Chicago's Southwest Youth Collaborative serves primarily the West Elsdon, Gage Park, West Lawn, Chicago Lawn, and West Englewood community areas. These communities are communities in transition; over the last 30 years, large numbers of predominantly older, working class white residents have moved out and predominantly younger, lower-income and immigrant families of color with children have moved in.

Census Data

The following statistics are compiled from 2000 census data coving the Chicago Lawn, West Lawn, West Englewood, Gage Park, and West Elsdon community areas: Of the residents living in these communities, 24% are foreign born and 63% of those residents are not naturalized citizens. Of the population 5 years or older, 45% speak a language other than English and further dissection reveals that 83% of that population speak Spanish and 61% speak English less than very well. They face tremendous barriers that prohibit them from attaining a living-wage salary; there is a high rate of illiteracy among youth and adults; and school age children, especially, face tremendous challenges on both sides of the coin. Children struggle with learning and understanding school subject matter due to their lack of command of the English language and they find little support at home because parents cannot speak the language themselves and many have stunted educational experience. 50% of the adult population 25 years of age and older have a high school degree or less.

Many of these communities are overwhelmed with gang violence, high dropout and unemployment rates, and a lack of youth programs and family support services. For instance, the combined average jobless and unemployment rate for youth between the ages of 16 and 19 years is 95%. In addition, the combined average dropout and out of school rate for this same population is 42%; and an average of 25% of all persons in the 6 communities areas living in poverty and extreme poverty.

There is also a high need for after school programming for youth in these communities. With more and more parents working longer hours outside the home, many children lack adult supervision during late afternoon and early evening hours. Unsupervised children are at risk of being exposed to and engaged in a myriad of risky behaviors.

It is widely known at this point, that the hours after school are peak hours for: teens to commit crimes, youth to become victims of a crime, teen sex and youth use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, and youth involvement in gangs. As it relates to risky teen sex practices, AIDS was the 5th leading cause of death for females between the ages of 15-24 in 2001. Young adults and teens continue to be at risk of HIV infection, especially women and minorities. At least 11% of all recently diagnosed HIV infections are among those between the ages of 13-24. Among HIV infections in the 13 to 24 age group, young girls now represent 38% of new HIV infections, young African Americans represent 65%, young Latinos represent 19%, while whites account for just 14% of new HIV infections in this age group.

Furthermore, SWYC is one of only a handful of community based organizations serving a populous made up of 47,298 families and 36,578 youth ages 10 to 19 years of age. To be sure, this statistical data paints a woeful picture for youth living in these communities. In response however, SWYC has developed an array of accessible, innovative, and youth-responsive programs, which provide a comprehensive system of educational, recreational, cultural, vocational, and leadership development opportunities for low-income youth, youth of color, youth who are deficient in basic skills and/or whose primary language is not English.