Latest news with #ThinkOutsideDaBlock
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Federal funding cuts force Englewood nonprofit to lay off outreach workers
The Brief Federal funding cuts led to the cancellation of a grant for Think Outside Da Block, an Englewood nonprofit focused on violence prevention and community outreach. The organization laid off more than half its outreach team, raising concerns about increased summer violence without their presence. Community members can support by volunteering, donating, or attending events — including a karaoke fundraiser this Friday at 6 p.m. near Ashland and Marquette. CHICAGO - A nonprofit in Englewood dedicated to building peaceful communities is feeling the effects of federal budget cuts. What we know As federal program cuts continue to take a toll on organizations nationwide, one Englewood nonprofit—dedicated to building peaceful communities—is being forced to make tough changes. The organization's loss of critical government support reflects a broader shift in priorities at the Department of Justice (DOJ). Think Outside Da Block is a nonprofit based on the city's South Side that focuses on youth development, violence interruption, and outreach. It is a member organization in a coalition of nonprofits notified last month that one of its grants was being terminated by the DOJ. Recently, founder Pha'Tal Perkins had no choice but to make difficult decisions that could dismantle years of community progress. He's had to lay off five of eight outreach staffers due to reduced federal support. "It's devastating to our community as some of these individuals are extremely influential and respected in our community and have been able to mediate conflicts and deter violence on the front end," Perkins said. Metropolitan Peace Initiatives (MPI), which secured the grant funding, received the notification letter from the Department of Justice on April 22, 2025. In total, $3.7 million has been revoked from three nonprofits in its coalition — including Think Outside Da Block. MPI Executive Director Vaughn Bryant is fighting the decision and has already submitted a formal appeal. Bryant issued the following statement to FOX 32 Chicago on Wednesday: "Metropolitan Peace Initiatives, a division of Metropolitan Family Services, serves those at highest risk of becoming shooting victims or perpetrators of violence themselves. Any life lost to gun violence is one too many. When the DOJ cut $3.7 million of funding to three nonprofits in our coalition, that had an immediate effect on communities like Englewood, West Englewood, and Woodlawn. With a 50 percent reduction in homicides and a 38 percent reduction in shooting victimizations from 2021 to 2025, we know that Community Violence Intervention (CVI) works. We, along with our partners at CPD, are saving lives. Having buy-in and collaboration on the federal level is vital to supporting CVI programming across Chicago. We've appealed the DOJ decision and are hopeful we can come to a swift resolution." Think Outside Da Block was founded in 2016 by Pha'Tal Perkins, who was born, raised, and still lives in Englewood. "Just after taking a wrong path, realizing I wanted better for myself, I wanted better for my community," Perkins said of his inspiration for the organization. With or without that funding, Perkins said his work will continue—showing community members that there is a future beyond their own block. "We all want to go through this summer peacefully, it's going to take all of us to work together," Perkins said. What you can do You can help by volunteering, donating, or attending one of the organization's events. This Friday, May 30, Think Outside Da Block is hosting a karaoke event at 6 p.m. near Ashland Avenue and Marquette Road. On Wednesday, June 4 from 5 to 7 p.m., the organization is teaming up with Chicago's SAFE Ambassadors to hold bike-riding lesson in advance of its upcoming 'Roll N Peace' community bike ride. The Roll N Peace ride, which is held annually, will take place on Friday, June 13 starting at 4 p.m. in Ogden Park (6500 South Racine Avenue). The 'roll off' is planned for 8 p.m. and interested participants can text "ROLLNPEACE" to 708-438-7300 to learn more.
