Category Archive
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…
After receiving the Healthy Places grant in July, Urban Initiatives embarked on a project to enhance health and wellness resources in our partner schools beyond what we already offer with our Work to Play soccer teams. Because Urban Initiatives is committed to supporting our partner schools in every possible way, we were excited about being…
UI’s flagship program, the Work To Play Program, spends a lot of time talking good nutrition and healthy habits to our players. "Eat fruits and vegetables," we say, "limit your screen time and make sure to get at least one hour of physical activity a day." Developing these habits early is key to helping kids…
This Fall, the NCAA hosted its annual regional Student-Athlete Leadership Forum. The goal of this forum is to “engage a diverse and dynamic representation of student-athletes, coaches, faculty and administrators and provide pertinent and customized sessions that will enhance personal awareness and leadership skills needed to impact student-athlete development at the campus and conference level,…
On Saturday December 3rd, Urban Initiatives participants got a chance of a lifetime when they received Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) tickets at Allstate Arena, got a backstage tour, and met the lead performers. Urban Initiatives was the charity partner for the 2011 TSO event presented by Storck USA. To kick off the show, TSO and Storck…
On November 2nd, a chilly Wednesday night, two Urban Initiatives schools, Nobel Elementary and Lloyd Elementary got together to cheer on their local collegiate soccer teams. Each school was cheering for a different team – Nobel for the UIC Flames and Lloyd for the Loyola Ramblers. The UIC Flames and the Loyola Ramblers, both with…