Urban Life Skills Program Staff
The Urban Life Skills Program would not exist if it weren’t for the solid team of volunteers that have given countless hours of their time to this program.  There are over 20 mentors that make up the mentor staff.  They give 3 hours every Friday to the group sessions and then spend 3+ hours outside of Fridays with the kids.  They are all working full time and give to these youth because they want to see changes in their life and make a difference.  Not one mentor has been paid over the last 19 months.  This shows the high commitment of our staff to the youth.  There are very few agencies who can staff an entire program on purely volunteers and no budget, but the mentors continue to give.

We have a very diverse mentor team with a variety of backgrounds that provides an extensive pool of resources when it comes to teaching and training the youth.  Our mentors include medical personnel, former gang members, certified accountants, construction workers, business men, youth outreach workers, probation officers and many other walks of life.  Since some of our mentors are ex-gang members, they are a valuable resource for offering perspective and advice to the youth through past experience. 

Community Partnerships
We believe that we can be the most effective if we come alongside other community agencies and partner together to help these youth.   Over the past 10 months we have made many connections and built relationships that have helped us to grow and also assisted other agencies in their work.

Some of our partners include:

• Cook County Juvenile Court
• Cook County Latino Taskforce
• The Chicago School of Professional Psychology
• Local Schools including: 
• Farragut High School
• Kanoon Elementary School
• Castellanos Elementary School
• Spry Elementary School
• YMCA Street Intervention Program
• The Aspire Center
• Beyond the Ball
• Gateway Foundation
• Enlace Chicago
• The Violence Prevention Collaborative
• New Life Community Church

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