Chicago Tribune
4 days ago
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Daywatch: Johnson proposal would put requirements on new industrial developments
Good morning, Chicago. Mayor Brandon Johnson will push forward this spring an ordinance designed to reform land-use policies that environmentalists say for decades led to pollution in Black and Latino communities. Some advocates for heavy industry are worried. None deny minority neighborhoods on the South and West sides suffer more from the dirty air, water and soil that historically came from steel mills, smokestacks and truck traffic. But they say if Johnson's proposal puts more obstacles in the way of new industrial businesses getting started, it could squelch much-needed job creation. 'We need to make sure we're not disincentivizing industry, because these jobs are needed throughout the city,' said Jonathan Snyder, executive director of North Branch Works, a nonprofit advocate for economic development along the North Branch of the Chicago River. 'If we send a signal that coming here is an expensive, complicated process, we will not be successful in attracting business.' Read the full story from the Tribune's Brian J. Rogal. Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including: Today's eNewspaper edition | Subscribe to more newsletters | Asking Eric | Horoscopes | Puzzles & Games | Today in History For a city with hundreds of shootings each year, the work that Pha'Tal Perkins does with kids in Chicago is quiet but significant. His team of workers does round-the-clock work to tackle the root causes of community violence, leading peer-to-peer support and group therapy sessions. They help kids apply for college and jobs, and host programming for kids. They are often the first to crime scenes, even before police. In late April, due to the end of a federal grant that supported many of those efforts, Perkins had to lay off five of the outreach staff at his violence intervention nonprofit, Think Outside Da Block. David Vojvodich served two tours in Vietnam, and on Memorial Day, he remembers those who didn't come back. Vojvodich, a 76-year-old lifelong resident of the Canaryville neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, prefers not to talk about his service during the two-decade-long conflict. But the holiday is sacred for him, and a time to reflect. State legislators who are also lawyers in Illinois are getting a new perk, courtesy of the state Supreme Court. They just need to show up for work in the Illinois General Assembly and they'll be able to collect credit toward satisfying continuing education classes required to keep their law licenses in good standing. Jordan Musenbrock, 35, said Medicaid helped pay for her manual wheelchair and its repairs, shower chair, catheters and several medications. Musenbrock, who has used a wheelchair since she was 17 following a car accident, said without Medicaid she will have to choose between a drastic decline in health, even death, or financial hardship. Sixty-five miles southwest of Chicago, a small hill that looks like a prop from an Indiana Jones movie breaks up the flat, monotone landscape. Consisting of shale, sandstone and rocks from an old coal mine, the waste pile — located on a massive river delta from another era — is an unremarkable remnant from the region's once-thriving coal industry. Except it contains many of the world's best-preserved, most diverse fossils. Egypt unveiled three new tombs of prominent statesmen in the Dra' Abu al-Naga' necropolis in Luxor, officials said Monday. Egyptian archaeologists have discovered tombs dating back to the New Kingdom period (1550–1070 B.C.) and identified the names and titles of their owners through inscriptions found within, according to a statement by the tourism and antiquities ministry. Chicago Bears safety Kevin Byard didn't bother mincing words. 'Just to be honest, this organization over the last 10 years or whatever, it's been a losing culture,' Byard said. 'We haven't really won a lot, so you have to drastically come in and try to rearrange everything.' The Chicago Cubs met the newest 'worst team in baseball history' yesterday at Wrigley Field, writes Paul Sullivan. And not surprisingly, it turned out to be a good day to play the Colorado Rockies. Despite managing only four hits, the Cubs beat the Rockies 3-1 before a Memorial Day crowd of 40,171, riding the arm of starter Jameson Taillon and the bullpen on an unseasonably cool but sunny afternoon. The singer Elaine Dame has had an interesting life, so far. She told Rick Kogan about the latest chapter earlier this month. It was a few days before her performance at Winter's Jazz Club and she said, 'There will be songs that I have performed for years, but also a great deal of material from my new CD. It's called 'Reminiscing' and, well, it's something different.' If Ebenezer Scrooge found himself isolated in a post-apocalyptic setting, with no one but his elderly parents and his long-suffering servant to haunt his monotonous days, he would probably behave like Hamm, the petty tyrant of a sad little domain in Samuel Beckett's 1957 play, 'Endgame.' In Facility Theatre's new revival of the Irish playwright's absurdist tragicomedy, the blind and paralyzed character (played by artistic director Kirk Anderson) looks like a slightly steampunk Scrooge, writes Emily McClanathan. He wears a silk dressing gown, old-fashioned nightcap and round, black sunglasses as he holds court from a shabby upholstered armchair.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
