Yolanda Rivera
Coached softball in Gage Park for a decade before this. Runs the match meetings and knows every family by name.
Who we are
Started in a church basement. Still on the same block.
Three coaches, a folding table and a room of kids who needed somewhere to go on a Tuesday. That was the whole organization in 2011. The table is still in the building.
Our story
We never planned to be an organization
In 2011 a handful of youth-league coaches in Back of the Yards noticed the same thing: their players were sharp, funny, and completely on their own once practice ended. So they kept the gym open on Tuesdays. Then Thursdays. Then somebody’s aunt started bringing dinner.
A decade and a half later we have a staff, a lease on Ashland Avenue, and programs that run from third grade through the first job after college. The method has not changed at all: put a reliable adult next to a young person and then get out of the way.
We are a mentoring organization, not a rescue mission. Our students are not projects. Most of them are carrying more than the adults around them ever did, and they mostly need somebody who treats that as ordinary.
How we work
Four rules we do not bend
Kids first, always
Students pick their program, set their goals, and can say no to anything. Nobody gets volunteered into a photo op.
No pity, no saviors
We do not tell sad stories about this neighborhood to raise money. Talent is the story. Access is the gap.
Show up or step back
An unreliable mentor is worse than none. If your season gets hard, tell us early and take the break with our blessing.
Hire from the block
Most of our staff grew up in these six neighborhoods, and several came through the program first.
The staff
Who you will actually meet
Small team, long tenure. These are the people who answer the phone, run the match meeting, and lock up on a Thursday.
Devon Marsh
Came through the homework lab as a sophomore in the early years, went to UIC, came back. Handles mentor training.
Priya Raghunathan
Former high-school counselor. Owns the application sprint calendar and the fee-waiver paperwork nobody else understands.
Anthony Boykin
Grew up in Englewood. Knows which principal to call, which employer answers, and where the van is parked.
What that adds up to
A mentor for every kid who asksThe waiting list is the only number we care about, and we want it at zero.
The same room every weekAshland Avenue, Tuesday and Thursday, in session or in summer.
Free for every familyNo fees, no fundraising quotas, no forms that ask for a pay stub.
Alumni who still answerGraduates come back as mentors, employers and the loudest people in the room.
Who we work with
We are one part of a bigger block
Nobody does this alone. Our programs run alongside schools, employers and neighbors who were here long before we were.
- Neighborhood high schools —
- South Side employers —
- Parish and park district halls —
- Alumni and families —
Come see it
The best way to understand us is a Tuesday
Tell us you are coming and we will hold the door. You can stand at the back of the homework lab for an hour and decide from there.