In 1991, the Chicago Community Trust (CCT) created the Children, Youth and Families Initiative, a 10 year investment in Chicago neighborhoods to make youth programs more comprehensive, better integrated, community-based, and responsive to the needs of children, adolescents and their families. In conjunction with the local development corporation, YMCA, churches, and one of only a few CBOs, CCT created a strategic plan for addressing the needs of youth and children on the Southwest Side. Turning the strategic plan into reality lead to the establishment of SWYC. The goal was for SWYC to bring together youth and adults from the many diverse cultures existing on the Southwest Side to assist in the creation of a comprehensive, coordinated system of neighborhood-based youth services; foster community involvement in servicing youth by creating a community board of both youth and adults, creating replicable models of projects that promote community involvement and encourage service providers to reach out to the entire community; and increase community activism around youth and family issue. SWYC in 1992 created 3 after school youth centers: Greater Lawn Community Youth Network (GLCYN), The West Englewood Youth and Teen Center, and Youth Place Southwest and a youth employment project-Youth Employment Southwest (YES). Two years later, SWYC implemented the Community Organizing Initiative, which includes a youth based (Generation Y) and adult based Families Organized For Real Change (FORCE)} organizing component. Our organizing efforts have focused on creating job opportunities for young people, improving the public education system in terms of implementing college track curricula and working to reform harmful school disciplinary policies. In the past 5 years, SWYC has also been instrumental in developing educational enhancement programs, in partnership with area elementary and high schools, aimed at helping youth achieve gains on standardized tests, helping schools improve overall test scores, and supporting youth with post secondary education opportunities. We have also expanded our arts programming to include grassroots community arts as a tool to promote community stability through cross-cultural understanding and increase community development. Lastly, SWYC, in staying with its primary goal, to oversee the development of a comprehensive, coordinated system of youth and family services has this past year, with support from CCT, expanded its programming to reach more community residents with the installation of the Southwest Athletic Club. Our objectives are to improve our ability to deliver the existing services and resources that we offer, implement a process by which agencies can network and share resources, jointly conduct broader community outreach, develop new community leadership, increase the awareness and utilization of families to resources which address their basic needs and provide increased access to sports and recreational outlets.

Southwest Youth Collaborative (SWYC) is a community-based, multi-lingual network of youth and community development organizations working to meet the needs of youth ages 5-19 in the neighborhoods of Chicago Lawn, Gage Park, West Englewood, West Lawn, and West Elsdon. SWYC was formed in 1992 through a community-led process, during which neighborhood organizations, parents, youth, and community leaders formed a strategic plan with the following goals: (1) to build a collaborative network of youth and family services, (2) to build the capacity of our communities to address their own needs, (3) to build youth and community leadership, (4) to build cross-cultural understanding among diverse populations, and (5) to foster youth and community activism around issues affecting children, youth, and families. Since 1992, SWYC has established a variety of youth development programs that share a common mission: to unleash the potential of youth to become successful and actively contributing members of society.

Each year, SWYC enrolls approximately 2314 youth in after-school, in-school and summer programs at 6 sites: SWYC Community Center, Greater Lawn Community Youth Network, Hubbard and Gage Park high schools, as well as Eberhart, Marquette, and Peck elementary schools. Programs focus on the following service areas: (1) Education & College Preparation: We offer one-on-one and group homework assistance, standardized test preparation for 3rd through 11th graders, SAT/ACT test preparation for 11th and 12th graders, literacy skills building, reading workshops, writing workshops, college application and scholarship assistance, and national college tours. (2) Career Preparation & Workforce Development: We offer summer job placement, internship placement, entrepreneurship education, computer classes, and resume/ interview coaching. (3) Arts, Culture, & Recreation: We offer break dancing classes, martial arts classes, mural art lessons, poetry and spoken word classes, a basketball club, and photography classes. (4) Health & Life Skills Education: We offer life skills workshops and discussion groups to prevent HIV/STDs, substance abuse, juvenile crime, and violence, and to promote conflict resolution, anger management, individual and social responsibility, and healthy decision-making. (5) Community Organizing: We offer workshops and discussion forums that teach youth to become public leaders for disenfranchised youth and families in our communities. Participants learn the basics of community organizing and media advocacy and apply these skills to direct-action campaigns on community-identified issues.