After years on the front lines of violence prevention, Englewood group faces layoffs as DOJ shifts priorities
For a city with hundreds of shootings each year, the work that Pha'Tal Perkins does with kids in Chicago is quiet but significant. Perkins, 41, remembers that after a bullet went through a window and into the neck of an 11-year-old girl last year in the West Englewood neighborhood, for example, he spent long hours bringing food and making sure her mother and 16-year-old brother felt safe leaving the house. He talked through her treatment with them as she recovered, and as the girl's brother had been out of school, he helped him re-enroll. Perkins coaches his team of outreach workers to take similar approaches with other families in crisis. '(We) once (were) a part of that street lifestyle,' he said. 'But because (we) show them love and care, they respond with respect.' His team of workers does round-the-clock work to tackle the root causes of community violence, leading peer-to-peer support and group therapy sessions. They help kids apply for college and jobs, and host programming for kids. They are often the first to crime scenes, even before police. In late April, due to the end of a federal grant that supported many of those efforts, Perkins had to lay off five of the outreach staff at his violence intervention nonprofit, Think Outside Da Block. His organization isn't the only one that received cuts, and he said there will be half the number of people this summer out in the community mediating conflicts. Gutting that infrastructure could have a ripple effect, Perkins said, as Chicago law enforcement relies on groups like his to keep the city safer. The impact, according to Perkins, could mean fewer conflicts resolved and more shootings. On April 22, Metropolitan Peace Initiatives, a nonprofit organization in Chicago that supports Perkins' nonprofit along with several others, received an email from the U.S. Department of Justice that one of its federal grants was canceled. In step with several strategies that President Donald Trump has used to cut or defund programs and grants that don't align with the administration's political values, the award was cut because it 'no longer effectuates the program goals or agency priorities,' the email stated. The total money comes out to about $3.7 million for the next three fiscal years, according to Vaughn Bryant, the executive director of MPI. Three organizations like Perkins' received cuts that took effect right away, he said. Bryant said MPI viewed those grants as a way to put money into the community and let people like Perkins build from there. 'Continuity of services matters,' he said. 'You're retraumatizing people.' Growing up in the Englewood neighborhood, Perkins said a pair of Nike Jordans was unheard of because his working mom only had enough to make sure the lights were on and the mortgage paid. 'My peers made me feel like what I had wasn't enough,' he said. 'In an environment where people make fun of you and you might not be invited to certain things, or you can't sit at this table, you feel left out.' Desperation drove him into yearslong cycles of stealing and crime, he said. Those decisions swallowed him up, he said, until his daughter Patience was born eight years ago. He was at the hospital and had to leave for court, he said. It shifted his thinking. 'There's only two ways out of this — dead or jail,' he remembers thinking at the time. 'This ain't it.' Relying on his relationships with community members, he carefully built Think Outside Da Block from the ground up. He's known many of the people he works with for his whole life. They, like him, know what triggers kids and how to calm them down. 'It's the things that you don't see. The things that you can't measure,' he said. On April 24, Perkins was in his office getting ready to celebrate what he calls 'Pha Day,' or the anniversary of the city's official recognition of his nonprofit. He and his team were planning several events, including providing snacks, T-shirts and games to students at Simeon Career Academy in the Chatham neighborhood during lunch. 'Everybody is in celebration mode, and then I get this news that I have to lay off more than half of my outreach team,' he said. He was worried about what it might mean for the homicide rate, which was going down in his community, partially, he said, due to violence intervention. There were 45 fewer people killed in total homicides last year when compared with 2023, and the West Englewood neighborhood had 15 fewer shootings, according to Tribune data. Chicago violence is concentrated in the summer. If there is an uptick, Perkins is concerned that families could now be left without assistance for funeral planning or grief counseling. But immediately, he had to break the news to his team members, who would now be left to figure out their lives and find ways to pay their bills. Many of the outreach workers are formerly incarcerated or have had trouble finding sustainable employment. 