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WASHINGTON PARK — A South Side group wants help from neighbors to beef up social programs for teens and young adults throughout the summer.
Bennie Henry, executive director of the Support Group, a Pilsen-based nonprofit that works with teens and young adults to turn them into leaders, said programming for teens is key to preventing situations like the youth gatherings Downtown and at 31st Street Beach that turned violent.
“More funding needs to come to our communities for programs like this, because it really does make a difference. That’s important,” Henry said.
With the help of his cousin, NBA legend Tim Hardaway, Henry has worked with Chicago youth for more than 30 years to give them tools to navigate the world, through entrepreneur camps, basketball clinics and their annual Chicagoland All-Star Classic July 28-29. Teens in Support Group programs also have the opportunity to work as Youth Peace Ambassadors, an initiative developed by The Support Group and Heartland Alliance where teens work with parents, teachers and community leaders to create peaceful communities at school and beyond. The group partners with dozens of public schools in the city.
“We’ve been doing this over 30 years all around the city of Chicago and the stats are amazing,” Henry said, and they have a proven track record of putting kids through high school and college.
During a warm weekend in April, three teens were wounded in shootings Downtown and at 31st Street Beach as youths gathered, leading city officials to enforce a teen curfew at Millennium Park. Now, kids younger than 18 can’t enter the park after 6 p.m. unless they are accompanied by someone 21 or older and each adult can accompany no more than four minors at a time, according to park rules.
Judgment of the violence on social media came swiftly; a group of Black pastors held a march and prayer vigil Downtown, drawing hundreds of residents there in support.
For some of the Support Group participants and grads, watching media coverage and social media commentary on the “teen takeovers” was hard to watch.
“This program is here to answer those calls [to action],” said Clarence Cooper, who has worked with the Support Group for six years. “Just because you’re misguided doesn’t mean you’re a nuisance.”
Henry estimates that The Support Group has helped thousands of young people in the city, with some even returning to become mentors themselves. Bruce Wilson, an investment banking analyst with Deutsche Bank, credits the Support Group’s Youth Ambassador program with helping him when he was a student at Whitney Young Magnet School nearly a decade ago.
Wilson found himself inspired by the people the program introduced him to, from the community leaders he encountered to his other cohorts, with whom he developed lifelong friendships.
“Back then, you’re at such a formative time in your life where the kind of people you’re around really matter,” said Wilson, who graduated from Hampton University with political science degree in 2021.
Henry hopes the Support Group can offer summer jobs to youth, but the organization needs grants and donations to fund their work. People can donate to support their mission here or reach out about grant opportunities by emailing info@thesupportgroup.org.
There isn’t enough programming or resources for youth in Chicago, Wilson said.
“The reason people want to hang out in the suburbs of Chicago, or Downtown Chicago, is because that’s where the nice stuff is. That’s the only place that has had any beautification at all. Those are the only places that have restaurants and coffee shops and food you actually want to eat,” Wilson said. “We don’t talk enough about how it feels to be brushed to the wayside because we’ve been living with it for so long, but it’s the lack of resources.”
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