BY THE HAND CLUB FOR KIDS FINDS A HOME IN ENGLEWOOD

By The Hand Club for Kids began its partnership with Salvation Army Adele and Robert Stern Red Shield Center in September. Photo provided by By The Hand Club For Kids.
By The Hand Club for Kids began its partnership with Salvation Army Adele and Robert Stern Red Shield Center in September. Photo provided by By The Hand Club For Kids.

 By The Hand Club for Kids finds a home in Englewood

BY TIA CAROL JONES

By The Hand Club for kids was founded in 2001 with children from Cabrini Green. Twenty-one years later, the organization has served more than 6,000 children who range in grades
from kindergarten to high school.

Students from Alonzo Stagg and Daniel S. Wentworth are picked up from school and bussed to the location, where they receive a hot meal. The meal is catered by Open Kitchen. Then, the students start their cohort rotation. There are 14 students in the high school program and 48 students in the kindergarten through eighth grade program.

According to Eddie Wilson, with By The Hand Club for Kids, part of the partnership included dual enrollment for students who were part of the Salvation Army program to take advantage of By the Hand Club for Kids and students who were part of By the Hand Club for Kids to participate in the Salvation Army programs.

“We wanted to ensure we gave parents the opportunity to enroll in both,” Wilson said. “It increases our impact in the neighborhood. It also increases our reach.”

Because By The Hand Club for Kids is a Christ-centered program, which the organization is transparent about with parents, the students participate in Bible Fun classes twice a week. Younger students do more arts and crafts, with an introduction to the Bible. Students in grades third through fifth do more foundation Bible classes, reading and learning about the Bible. Sixth through eighth and into high school students have more conversations
about Scripture and how it is reflected in their lives.

“It is important to understand how Jesus shows up in your
life, even in your everyday trials,” Wilson said.

The students also participate in Chapel. Chapel helps the
students dive deeper into what they’ve learned during Bible
Fun. The students participate in the Salvation Army’s Celebrate
Launch and Landing, where all the students in the building come
together for praise and worship, games and a message.

“I am so happy to be back in person with the By The Hand
Club for Kids,” shared fifth grade participant Chloe. “I was sad
when we didn’t have a place to meet after school because I really
missed my friends. Now instead of going home to my two-yearold
brother after school, I get to come to By The Hand and play
games, do arts and crafts, and spend time with my friends. I
love how much free space there is at the new building, but mostly
I love that all my friends are here with me!”

Salvation Army has it’s Celebrate Launch and Landing and is working on including its Character Building classes, STEM
programming and mentoring with the By the Hand Club for Kids
programming.

“They’re handling a lot of great things, but we also want to expose the children to the things we have here, too,” said Christal
Johnson Corps Administrator for the Salvation Army Adele and
Robert Stern Red Shield Center.

There are diverse learners in the program. Parents provide a
copy of the student’s Individualized Education Program and By the Hand Club for Kids wants to provide accommodations for them.

With the belief that afterschool programs should be an
enhancement of the school day and not be repetitive of the
school day, the goal is to have an enrichment schedule begin
in November. Students participate in literacy programming,
physical activity, arts and crafts and social emotional learning.

The day ends at 7 p.m. and the students are bussed back to their
homes. “By the Hand Club for Kids, has a long reputation of giving quality programs. The Salvation Army also has great programs.

We do not have the staff or the seasoned professionals they have
or the reach they already have. So, we found that, especially after
COVID, and minimizing our staff, this would be a great opportunity to get back into the community,” Johnson said.

For more information about By the Hand Club for Kids, visit bythehand.org. For more information about the Salvation
Army, visit https://centralusa.salvationarmy.org/redshield.

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