'Does this mean that if it gets too hard, they might go back to living the street lifestyle, or go back to what they knew previously?' he asked. Perkins waited days before telling his team, which he said was 'one of the hardest things he's had to do.' Violence intervention is a calling for the members of Perkins' team, said Jordan Little, 35, who joined the nonprofit about a year ago but found out late last month that he was being laid off. Little said he started doing the work four years ago after he was caught in the crossfire of a shooting in the Pullman neighborhood. He ran to a gas station and was brought to the hospital, where he stayed for a week. It took him over a month to rehabilitate. It's experiences like those that he said make him better at responding in crisis situations. But for the moment, instead of engaging in the work he loves most, he's selling life insurance and looking for something more stable. 'The cuts will just bring more scarcity, and people may start to turn on each other,' Little said. With a shell of its staff remaining, the remaining outreach workers at Think Outside Da Block are moving forward. They're hosting workshops for teens who have been in and out of jail and planning nighttime events to keep kids engaged. LaMarcus Brock, a case manager who works with Perkins, said that at a difficult time for the organization, he is focusing on the work. He's looking forward to prom season and graduations with his students. 'They need us,' he said. On a recent afternoon in the Ogden Park field house in Englewood, Perkins led a group of volunteers around the park to plan for their upcoming 'Roll N Peace' event in mid-June, where they give out 100 bikes and encourage people to ride at night. It works, said Unoka Obanner, a case manager with Think Outside Da Block. She is a single mother of four boys, and said her kids go to all of the events that Perkins holds in the community. Her boys also came out for Perkins' Unity Day event to help clean up Englewood. 'Pha'Tal helps make it peaceful,' she said. 'He steps up in every type of way.' Obanner said she is close friends with several of the staffers who were let go. She saw how hard it was for Perkins to break the news to them. 'Many of those people have families. They have responsibilities. This is something they were relying on,' she said. But mostly, she's worried about the effect it will have on summer rates of violence. 'I'm afraid,' she said. At a recent youth workshop at Perkins' headquarters on South Ashland Avenue, Rachel Watters, the organization's project manager, asked a group of four kids to speak to several others about what they needed from the organization. They, too, highlighted the lack of resources in their neighborhoods, echoing Perkins' concerns. 'Grants,' said Jaquan Moore, 18. 'We need financial stability.' Watters also asked them what the programming meant to them. 'It's that backbone and support you need,' said Sanaa Battle, 18. 'Like a family that you never had.'
Chicago Tribune
4 days ago
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
After years on the front lines of violence prevention, Englewood group faces layoffs as DOJ shifts priorities
For a city with hundreds of shootings each year, the work that Pha'Tal Perkins does with kids in Chicago is quiet but significant. Perkins, 41, remembers that after a bullet went through a window and into the neck of an 11-year-old girl last year in the West Englewood neighborhood, for example, he spent long hours bringing food and making sure her mother and 16-year-old brother felt safe leaving the house. He talked through her treatment with them as she recovered, and as the girl's brother had been out of school, he helped him re-enroll. Perkins coaches his team of outreach workers to take similar approaches with other families in crisis. '(We) once (were) a part of that street lifestyle,' he said. 'But because (we) show them love and care, they respond with respect.' His team of workers does round-the-clock work to tackle the root causes of community violence, leading peer-to-peer support and group therapy sessions. They help kids apply for college and jobs, and host programming for kids. They are often the first to crime scenes, even before police. In late April, due to the end of a federal grant that supported many of those efforts, Perkins had to lay off five of the outreach staff at his violence intervention nonprofit, Think Outside Da Block. His organization isn't the only one that received cuts, and he said there will be half the number of people this summer out in the community mediating conflicts. Gutting that infrastructure could have a ripple effect, Perkins said, as Chicago law enforcement relies on groups like his to keep the city safer. The impact, according to Perkins, could mean fewer conflicts resolved and more shootings. On April 22, Metropolitan Peace Initiatives, a nonprofit organization in Chicago that supports Perkins' nonprofit along with several others, received an email from the U.S. Department of Justice that one of its federal grants was canceled. In step with several strategies that President Donald Trump has used to cut or defund programs and grants that don't align with the administration's political values, the award was cut because it 'no longer effectuates the program goals or agency priorities,' the email stated. The total money comes out to about $3.7 million for the next three fiscal years, according to Vaughn Bryant, the executive director of MPI. Three organizations like Perkins' received cuts that took effect right away, he said. Bryant said MPI viewed those grants as a way to put money into the community and let people like Perkins build from there. 