Sunday, August 17, 2008

50 people who make Chicago a better place

Apparently this is part 1 of a series check out all the stories, but especially check out this story from the Roseland neighborhood. Diane Latiker was featured in a story in the Chicago Tribune earlier this summer:

She is the mother of eight, and with only one still under her roof, Diane Latiker decided to invite an entire community of children into her home.

Drive by her home today at 116th and Michigan, and you'll see the house with the funky airbrushed sign for her five-year-old crime-prevention program: Kids Off the Block Inc.

The nonprofit after-school program, open to kids 12 to 19, typically draws fatherless males who can get help with schoolwork or tap in to talents by joining programs ranging from music and drama to sports.

The goal is to redirect kids away from gang life, and Latiker, 51, says she's helped hundreds do that while stemming crime in her own neighborhood.

Oh and another story about a man who works for the University of Chicago who wants to help black kids graduate from high school and be prepared for college:

Larry Hawkins once coached basketball player Cazzie Russell and groomed him for stardom.

Since 1968, as director of the office of special programs at the University of Chicago, Hawkins has helped thousands of young African Americans graduate from high school and prepare them for college and beyond.

Hawkins annually tutors, teaches and counsels hundreds of grammar school and high school students. In the last 40 years, about 200 youngsters have participated in his program each summer, and about 85 percent have graduated from high school and gone on to college.

Interesting piece worth your time on this nice Sunday afternoon.

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