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!
The 11th Annual Special Olympics Plane Pull on September 28th, 2019 resulted in a big win for DJJ. This incredible fundraising event features a monumental tug-of-war competition, as teams battle a UPS Airbus A300 or United Airlines 737, weighing more than 180,000 lbs. DJJ represented well across the board, but Team Warrenville took first place in the Law Enforcement Division of the Plane Pull! Kudos to all who participated and contributed to the fundraiser and congratulations to Team Warrenville on their first place victory!
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!