Former Student At Gary Comer Youth Center Will Speak At Annual Luncheon

The Gary Comer Youth Center (GCYC) will host its annual benefit luncheon on Oct. 12 and Breana Brown (pictured), a former GCYC student, will be a featured speaker at the event. Brown credits her childhood mentors from the GCYC with providing her the support she needed to attend and complete college. Photo Credit: Gary Comer Youth Center/Jasmin Shah
The Gary Comer Youth Center (GCYC) will host its annual benefit luncheon on Oct. 12 and Breana Brown (pictured), a former GCYC student, will be a featured speaker at the event. Brown credits her childhood mentors from the GCYC with providing her the support she needed to attend and complete college. Photo Credit: Gary Comer Youth Center/Jasmin Shah

Former Student At Gary Comer Youth Center Will Speak At Annual Luncheon

BY KATHERINE NEWMAN

The Gary Comer Youth Center (GCYC) will host its annual benefit luncheon on Oct. 12 at The Fairmount Chicago and Breana Brown, a former GCYC student, will be a featured speaker at the event. Brown credits her childhood mentors from the GCYC with providing her with the support she needed to attend and complete college.

Since opening in 2006, the GCYC has provided a safe and supportive environment for young people whether it be after school, on weekends or during school. The GCYC’s mission is to ensure all students graduate high school prepared for college and careers.

The GCYC is the cornerstone of the Comer Education Campus, 7200 South Ingleside

Ave., which includes the GCYC, Gary Comer College Prep High School and Gary Comer Middle School.

“I’ve been talking about this opportunity that the Youth Center has given me and I’m very honored,” said Brown. “I feel very excited and also nervous because of the audience that will be present, but I’m very excited and eager to share my journey with everyone through the lens of a GCYC alum.”

In 2008, Brown got involved with the GCYC as an incoming high school freshman. This was the same year that Gary Comer College Prep opened it’s doors and hosted their inaugural class, of which Brown was a part of.

“I was part of the inaugural class at Gary Comer College Prep and I also took advantage of the Upward Bound program with the Gary Comer Youth Center. That’s how I got my start with the youth center and was able to take advantage of the resources that

they offer for college preparation and eventually for my transition to Illinois State University,” said Brown.

Prior to enrolling in Gary Comer College Prep and participating in after-school programming at the GCYC, Brown said that she had no idea what her future looked like and she hadn’t spent one second of her life thus far thinking about college.

“I believe that I wouldn’t be where I am and a lot of things wouldn’t have become possible if it wasn’t for my relationship with the GCYC. I wouldn’t have been knowledgeable about college resources or college preparation and my life would be very different. I literally had no idea where I was going to end up. I wasn’t knowledgeable

about college. I really didn’t know that college even existed before transitioning to GCYC,”

said Brown. With the support of the GCYC and her mentors, Brown was able to

complete her degree at Illinois State University and now works as an admission

counselor at Lincoln College.

Another highlight of the upcoming luncheon is that David Simas, the CEO of the Obama Foundation, will be giving the keynote address and guests will be able to hear from young

people that are currently involved in a variety of center programs, from urban agriculture to visual and performing arts.

Tickets to the luncheon are available at www.garycomeryouthcenter.org/benefit.

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