Kennedy Ray, Ladies of Virtue
Sophomore year was challenging for Kennedy Ray. Several family members died within weeks of each other, her grades were slipping, and she wasn’t seeing eye-to-eye with friends. “I felt like…
September 22, 2025
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Camille Hughes, Lost Boyz
Camille Hughes couldn’t catch or hit a ball when she first heard about Lost Boyz, a sports-based youth development program based in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood. But she signed up…
September 22, 2025
Impact
Sanaa Battle, Think Outside Da Block
Sanaa Battle didn’t plan to become pregnant at 17. She was still in high school and didn’t have a job. But she persevered. At 18, she is a coordinator in…
September 22, 2025
Impact
George Salazar, Urban Warriors
George Salazar’s life could have easily gone in the wrong direction. Close male relatives had joined the Latin Kings street gang, and some of his peers associated with a rough…
September 22, 2025
Impact
Amy Roman, The Alliance 98
The deaths of a friend from gun violence and of people she knew from COVID-19 took a toll on Amy Roman. She was unsure of her career goals and future,…
September 22, 2025
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Christian Aguilar, OPEN Center for the Arts
Aspiring filmmaker Christian Aguilar, 25, is fascinated with the creative ways artists can tell stories. OPEN Center for the Arts in Little Village is helping to make his goal of…
September 22, 2025
Impact
Tristan Phipps, Fathers, Families, & Healthy Communities
After his stepfather was killed by gang gunfire in 2017, Tristan Phipps was determined to look after his brothers and live a productive life. “I needed to not just be…
September 22, 2025
Impact
Keric Mosely, GoodKids MadCity
It was a huge blow for Keric Mosley when his grandmother died. She was his guardian and he was living with her at the time. After she died, he started…
September 22, 2025
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Antonia Pillot, Chicago LAMP
Antonia Pillot’s parents struggled after leaving the military—with finances, drug addiction and incarceration. For a time, Antonia and her four sisters lived with their grandmother. But Chicago LAMP (Lawndale AMACHI…
September 22, 2025
Impact
Isela Pulido, Gads Hill Center
Isela Pulido strives to be the best mom ever. But she has struggled with postpartum depression and other life challenges as she juggles being a wife and mother of four…
September 22, 2025
Impact
