Nearly 50 years ago, Bob Jemilo decided something needed to be done to put “hard-to-serve youths” on the right track in Chicago city life. Far too many children were being recruited to join gangs, and as a result, these youths were unfortunately becoming accustomed to violence in their lives.
So Jemilo started BUILD (Broader Urban Involvement & Leadership Development), and ever since 1969, the organization has introduced at-risk youth to a path away from the violence and towards a meaningful future. Today, the organization reaches more than 3,500 youths a year, helping them improve in the following areas:
- Decreased negative behaviors
- Increased pro-social behaviors
- Social mobility
- Post-secondary success
- Civic activism
We at Breakthru are very proud to once again partner with BUILD this year to support their efforts to make positive life-changing differences in our city’s youth.
Just as we did last summer, we joined BUILD and a bevy of other Chicago organizations for the “Summer of Opportunity Community Celebration,” bringing together Chicago’s west side communities for a fun day-long street festival, including music and dance acts, games, food, basketball, rock climbing and more. Breakthru associates volunteered for the day to help the BUILD team execute all facets of the festival.
We’d like to thank BUILD for having us again as a partner this year, and we’d also like to thank all of our associates who donated their time to help us practice one of our core values, which is to make the communities we serve a better place to live.
For more information on BUILD’s story, and how you can help, please visit: https://www.buildchicago.org/