Kevin was a head soccer coach at a high school prior to moving to Chicago. He also spent six years working at a mental health center where he saw kids go through tough situations. These experiences have helped Kevin in his role as a Program Associate.
After joining the Urban Initiatives team in August 2013, he has helped run the Work to Play program at Goethe, Howe, Jahn, Morton, and Otis. The integration of sports and helping people was a huge draw in the job for Kevin. Urban Initiatives seemed to be the perfect fit to continue both paths that he had already started. Sports have always played a huge role in Kevin’s life. One of the most important lessons they taught him is how to effectively work in a group setting to achieve a certain goal. This approach to teamwork has allowed him to excel as a Program Associate.
Kevin believes that one of the biggest impacts that Urban Initiatives has on the lives of the children we work with is to provide the opportunity to be part of a team. He thinks being part of a team can have a huge positive impact in a child’s life and he can see how proud the kids are to be a part of the UI team. When asked what his favorite memory so far is, Kevin said, “This might sound a little crazy, but my favorite memory is from my first couple weeks. I was at a school running a PE class and the kids were just clowning on me trying to be the first to make me mad. Coming from a small town you hear stories of kids in the big cities, but this was the moment I realized the kids were exactly the same as the ones I had been working with in small Southeast Kansas. Regardless of where you are, kids will be kids.” We are lucky that Kevin has brought his own experiences to UI!