The Rally Point Program

FROM THE FOUNDER:

 

Born in the early 1970s and raised on Chicago's largely impoverished westside, I recall few resources being provided for the safety, education, healthcare, housing or development of the community. Growing-up, our blocks didn't feel like part of the grand metropolis - downtown, Grant Park, Museum Campus and Buckingham Fountain etc., seemed light-years away, though less than 5 miles from my community. 

 

During my childhood and adolescent years, we played "strike-out" with sticks in alleys and hide-n-seek in urine-laced gangways. As boys, we taught each other everything we thought we knew about manhood. Our thoughts, identities and behaviors were assembled with partial instructions and by injustices, inherited by simply being born into marginalized groups. Our hearts were hardened by adverse conditions, fear and traumatic experiences. At that time, we blindly chose paths and ran full-speed with our heads-down and little direction, goal or strategy for life. 

 

Role models and adventures to the local zoo, parks, and road-trips, exposed me to unforeseen possibilities for life. These environments and experiences, offset my sense of hopelessness and equipped me alternative ways of thinking. I began developing a new awareness and attraction to exploring various places and activities. I learned to view negative circumstances as positive opportunities to overcome challenge. This highlighted, for me, the value of positive personal engagement, experiential learning and changing environments. 

 

My life experience began over four decades ago, yet patterns of need remain high across many communities including Chicago, Joliet,  and other Greater Chicagoland areas. TRPP serves to engage and enlighten vulnerable youth and veterans by exposing them to fun and fulfilling engagements as they discover personal awareness, holistic wellness and ways to save and enrich themselves, for life.