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…
Urban Initiatives knows that our kids love being on the Urban Initiatives soccer team. Why else would they show up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at 7:30 AM on a Monday for practice? But what do the parents think? To answer that question, Urban Initiatives asked the parents at Reavis Elementary for their feedback on the Work…
Last week Healthy Schools Campaign, the Chicago Public Schools, and the Office of Minority Health, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services teamed up to recognize Minority Health Month in a series called Heroes for Healthy Schools. On April 8th, they concluded the week’s activities by joining Urban Initiatives for our game day at…
With only two practices under their belts, the soccer players at Alfred Nobel Elementary already have a good grasp of what it takes to be on the Urban Initiatives soccer team. As soon as they arrived on Thursday, Jose, a third grader on the team, excitedly told Coach Cynthia that he had gone running with…
Join Urban Initiatives in celebrating Karen’s 52 weeks of experiences at her finale party. The event will be held at LaSalle Power Company on April 30th at 8:00pm. The event is open to the public and admission is a choice between a $20 charity cover charge or a 3-hour $40 charity drink package. Proceeds from…
Urban Initiatives has been selected as the nonprofit beneficiary of the SUIT UP business networking event on April 27th at Bull & Bear (431 N Wells). Our tremendous partner LTS Chicago and Maven chose Urban Initiatives to receive all proceeds from the $5 donations collected at the door. The event will run from 6:00-9:00pm. The…
Program participants at Libby celebrated the end of their winter season with a party on March 29th. At the event, the kids also completed their service learning project. For two and a half weeks the participants collected as much canned food as possible for the Salvation Army Emergency Disaster services. This project was selected at…
Next week, Urban Initiatives will welcome the Tarkington School of Excellence and Alfred Nobel Elementary School to our team. Both of these schools are a great fit for our Work to Play Program and we are thrilled to make them our 15th and 16th program sites. This expansion will enable us to serve 60 additional…
Urban Initiatives loves working with volunteers from Northwestern’s Civic Education Project (CEP). CEP is an award-winning leadership and civic engagement program. We are thrilled to have taken part in their CivicWeek for the past few years. On March 24th, CEP volunteers served as Assistant Coaches at Morton and Otis during our early morning program session.…
ABC News reports on the importance of recess to youth development. Click here to watch the video.
On March 23rd, Actress/Singer Hilary Duff visited Jenner Academy to promote a wonderful program, called ‘Blessings in a Backpack,’ that provides food for needy kids. Click here to read an article about the visit from the Chicago Sun-Times.
Anthony Todd of the Chicagoist wrote in a recent review, "If you’re a food lover and you weren’t at Family Farmed Expo on Saturday, you’d better have a darn good excuse." For a group of thirty young soccer players and their families from Sherman School of Excellence, they don’t need an excuse – they were…