Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!
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SPIRIT OF GENEROSITY CLOCKWISE FROM BOTTOM LEFT: Dwyane Wade plays basketball with local students; his yearly showcase "Chicago Has Talent"; visiting schools during W3 Weekend. "I want to show kids in Chicago that they can make it, too. They can live their dreams." A HELPING HAND This summer, Wade's World Foundation partner By The Hand Club For Kids offers a haven for children at a brand-new center in Austin. "We take kids by the hand in first grade and walk with them all the way through college, helping them have abundant lives," says Donnita Travis, who left her career as an advertising executive to found By The Hand Club For Kids in March 2001. The faith-based organization provides children in Chicago's most crime-ridden neighborhoods with everything from meals, clothing, and a rigorous reading program to dental and eye care, mental health counseling, and more thanks to its new 26,000-square-foot facility in Austin. The center features nine classrooms, a reading lab, gymnasium, auditorium, kitchen, and now also offers courses for college credit. "Kids in under-resourced neighborhoods have what the school refers to as 'multiple barriers to learn'— factors that prevent the child from showing up in the classroom ready," says Travis. "We identify those barriers to learning and make it our business to knock those down." Travis is excited about the Austin center's ability to serve the 264 children currently participating in By The Hand. The organization first began with 16 kids, many of whom are preparing to graduate from college—like staff member Sherrie Nelson, who joined By the Hand as a seventh grader from Cabrini-Green. Says Travis, "[Years ago] I took 13 girls [from By The Hand] on a field trip to Kentucky, and we had a great time. I remember commenting on how beautiful the sunshine was, and Sherrie said, 'You know, in Cabrini-Green the sun only shines at By The Hand Club.' It just pierced my heart. What a wonderful thing to be able to do—to be able to bring sunshine into the lives of kids." PHOTOGRAPHY BY BOB METELUS continued from page 62 Wade himself. "W3 Weekend is all about setting a stage for the community and giving others a chance to showcase their talents and pursue their dreams," says Wade, who cites his annual "Chicago Has Talent" showcase at the Chicago Theatre as one of the events he's proudest of ( Jawan Harris earned a record deal with ByStorm/Jive Records following his 2011 performance). "We encourage people of all ages who are talented singers, poets, dancers, rappers, and more to audition and show the city what they're made of." Wade's sister Tragil hopes to inspire beyond the four walls of the Chicago Theatre with the foundation's "Live —DWYANE WADE to Dream" campaign, in which WWF promises to help children fulfill their own dreams by offering expanded youth programs and new opportunities. "If the youth choose to live and make those choices around life, it is then our job to help them dream," says Tragil, who is WWF's executive director. "We know Dwyane Wade and how he grew up in that same community and how some things are choices: You choose to stay out of the crowd, get away from the drugs, stay away from the guns." In a community plagued with violence, however, healthy choices can seem all but impossible; of the 506 murders committed in Chicago in 2012, 74.5 percent involved young adults between the ages of 13 and 34. "It's devastating," says Tragil. "Mayor Rahm Emanuel put a charge to the city in regard to creating safe havens, so we're accepting that charge to be of help and create the safe space for them. Violence is truly ripping apart our youth, and the continued on page 66 64 MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM 062-067_MA_SP_SpiritofGen_SUMMER13.indd 64 6/18/13 1:33 PM