OUR MISSION
Project: VISION’s mission is to help youth of Chicago’s Chinatown, Bridgeport, and surrounding communities achieve their full potentials by providing them with tools for educational, personal, and civic development.
Our overall goals include:
Helping youth overcome barriers to success and gain equal access to education and ultimately career opportunities.
Equipping youth with skills, confidence, and sense of social responsibility that empowers them to give back to the community and become future leaders.
Providing a safe space where community youth can come together to support each other and share in common identities and experiences.
Advocating for access to resources and opportunities our youth need to succeed.
Our Challenge
Our community is all too often overlooked as among the most underserved neighborhoods in Chicago due in part to the “model minority” stereotype. In reality, many of our youths, like those in many other Chicago neighborhoods, face barriers to succeeding in school and beyond:
%
are enrolled in Chicago Public Schools
%
report not having access to other out-of-school programs
%
Asian American reflecting the demographics of the area
We know under-resourced youths face many challenges and are more vulnerable, often less likely to graduate high school and college. They are less college and workplace ready and therefore have limited career prospects. Project: VISION‘s programs aim to help level the playing field for all youth aspiring to reach their goals.
Our Approach
Project: VISION takes a holistic approach to youth development. Our programs help youth achieve academic success, develop personal strengths and skills, and build positive attitudes and confidence, preparing them to become well-rounded, socially responsible community leaders. Three core program areas aim to help our youth LEARN, encourage them to SERVE, and finally LEAD.
LEARN
Support academic success by helping youth develop effective study skills and a love for learning through tutoring, enrichment, and college readiness activities.
SERVE
Foster a sense of community and social responsibility by encouraging community engagement and providing opportunities for meaningful service learning.
LEAD
Build character, confidence, positive attitudes, and leadership skills that empower youth to be positive examples for their peers, an asset to the community, and ready for the workplace.
Our Impact
In 2003, a group of young professionals, students, and community volunteers saw a need for community youth to have a space to call their own. Project: VISION was brought to life by the group’s collective goals to provide youth with positive role models and positive activities that build a foundation for youth to reach their full potentials. Since then, Project: VISION has reached over 600 youth with its free after school programs. Last year, we served over 165 youth, providing over 29,000 hours of service and helping them succeed:
-
100%
Promote to the next grade on time
-
100%
Graduate high school on time
-
100%
Are accepted into college
-
90%
serve the community by learning about issues and volunteering their time
-
95%
are striving to become leaders by engaging in the community and working toward becoming college and career ready
News
September 2024 Autumn Newsletter
96Project: VISION September Newsletter 🎒💌 News from Project: VISION! We're Back to SchoolFall Into Success: Embrace new beginnings this school year!Project: VISION programming is back in action!Thank you to everyone who supported us throughout 2023-2024! We're excited...
July 2024 Summer Newsletter
Summer is here, let’s give a big cheer! As the 2023-2024 school year comes to a close, we want to start our newsletter by . . .
2024 Chinatown Community Heroes
COMMUNITY HEROESTHANK YOU SPONSORSAs we celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, we give a much-deserved spotlight to the following organizations and local Chinatown businesses' generosity and commitment to our community. Their support...
