Things are going well for Urban Life Skills! As the warm weather starts up, we begin our busy season! Thanks for your continued support and prayers. We couldn't do this work without you! Here are some things that God has been doing among us.
- Friday Night Group - We have changed our Friday night group layout and the youth are more engaged and the discussions are going deeper!
- New Curriculum - We are in the process of compiling and putting into print our new curriculum. As we teach it, we are laying out lesson plans so we can have others teach each lesson!
- CPS - Culture of Calm grant is going strong as we continue to mentor 40 youth in Farragut high school!
- Chicago Adventure Therapy - We have just planned out a variety of events for the spring/summer including a camping trip, rock climbing, biking, kayaking, and more!
- Substance Abuse Training - Art and Epi are currently in California being trained on a new substance abuse curriculum (http://www.matrixinstitute.org/training/training.html) - going to take our group to the next level!
- New Reentry Grant and New Staff! Today we began a new program through the governor's office working with juvenile offenders on parole. We have hired Amy Williams as the program coordinator, Jay Estrada as our full time outreach worker, and Wes Kennedy as our Part Time outreach worker.
- New Theater System - This weekend we are installing a state of the art theater system in the youth room with a 9 foot screen, HD projector, and surround sound. We will use this for Friday groups, movie nights, and more!
- Friday Night Football League - We will be beginning a Friday night flag football league in April. There will be 8 teams and the league will be from 10 PM to 2 AM at the YMCA at 26th and Western.
- Arcadia 2011 - On April 16th we will be having our 3rd Arcadia videogame tournament. This will kickoff the spring season. We will have 200+ youth out for a day of games, pizza, and outreach!
- Gym Project - In two weeks we are going to be launching our fund-raising efforts for our new multi-purpose gym space. The goal is to have a fully functional gym by September 1! This will include basketball hoops, volleyball net, and more...possibly even a climbing wall!
There's a lot going on! Thanks for your hard work and continued support. Remember that God is moving and we must continue to pray for our youth and their families. There were 4 shootings in the neighborhood last week alone...keep on going and keep on praying.
Matt DeMateo
