UNION LEAGUE BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS AND UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, CHICAGO AWARDED $250,000 GRANT TO IMPLEMENT TRAUMA-INFORMED CARE FOR AREA YOUTH

UNION LEAGUE BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS AND UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, CHICAGO AWARDED $250,000 GRANT TO IMPLEMENT TRAUMA-INFORMED CARE FOR AREA YOUTH

The Union League Boys & Girls Clubs (ULBGC) with the University of Illinois, Chicago (UIC) have been jointly awarded a $250,000.00 grant to support specialized Trauma-Informed Care training and programming at the Union League Boys & Girls Clubs’ stand-alone Club One and Baretto Clubs located in Pilsen and Humboldt Park, respectively. The grant will be utilized by ULBGC with three UIC partners: UIC Law School Restorative Justice Project, which promotes the values and principles of restorative justice and the peaceful resolution of disputes through educational programs; the UIC Urban Youth Trauma Center, which promotes and disseminates comprehensive, integrated, and coordinated care for youth affected by trauma; and the UIC Office of Community Engagement and Neighborhood Health Partnerships, which promote health equity, participates in the revitalization of underserved communities, and builds leadership capacity through service, education, and research.

Funds will be used by ULBGC and its UIC Chicago partners to provide Trauma-Informed Care, a practice which seeks to understand the impact of traumatic experiences, such as discrimination or violence in schools and communities, and to respond in ways that provide pathways to healing. Among other initiatives, all Club leadership will receive expert training from UIC personnel to handle sensitive issues potentially facing our youth, from consoling a child grieving the loss of a loved one to enabling teens to discuss discriminatory acts they've encountered.

This funding builds on a productive relationship ULBGC established with the UIC Law School Restorative Justice Project in 2016. Among specific activities underway are formalized Peace Circles in which Union League Boys & Girls Clubs members are guided through open dialogues with each other to share their own experiences and vulnerabilities in a non-threatening forum.

“This impactful grant enables us to provide professional, empathetic leadership training to those who guide and mentor our youth every day. The Trauma-Informed Care practice will help contribute to our membership feeling safe within our Clubs and gaining a sense of personal resilience,” said Union League Boys & Girls Clubs President & CEO Mary Ann Mahon Huels. “It is our intention that the important restorative justice work being launched in these two Clubs will not only flow through to our other Club locations but to their communities at large.”

The grant was issued by the American Arbitration Association-International Centre for Resolution Foundation (AAA-ICDR) established in 2015 to fund projects that promote conflict resolution and prevention in communities across the country and around the world.

"The AAA-ICDR Foundation is proud to support the Restorative Justice and Trauma-Informed Healing Centered Project through our grant to Union League Boys & Girls Clubs. This innovative collaboration embodies our commitment to preventing and reducing violence through empowering communities and fostering transformative change. By investing in programs like RJ & TIHCP, we aim to cultivate environments where youth can heal, thrive, and contribute positively to society," said India Johnson, Chair of the AAA-ICDR Foundation.

Restorative Justice is the practice of repairing harm done to a victim or victims through a holistic view of all parties, including the victim, the offender and community, and the Restorative Justice Project (RJP) at University of Illinois, Chicago trains law students in the philosophy and practice of Restorative Justice so that they become better lawyers. Restorative Justice can be conducted through peace circles which allow a place for each individual’s voice to be heard under the direction of a circle keeper, and RJP students learn different restorative techniques and how to become effective circle keepers. While students are encouraged to observe proceedings in the federal and state courts, they also work to implement Restorative Justice and to learn about the problems faced every day by persons in low-income communities and communities of color, such as those served by Union League Boys & Girls Clubs. They use Restorative Justice principles to administer peaceful ways to resolve conflicts, including the practice of self-reflection, and use restorative chats and peace circles to induce behavioral change.

Since its founding on December 26, 1919, as a foundation of the Union League Club of Chicago, the Union League Boys & Girls Clubs have been serving youth in neighborhoods with the highest hardship index in Chicago; providing quality programming centered on academic success, good character and citizenship, and healthy lifestyles. Today, ULBGC serves over 13,000 youth members at 19 well-equipped and professionally staffed clubs that bring effective after-school programming to youth in the Archer Heights, Armour Square, Back of the Yards, Englewood, Homan Square, Humboldt Park, Little Village, Pilsen, South Lawndale, West Garfield Park and West Town communities. In addition to its Club sites, the non-profit ULBGC also serves Court-detained youth assigned to Chicago’s Juvenile Temporary Detention Program and manages its own 247-acre summer camp in southern Wisconsin where Club youth have a chance to enjoy supervised outdoor activities not easily accessible in an urban environment. For more information on Union League Boys & Girls Clubs, please visit http://www.ulbgc.org

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