UCAN and St. Pauls United Church of Christ cordially invite the 13-19 year-old members of your congregation/organization to participate in the 2016 Youth Peace Summit, an informative and engaging gathering about violence prevention, on Saturday, November 5 from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. at UCAN’s Nichols Center, 3605 W. Fillmore St. in Chicago.
A diverse group of youth leaders from around Chicagoland will gather to participate in youth-led workshops that focus on several important issues of the day that impact and involve our youth virtually no matter where they live or attend school. That day, we will focus on:
· Youth leadership development
· Implementing violence prevention strategies in communities
· Improving race and cultural relationships
· Putting our faith into action
· How to pursue and choose peace in our lives
· Developing healthy and wholesome relationships
Our goal is to share ideas, solutions and experiences that enable our youth to support each other and work in concert with others to address and prevent violence. Each year, 200 Chicago youth ages 10-25 are killed by gunfire, with vastly disproportionate numbers of African American a Hispanic children and teens killed. The social costs of gun violence in Chicago are estimated at $2.5 billion per year, or $2,500 per household. Moreover, it costs more than $70,000 per capita per year to incarcerate a juvenile offender in Illinois.
Lunch will be served and students will earn service hours for attending. As in past years, the summit is a prelude to the 2017 Polar Peace March that will kick off at St. Pauls on Sunday, January 15, 2017. In 2016, the second annual march brought together more than 400 Chicagoans of all ages and races to participate in the silent 1.5-mile march to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and promote peace. The culturally diverse participants secured pledges and contributions of more than $52,000, which impressively exceeded the fundraising goal and will support the Peace Hub. UCAN is the lead agency in the Peace Hub, which fosters collaboration among social service providers and uses a sophisticated data tracking system to ensure at-risk youth receive the support the need to thrive.
We ask that your respond by October 21, 2016 by calling or sending an e-mail to Maryam Sousan at (773) 243-7629 or Maryam.Sousan@ucanchicago.org. We look forward to you and the youth in your congregation joining us on November 5 for what will be an engaging and enlightening youth-lead gathering about important matters that impact us all.
Cordially,
Maryam Sousan
External Affairs
773.290.5879
North Lawndale Community Coordinating Council 