'Continuity of services matters,' he said. 'You're retraumatizing people.' Growing up in the Englewood neighborhood, Perkins said a pair of Nike Jordans was unheard of because his working mom only had enough to make sure the lights were on and the mortgage paid. 'My peers made me feel like what I had wasn't enough,' he said. 'In an environment where people make fun of you and you might not be invited to certain things, or you can't sit at this table, you feel left out.' Desperation drove him into yearslong cycles of stealing and crime, he said. Those decisions swallowed him up, he said, until his daughter Patience was born eight years ago. He was at the hospital and had to leave for court, he said. It shifted his thinking. 'There's only two ways out of this — dead or jail,' he remembers thinking at the time. 'This ain't it.' Relying on his relationships with community members, he carefully built Think Outside Da Block from the ground up. He's known many of the people he works with for his whole life. They, like him, know what triggers kids and how to calm them down. 'It's the things that you don't see. The things that you can't measure,' he said. On April 24, Perkins was in his office getting ready to celebrate what he calls 'Pha Day,' or the anniversary of the city's official recognition of his nonprofit. He and his team were planning several events, including providing snacks, T-shirts and games to students at Simeon Career Academy in the Chatham neighborhood during lunch. 'Everybody is in celebration mode, and then I get this news that I have to lay off more than half of my outreach team,' he said. He was worried about what it might mean for the homicide rate, which was going down in his community, partially, he said, due to violence intervention. There were 45 fewer people killed in total homicides last year when compared with 2023, and the West Englewood neighborhood had 15 fewer shootings, according to Tribune data. Chicago violence is concentrated in the summer. If there is an uptick, Perkins is concerned that families could now be left without assistance for funeral planning or grief counseling. But immediately, he had to break the news to his team members, who would now be left to figure out their lives and find ways to pay their bills. Many of the outreach workers are formerly incarcerated or have had trouble finding sustainable employment. 'Does this mean that if it gets too hard, they might go back to living the street lifestyle, or go back to what they knew previously?' he asked. Perkins waited days before telling his team, which he said was 'one of the hardest things he's had to do.' Violence intervention is a calling for the members of Perkins' team, said Jordan Little, 35, who joined the nonprofit about a year ago but found out late last month that he was being laid off. Little said he started doing the work four years ago after he was caught in the crossfire of a shooting in the Pullman neighborhood. He ran to a gas station and was brought to the hospital, where he stayed for a week. It took him over a month to rehabilitate. It's experiences like those that he said make him better at responding in crisis situations. But for the moment, instead of engaging in the work he loves most, he's selling life insurance and looking for something more stable. 'The cuts will just bring more scarcity, and people may start to turn on each other,' Little said. With a shell of its staff remaining, the remaining outreach workers at Think Outside Da Block are moving forward. They're hosting workshops for teens who have been in and out of jail and planning nighttime events to keep kids engaged. LaMarcus Brock, a case manager who works with Perkins, said that at a difficult time for the organization, he is focusing on the work. He's looking forward to prom season and graduations with his students. 'They need us,' he said. On a recent afternoon in the Ogden Park field house in Englewood, Perkins led a group of volunteers around the park to plan for their upcoming 'Roll N Peace' event in mid-June, where they give out 100 bikes and encourage people to ride at night. It works, said Unoka Obanner, a case manager with Think Outside Da Block. She is a single mother of four boys, and said her kids go to all of the events that Perkins holds in the community. Her boys also came out for Perkins' Unity Day event to help clean up Englewood. 'Pha'Tal helps make it peaceful,' she said. 'He steps up in every type of way.' Obanner said she is close friends with several of the staffers who were let go. She saw how hard it was for Perkins to break the news to them. 'Many of those people have families. They have responsibilities. This is something they were relying on,' she said. But mostly, she's worried about the effect it will have on summer rates of violence. 'I'm afraid,' she said. At a recent youth workshop at Perkins' headquarters on South Ashland Avenue, Rachel Watters, the organization's project manager, asked a group of four kids to speak to several others about what they needed from the organization. They, too, highlighted the lack of resources in their neighborhoods, echoing Perkins' concerns. 'Grants,' said Jaquan Moore, 18. 'We need financial stability.' Watters also asked them what the programming meant to them. 'It's that backbone and support you need,' said Sanaa Battle, 18. 'Like a family that you never had.'
