Justice-involved youth enrolled in the construction program at IYC Harrisburg/Booker T. Washington Alternative High School constructed a new literacy resource for the village of Ford Heights. Utilizing district resources and grant funding, the students spent nearly four months learning to build and construct four library boxes to be placed throughout the community.
A dedication ceremony for the library boxes took place on Tuesday, July 30, 2019 at 12pm at Tidye A Phillips School, 1401 E. 13th Place, Ford Heights, IL. Click here to hear DJJ Director Heidi Mueller discuss the library boxes on WBBM Radio.
IDJJ was recently honored with two State and University Employees Combined Appeal (SECA) awards in honor of our staff's charitable giving.
DJJ received the Division 3 Award for bringing in more donations than all other agencies in the size classification of 1000-2999 employees. DJJ was also awarded the Exceptional Award, given to any agency bringing in more than 100% of donations from the previous year. With $51,157.00 in donations, DJJ brought in 128% more over the previous year's total. Congratulations to the team for helping to improve the lives of many through their generosity!
IDJJ educators, security and program staff and youth from IYC Pere Marquette and IYC Warrenville visited Springfield on May 30 to participate in an interactive civics lesson and meet with Governor Pritzker. The team also met with legislators and enjoyed a tour of the Governor's Mansion.
On April 16, 2019, DJJ hosted its Annual Volunteer Banquet to honor those who give selflessly of their time and energy to serve our youth. This year's DJJ Volunteer of the Year is Jason Boulware, who volunteers at IYC Chicago. Jason is a professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and has built a partnership for his students to work with youth at IYC Chicago. This includes a semester-long class where youth write, direct, act in, shoot, and edit short films. Additionally, Jason has developed a course for DJJ youth to learn photography. Jason cares about all his students, including DJJ youth, and invests in them as a teacher and mentor. Congratulations, Jason!
DJJ's Washington Cottage Special Olympics Fundraising Team joined forces with a great group of community and family members to participate in the Law Enforcement Torch Run Lewis University Plane Pull on Saturday, April 27th. The team battled rain and even some snow to show great spirit for this wonderful cause. The team raised over $1400 towards our DJJ fundraising efforts for Special Olympics. Knowing that this year Special Olympics has a mission of inclusion, the team includes a very dear friend, James, who is a Special Olympian himself. James' parents were overwhelmed with the outpouring of support from all the DJJ staff that participated in this event on Saturday. Way to Go DJJ!