Camaraderie, community and conversation.
According to Englewood mom Hadiyah Muhammad, that’s what her 13-year-old son Jalil looks forward to as one of over two dozen Black males taking part in Relentlessly Engaging Adolescents to Choose Hope, or the REACH 21 program.
“He loves it,” Muhammad said of the program run by UCAN, a social service agency. “He’s more independent, more mature. I see him more into his books and maintaining a study program.”
The program is specifically designed to help Black males ages 11-21 reach important teenage milestones and the firsts that come with them, such as getting a driver’s license and voting.
The adolescent years can be tough for many and, for some, dangerous. The participants in REACH 21 are receiving support crucial to adolescence: consistent adult relationships, behavioral health and wellness guidance, educational and career opportunities, and positive experiences that contribute to their long-term development.
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Jalil, who attends Dewey Elementary Academy of Fine Arts, has been juggling REACH with football practice since he was 12, Muhammad said. Jalil plans to play professional football but has a backup plan to become a pilot. Muhammad loves REACH 21 for giving her son more exposure to people outside his school environment, and is happy to see him playing and interacting with the other boys, she said.
In 2024, UCAN created the SheRo Program — an initiative that helps women with the highest risk of gun violence (victim or perpetrator) heal and change the trajectory of their lives with life skills support and individualized development plans that connect their goals, interests and needs with workforce and educational pathways.
A year later, the North Lawndale-headquartered organization set its sights on assisting the opposite sex.
The mission is a personal one for UCAN Chicago CEO Christa Hamilton. Her nephew Jonathan was 21 years old when he lost his life to gun violence. “At that time, I was already a leader in social services,” she said. “One of the hardest realities I’ve ever faced, and many of my counterparts … we couldn’t save somebody that we love.”
And that’s why REACH 21 exists, Hamilton added — it’s the manifestation of a vision, providing opportunities, resources and support specifically for young Black men.
“It’s for the 13-year-old who’s beginning to lose his way … the 16-year-old who’s been in and out of the justice system … the 20-year-old who’s not sure if he’ll see his 21st birthday,” she said. “We believe every young man deserves people to believe in him, even before he may believe in himself. Transformation doesn’t happen alone; it happens in community.”
The participants — there are currently 24, although the program takes up to 30 — have followed a structured youth development and violence prevention agenda that includes a wide-ranging list of opportunities, resources and support, from cognitive behavioral interventions, academic and career mentoring and life-skills development to financial literacy, civic and community engagement and art therapy. This list of soft skills, work skills and community service, administrators say, goes on.
For a year and a half, REACH 21 has been serving the Far South Side of Chicago, Hamilton said. “Sometimes this community gets a bit overlooked, so we wanted to ensure that we were making the investment.”
Earlier this month, UCAN celebrated the cohort who have participated in the program for the past 18 months. There’s an incentive for success — the young men are eligible to receive up to $300 monthly, based on their participation, attendance and fulfilling program expectations, Deron Smith, UCAN’s director of strategic initiatives, told the Tribune.
Muhammad was in attendance to acknowledge Jalil’s progress, as were REACH 21 coaches and mentors, all of whom are accessible to participants daily. Monta McGhee, the program’s youth development manager, has a background not unlike the young men he now mentors. Growing up with a single mom and brother, McGhee wanted to be a positive influence on young boys like the ones he had.
“I grew up inside the Park District and the guys that were my mentors, they are still in my life to this day. I always wanted to give back and let young men know that they’re not alone a lot of times,” he said.
Jalil’s 10-year-old cousin, Izael Muhammad, turned 11 last month and is anxious to take part. “He can’t wait,” said Fathiyyah Muhammad. “He’s watched Jalil do so many things; he’s seen it be such a positive influence that he wants to be a part of it.”
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If they weren’t walking to the store when UCAN was canvassing for the program, the Muhammad family might never have encountered REACH 21. The program, Fathiyyah Muhammad said, keeps young Black males engaged with the community — a much-needed balm to soothe the safety concerns that abound in the city for boys like Jalil and Izael.
REACH 21’s funding comes from public and private grants, philanthropic investment and operates with UCAN’s programmatic and administrative infrastructure.
REACH 21’s activities with peers and the sense of belonging go a long way and can counter teen trends, according to Delrice Adams, executive director of the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, the state’s administrative agency for violence prevention. “We have to do better, creating that type of environment and those types of activities and resources for them,” she said.
REACH 21 was created to be more than just a program, Smith, UCAN’s strategic initiatives director, said. “We wanted to build something where young people could walk through the door, be themselves, build relationships, make some mistakes, learn from them, and still know that there are adults standing beside them saying, ‘We got you, keep going.’”