made a long-lasting impact on me. In the non-profit…
By Phil Sandick I once had a professor who noted the underestimated connection between motion and emotion. During my seasons with Urban Initiatives, that connection has asserted itself time and time again. When walking, sitting, or standing still (the “slow” motions), it is easy to stay inside an insulated psychological shell. Any mental confrontation with…
“What is y’all thinking? Why are you doing that? You need to pick that up and do your homework,” the coach snapped. The offenders did their best to look ashamed, each beginning to pick up the crumpled pieces of paper on the ground. “Hold on, I can handle this,” said another coach. “You guys know…