Chicago Area Project Celebrates 86 Years of Building Safe and Sustainable Communities

TV Personality Merri Dee accepts the Distinguished Service Award during the Chicago Area Project (CAP) 86th Anniversary Celebration and Awards Reception held on February 20, 2020 at Malcolm X College in Chicago. Merri Dee who co-hosted the evening is a long-time supporter of the work of Chicago Area Project.
TV Personality Merri Dee accepts the Distinguished Service Award during the Chicago Area Project (CAP) 86th Anniversary Celebration and Awards Reception held on February 20, 2020 at Malcolm X College in Chicago. Merri Dee who co-hosted the evening is a long-time supporter of the work of Chicago Area Project.

Chicago Area Project Celebrates 86 Years of Building Safe and Sustainable Communities

86 Years of Building Safe and Sustainable Communities was the theme of the Chicago Area Project (CAP) 86th Anniversary Celebration and Awards Reception held on February 20, 2020 at Malcolm X College in Chicago. The event was MCed by Radio Legend and CAP Board Member Richard Steele and co-hosted by TV Personality Merri Dee and Youth Representative Karlyn Boens. Attendees were welcomed by young CAP Youth Ambassadors and by Malcolm X President David Sanders.

Highlights of the gala event included flag, praise dance, drum, and bugle performances by CAP affiliate Major Adams Community Committee. This year’s CAP awards included the Clifford R. Shaw Award given to retiring long time board member John A. Bross; the Founders Award given to retiring long time board member C. Steven Tomashefsky; and the Distinguished Service Award given to TV Personality Merri Dee.

Merri Dee, co-host of the evening, had high praise for the young people who served as CAP Youth Ambassadors. “They are Youth Ambassadors who come from one of the CAP affiliates and they volunteer their time,” said Dee. “They know that when you volunteer your time, it is not just giving it away to somebody. You are strengthening your lives. You are picking yourself from the background and putting yourself in the foreground. You are working your way to the top by learning from those who have worked in the vineyards... It is an honor.”

Seven African American young people were among 14 CAP Youth Ambassadors. They included Daquan David and Kiara Johnson from Major Adams Community Committee, Etienne Brown from Bishop Shepard Little Memorial Center, Maxine Gibson and Aris Brown from Roseland Community Committee, and Corey Moses, a graduate of Junior Law Camp. Their duties included welcoming and directing attendees and helping out at registration and at the coat check.

Danielle Jones from Bishop Shepard Little Memorial Center is a student at Malcolm X College who plans to major in Criminal Justice. “I like being a CAP Ambassador,” she said, “because it allows me to be a voice for the youth and it allows me to give my opinions in a respectful environment.” Jones grew up in the Bishop Little CAP affiliate. “It played a big role in my life,” she said. “I met a lot of my close friends there. I’ve had a lot of great life experiences there. It definitely has been a joy being a part of it.”

Daquan David and Kiara Johnson love both their roles as CAP Youth Ambassadors and their membership in the Major Adams Community Committee. “Being a youth ambassador means being recognized for the work you’ve been doing,” said David. “At Major Adams, they teach you leadership skills, how to be better people and how to be productive in the community.” Johnson said that as a youth ambassador, “I get to represent various programs that are educational, but still fun. I also get to be at events and learn how to talk to and greet people.” She loves Major Adams because, “it gives youth the opportunity to get better experiences outside of school.”

Etienne Brown from the Grand Boulevard Coalition believes that by being a CAP Youth Ambassador, he can set an example for other youth. “I can show them that they can do whatever they want,” said Brown. “If they want to do something, all they have to do is push towards that goal.” A budding graphic designer and photographer who goes to Fox Point College in Chicago, Brown helps the Grand Boulevard Coalition with their graphic arts needs.

This is Corey Moses second year as a CAP Youth Ambassador. Moses, 14, is a student at Legacy Charter School on Chicago’s west side and a graduate of CAP’s Junior Law Camp. “It is an honor to be here for the second year in a row,” said Moses. “Getting a chance to meet wonderful people means a lot to me.”

Youth Co-Host Karlyn Boens summed up the importance of Chicago Area Project and its affiliates through her own experience. Boens joined CAP Affiliate Mid-Austin Community Committee where she learned to sew, praise dance, and play the drums. Soon she was traveling downtown to meetings at Chicago Area Project. “Just as I learned how to sew the fabric of clothes, I began to know how the fabric of community was being sewn together,” she said. “I began to witness how drums were not just simple instruments for sound, but they were tools for radically transforming and for claiming the goodness of community.” Boens who graduated with high honors from Trinity Christian College and who is now attending Chicago State University’s Advanced Master of Social Work program asks herself: “What would I be if not for Chicago Area Project? What would communities around me look like if there was no Chicago Area Project.”

Sponsors who helped make the Chicago Area Project 86th Anniversary Celebration and Awards Reception a success include David and Celeste Watts Whittaker, Morton College, Mary Montgomery, Kenneth Abell, Howard Lathan, Midwest Legacy Group, LLC, Tom (Caesar) and Lina Brindisi, Risk Management and Information System, Inc., Jeffrey M. Leving Law Offices, Ltd., Benny Jones, Risk Management Solutions of America, North Lawndale Community Committee/Project Roll Call, and the James Barber, Kristina Brindisi Spear, Gigi Brindisi, John and Kevin Barber Families.

Since 1934 Chicago Area Project has continued to address the ever-increasing challenges youth in impoverished communities face, including escalating violence, limited job opportunities, poorly performing schools, and limited resources.

Through CAP’s programs and their 32 affiliate grass-roots organizations, hundreds of youth and their families find employment and begin careers every year.

CAP’s after-school enrichment programs, computer literacy, diversion, media projects, community leadership, mentoring and tutoring have helped thousands of youth lay the building blocks for averting violence and delinquency.

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