An Englewood Organization founder wants to keep kids on right track

Latanya Johnson founded Latanya and the Youth of Englewood in 2013 to provide activities for the children ages 5-12 in the community to participate in. PHOTOS PROVIDED BY LATANYA JOHNSON
Latanya Johnson founded Latanya and the Youth of Englewood in 2013 to provide activities for the children ages 5-12 in the community to participate in. PHOTOS PROVIDED BY LATANYA JOHNSON

An Englewood Organization founder wants to keep kids on right track

By Tia Carol Jones

Latanya Johnson has been a one-woman army for the last nine years. As the founder of Latanya and the Youth of Englewood, Johnson has provided for young people in Englewood by hosting recreational, educational, mentorship and entrepreneurship programs, as well as community and holiday events.

Johnson founded Latanya and the Youth of Englewood in 2013, because she was born and raised in the community and experienced the lack of resources there. Those lack of resources continued as she got older and was raising her four children. The friends of her children would come to her house, and she realized they needed things to do, programs to keep them occupied. She stepped in.

Latanya and the Youth of Englewood services children ages 5 and older. The organization has serviced thousands of children in Englewood by hosting events for Halloween, Christmas and Easter. On Thanksgiving, she provides a hot meal to people in need. The organization has been doing it free of charge for the children of Englewood.

Johnson believes that it is important to engage with the youth in the community because those children are important. When she started to see children in the community were not able to participate in activities where there was a cost associated, she provided necessary resources. “I like to make sure, anything I do, I ask the kids, ‘what do you think about this?’,” she said.

Latanya and the Youth of Englewood host an afterschool program, where the youth do their homework and they are fed. She also helps with school projects. The center is located at 6020 S. Halsted. During Black History Month, Johnson took the children to Emmett Till’s house and taught them about what happened to him. She wants to make sure the children in her program are on the right track.

Johnson has been recognized for her work and commitment to the young people in the Englewood community. She thinks it is wonderful to be recognized for the work.  She often wonders what more she could do for people to recognize the good work she has been doing.

“It’s very good to feel important within your community, because I was born and raised there. You know what’s needed, what’s not, how to work with your kids.  It’s very important to be recognized,” she said.
Johnson has seen children end up in the wrong crowds and has seen them get out of those crowds because they know the difference between right and wrong. It has helped her to know those kids are receiving the positive lessons she is teaching.

If someone needs Johnson, she is there. Whether it is providing transportation for the young people, clothes, food, or shoes. During the pandemic, Latanya and the Youth of Englewood partnered with other community organizations to provide care packages to the young people, filled with workbooks, reading books, coloring books, snacks and other things to keep them stay occupied when they couldn’t go to school.

Latanya and the Youth of Englewood also supported the parents of the young people who participate in the program.

Youth have a voice. Johnson believes it is important for people to listen to them. When it comes to what young people need, Johnson answered, love, support and stability.

“I do what I do because these kids are in need. They need us, not just me, us. It takes a village, where did that go,” she said.
Latanya and the Youth of Englewood is looking for volunteers. For more information about Latanya and the Youth of Englewood, visit www.latanyaandtheyouthofenglewood.org. You also can email Johnson at lantanya.ltyoe@gmail.com.

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