Where Can We Be?
The Question
Every day after 3:15 PM, South and West Side youth are forced to answer a question Chicago refuses to face: Where can we be?
When the final bell rings, when jobs end, when home isn't safe—what spaces remain for learning, healing, creating, or simply existing?
Libraries lock early. After-school programs disappeared. Parks are underfunded and overpoliced. The city's message is clear: our presence is permitted only under surveillance.
This is not neglect. It is systematic exclusion by design.
Our Investigation
Launching Winter 2026: Youth Praxis will conduct a youth-led investigation exposing how public budgets erase youth access to space and safety. We'll document how a city that spends hundreds of millions downtown leaves youth infrastructure unfunded and unprotected.
We're investigating:
- The 46-week gap: One Summer Chicago provides 6-week seasonal jobs—what happens the other 46 weeks?
- After-school program elimination: Illinois cut all state funding (June 2025). Chicago chose not to replace it while spending $330 million renovating downtown offices.
- Geographic inequities: Year-round community infrastructure concentrated North Side, absent South/West Side despite larger youth populations.
- Proven models ignored: Organizations like Crushers Club (175 youth employed annually, participant-to-staff pipeline) and Brave Space Alliance (year-round support turning participants into staff) demonstrate what works—yet remain underfunded.
- Structural funding bias: $570 million TIF surplus—70% from South/West Side—sits unused while youth infrastructure crumbles.
Our methods:
- Community surveys documenting where youth go and barriers they face
- FOIA analysis proving geographic disparities in funding and access
- Community organization case studies documenting participant-to-staff models
- Expert validation from policy researchers and organizers
Evidence becomes organizing tool. Data weaponized for justice.
Our Demand: $50 Million Year-Round Youth Infrastructure
We're demanding permanent reinvestment:
1. Community-Based Organizations: $25 million
Direct investment in organizations with proven participant-to-staff models. Not city bureaucracy, not seasonal contracts—community-controlled infrastructure that builds lasting pathways.
Requirements:
- Multi-year funding commitments
- Geographic equity based on youth population
- Living wage requirements
- Participant-to-staff pipeline mandates
2. After-School Program Restoration: $15 million
Replace state funding Illinois eliminated. Year-round programs operated through community organizations.
Requirements:
- Geographic distribution based on youth population
- Community control over programming
- Integration with existing infrastructure
3. Library Investment (South/West Side Priority): $10 million
Extended hours, adequate staffing, youth-focused programming for South/West Side branches.
Requirements:
- Hours matching North Side accessibility
- Youth hired as staff
- Programming designed with youth input
Why This Matters
Chicago celebrates One Summer Chicago employing 29,000 youth for 6 weeks. Then forgets them for 46 weeks.
Organizations like Crushers Club and Brave Space Alliance prove the alternative: year-round support, comprehensive services, participant-to-staff pipelines, sustained mentorship. They build careers, not just résumés.
But these organizations operate on shoestring budgets while Chicago:
- Spends $330 million renovating downtown offices
- Sits on $570 million TIF surplus (70% from South/West Side)
- Chose not to replace after-school funding Illinois eliminated
Chicago funds office towers, not youth futures. It renovates LaSalle Street, not our libraries.
We're done being invisible. We're done being seasonal.
"Where can we be?" isn't asking permission—it's a demand we're organizing to win.
Get Involved
Testify at Budget Hearings
Community testimony is our most powerful tool. We'll provide training, evidence to cite, and coordinated strategy.
Join the Coalition
Youth Praxis is building coalition of organizations fighting for budget justice. Partners will receive investigation findings, analysis tools, and coordinated strategy.