By The Hand Club Celebrates 25th Year Anniversary
By The Hand Club Celebrates 25th Year Anniversary
By Tia Carol Jones
The By The Hand Club For Kids began with 16 school-aged children who resided in the Cabrini Green Housing Projects. While parts of the community have been gentrified, By The Hand Club for Kids continues to provide support to the children in that community, and has even expanded to include locations in Austin, North Austin, Englewood and Altgeld.
On Friday, March 20th, the By The Hand Club For Kids celebrated its 25th anniversary in the place where it all started, Cabrini Green, with staff, supporters, volunteers and student alumni. Donnita Travis, Founder and CEO of By The Hand Club For Kids, said it has been 25 years of faithfulness. She said the organization started with God whispering a verse and a vision. The organization started out at the Moody Church then they moved into the 419 Building.
“From those first 16 kids until today, it’s been miracle after miracle after miracle of God making the impossible, possible,” Travis said. Since By The Hand Club for Kids was founded in 2001, it has served more than 8,000 Chicago Public School students, by providing no-cost afterschool programming, which includes mentorship, academic support and spiritual development.
Travis said she wanted By The Hand Club For Kids to be in the Cabrini Green community to serve the children there and share the love of God with them in a meaningful way. It was also a way to engage with not only the students, but also with their families.
According to By The Hand Club For Kids in 2025, 100% of the organization’s students graduated high school, with 85% choosing to pursue higher education. In 2005, the organization opened its Altgeld location and in 2007, it opened its Austin location, and in 2008, it opened its Englewood location. In 2023, it opened its North Austin center, through a partnership with Intentional Sports, Grace and Peace Church, the Chicago Fire Foundation and Jason and Vee Heyward. Travis said the greatest miracle of all is what she, the staff and volunteers see in the lives of the children they serve and in their own lives.
Shanta Evans has been working with the By The Hand Club For Kids. Travis said that Evans was the first person to say yes to serving with the organization. She worked for a month without pay and continued on to become the longest serving worker for the organization. Evans said it is a blessing to see how God has not only worked in the lives of the children, but also, in her own life. She said she has been truly transformed during her time with By The Hand.
“When I came here, I was so uncertain, didn’t even know I was capable, but to see what God has done with all of our kids, is truly amazing,” Evans said. She added that just to be part of the organization, seeing children grow up and have them come back, has been very impactful for her.
For more information about By The Hand Club For Kids, visit www.bythehand.org.
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