This summer, GCC’s “I Can Fly” mentoring and garden education program is returning, bigger and better than before in the Austin neighborhood. The program has a new name and new energy, thanks to new funding and a stronger partnership with Broader Urban Involvement & Leadership Development (BUILD), an organization that has been serving at-risk youth in Chicago’s most challenging neighborhoods for 50 years. Their mission is “...to engage at risk youth in schools and on the streets to help them realize their potential and contribute to our communities.”
Youth Learn Leadership via Gardening
This summer a new youth leadership program gave a cohort of Chicago teens a safe and nurturing environment to learn lessons that enriched their lives, as well as the neighborhood where they live. During July, teens in the “I Can Fly” Youth Leadership Program focused on the richness of the soil, not the economic poverty around them; the sweet fruits of labor, not the bitterness of systemic discrimination.
Join Us! 'I Can Fly' Youth Program Graduation & Zero Waste Block Party
Green Community Connections was pleased to partner with so many incredible partners for its inaugural I Can Fly Youth Leadership Program this summer. Learn about I Can Fly! See photos from the program, review the program backgrounder, and meet the wonderful partners and supporters who made it all possible.