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TJX Foundation Grant Presented to GHC's Junior Building Leaders Program

9/21/2017

On September 19th, 2017, representatives from Marshalls presented Gads Hill Center (GHC) with a $9,000 grant from The TJX Foundation to support our Junior Building Leaders program. Junior Building Leaders is for youth ages 5-12 in Chicago, and fosters a love of learning in STEAM subjects (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math), as well as provides comprehensive academic support and social-emotional mentoring for the whole family.

The video below documents the check presentation, and includes words of thanks from Gads Hill Center's Chief Executive Officer, Maricela García.

Gads Hill Center thanks The TJX Foundation for supporting our youth programs since 2004. In the past year, TJX and Marshalls volunteers have completely refurbished the space used by teens in our Building Leaders program, providing new furniture and art as well as a fresh coat of paint. Their staff also donated gifts and much needed cold-weather clothing for families during our Holiday Wishes Toy Drive, as well as Easter baskets for youth in Junior Building Leaders, and a shopping trip to Marshalls for youth in last summer's Emotional Intelligence Camp.

We are grateful to The TJX Foundation and Marshalls for their deep and continuing investment in the families we serve.

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Miguel's Journey to Self-Awareness, Confidence, and Academic Success

9/1/2017

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When Miguel, age 17, first joined the Building Leaders program, he was very socially awkward. His grades were not very good, and he had been suspended from school. He spent most of his time in the program alone, not willingly engaging with his fellow peers or GHC staff. Overall, he did not seem to be motivated to succeed.

Miguel started to see a GHC mental health clinician to help him gain greater self-awareness, communication skills, confidence, conflict resolution, and coping skills. Through the mentoring component of the program, he also learned how to become more responsible, make better decisions, and become a better person.

As a result, his behavior in school drastically improved. School counselors reported that Miguel was able to mitigate conflict with his peers and improve his relationships with his parents and teachers, using skills he had learned at GHC. Miguel also received academic assistance, and his grades improved from a C average to an A/B average.

Instrumental to Miguel’s success was his decision to join the robotics team at GHC. Miguel’s high school also has a robotics team, but Miguel lacked the confidence to overcome his social isolation and join. At GHC, he was able to access clinical resources that not only allowed him the confidence to be part of a team, but that also spurred him to take on a leadership role on the team. On the robotics team he developed important social skills so that he went from always being alone at the start of the program, to being the stand out student who was always surrounded by a group of people, and greeting staff. He also learned invaluable skills in STEM fields that has invoked a newfound passion for learning.

Now Miguel is very excited about the prospect of attending college, and is researching colleges and universities. He found and joined the summer program at Columbia College, Gear Up, which helps prospective students prepare for school. He participated in the Corporate Experience class, and volunteered to perform a mock interview in front of all of his peers.

Miguel used all of the resources available to him in the Building Leaders program to improve in every aspect of himself. He says, “This program has helped me with my social skills and to be more responsible. The staff motivate me to do well in school and to be a better young adult.” Miguel is now confident, social, self-aware, and extremely motivated to succeed.

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TJX Foundation Grant Presented to GHC's Junior Building Leaders Program

Miguel's Journey to Self-Awareness, Confidence, and Academic Success

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