Chicago Tribune
03-05-2025
- General
- Chicago Tribune
Volunteers fan out for neighborhood cleanup up during Englewood unity day
Unoka Obanner said she came to Unity Day events in Englewood for the first time Saturday to pass on the spirit of service to her 13-year-old twin sons. Obanner, a mother of four who lives in Auburn Gresham and works with Englewood-based nonprofit Think Outside Da Block, said she was interested in 'doing whatever I can to give back to communities.' 'Change is what I'm about, and I think the first step is showing up and participating,' Obanner said. She and her sons were among the 200 people who spread out in blocks around South Honore and West 64th streets in Englewood to clean up and beautify the neighborhood on a sunny yet slightly chilly early May morning. The effort was part of the 12th annual Greater Englewood Unity Day hosted by Imagine Englewood If along with some community partners. Michelle Rashad, executive director of Imagine Englewood If, said the event was about bringing people from all walks of life to do 'at least one good thing together and make our community a cleaner, more beautiful space.' Imagine Englewood If is a nonprofit youth and family service organization that offers resources to the community, including life skills workshops, a pantry with food and supplies and case management. Much of the work takes place on the 'peace campus,' made up of some 18 properties around South Honore and West 64th streets. People began gathering to check in around 9 a.m. and after a quick breakfast of doughnuts began separating into groups to work on different projects around the neighborhood, from painting murals on fences to fixing up a children's play area or picking up litter. 'It's so amazing,' Rashad said. 'I think one of the beautiful things about volunteering is you don't need a fancy degree or work experience. You don't have to be a certain age, like literally anybody can come and roll up their sleeves and serve on this day.' Rashad said that despite challenges the neighborhood, city and country may be facing, Unity Day is an opportunity to 'take action together,' no matter a person's age, race or gender. Paris Jackson, who lives in Auburn Gresham and went to high school in Englewood, said he is in his seventh year volunteering with Imagine Englewood If. His group at Unity Day was working on the children's play area, 'fixing it up and making it safe for the kids to play in this summer,' he said. Jackson said he enjoys the spirit of Unity Day because the effort 'shows the community that we care.' 'We come every year and take part in this community clean-up because we care about the neighborhood and the people who live here,' Jackson said. 'We want to make this community vibrant and to make it feel like even more of a home, one of the best places to be in the city with amazing people.' After a couple of hours of work, the groups planned to meet up to celebrate and enjoy more food, some games and 'vibing out,' Rashad said. Imagine Englewood If and some of its community partners are based on a peace campus, which has resources including a computer lab and a community garden. There's also a court where people can play basketball and that the nonprofit uses for various other events. 'The point is to have this activated safe space that serves as a resource hub for anyone who needs some help,' Rashad said. 'We wanted to make it easy for people where they can come to this community campus and get almost anything they need.' Rashad said the peace campus would continue to expand with more properties in the area that will be transformed to serve a purpose. Organizers, for example, hope to open a multimedia gaming center for young people, she said. 'We are consistently trying to come up with solutions and be imaginative in how we can help people,' Rashad said. 'That's what it's about, being consistent, and that's who we are.'
