The rhythmic beat of African drums reverberated throughout Hamilton Park, 513 W. 72 ndStreet on Saturday, August 26th; and local youth were in the spotlight at a pulse-pounding "Drum Circle for Peace" program presented as part of this summer's Safest Summer 2017 Initiative "Praise in the Park." The musical extravaganza was part of a Back-to-School program that

Elijah's House kicked-off their anti-violence activities in August with an event to mend the walls of communication between Chicago's youth and the Chicago Police Department. Venita Williams, Executive Director and planner of this event, said the idea was born from conversations staff members often had with teens about their daily concerns. They found that many teens

Chicago's gun violence crisis requires all of us to make community safety a priority. Last year, following a decade of progress in reducing violence, Chicago suffered 4,368 shootings and 764 homicides, a level of violence unheard of since the 1990s. The trend continues in 2017. It must stop, and all of us have a role to play. There

With the many news headlines about the ongoing violence plaguing the Austin neighborhood on Chicago's West Side, Vanessa Sanchez worries that the youth growing up in the community are unable to think positively about their futures. "[Austin] is so often featured in the media as a dangerous area," says Sanchez, the prevention program manager at Youth Outreach