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…
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…
The economic downturn has made times tougher for all people, not just in their household bottom lines, but in the public services they relY on. as some city agencies find themselves on the chopping block, a soccer coach looks to park funding and program delivery, both of which are Crucial indicators of a city’s health.
On November 3rd, volunteers from Storck USA, a candy company that makes favorites such as Werther’s and Mambas, took time out of their busy schedules to be soccer coaches for the day at the Chicago Indoor Sports complex. With boxes of special edition Storck-UI shirts ready to be distributed, Storck volunteers awaited the arrival of…
urban initiatives congratulates Coach Faye Stevens-jett for being honored with the Coach of the Year award from up2us, An orgAnizaTion thaT supports youth development proGrams that usE spoRts to improve the lives of kids across the country. coach jett, the atHletic Director and pe teacher at morton school of excellence, is a member of urban…