[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 123 (Wednesday, August 24, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: August 24, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                  THE OFF THE STREETS CLUB IN CHICAGO

 Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, I would like to enter into the 
Record three statements from Illinoisans involved with the Off the 
Street Club in Chicago. The Off the Street Club is Chicago's oldest 
boy's and girls club, serving the Garfield Park neighborhood since 
1900. It is an entirely privately funded community center providing 
after-school activities for over 3,000 young people a year. The 
statements of young people like Ricky Rogers and Tamika Boyles, as well 
as the statement of the club's Assistant Director Arnett Morris express 
better than I ever could the impact this club has had on the children 
and community of Garfield Park.
  The Off the Street Club is an example of what every community, but 
especially disadvantaged communities, across the Nation needs. A place 
for young people to gather and participate in supervised activities. A 
place for them to build their self-esteem and learn to be part of a 
supportive community. Too many young people have nowhere to go to 
escape the violence and trouble on the streets of their neighborhoods. 
In Garfield Park, youngsters have the Off the Street Club.
  I applaud all the staff who grew up at the Off the Street Club and 
now work there, all the private donors who make the club possible, and 
especially the young people who take6 advantage of what the club 
offers, and then return as adults to give back to their community. I 
ask that the statements of Ricky Rogers, Tamika Boyles, and Arnett 
Morris be entered into the Record at this point.
  The statements follow:

                       Statement of Ricky Rogers

       Thanks Ralph.
       Hello ladies and gentleman, I have lived on the West Side 
     all my life. We moved off Jackson because it was so bad--
     shooting, drugs and killing, and my mother thought that any 
     place would have to be better, but we moved just 7 blocks 
     away and it was terrible--a war zone. Even my sister was 
     jumped on and beat-up not long after we moved there.
       The first time I went to the store next to the house, there 
     was a crowd of guys who threw up gang signs, selling drugs 
     and threatening. I never went to the store again. I leave for 
     school early in the morning and after school I just go right 
     to Off The Street Club. Then at night I have to get a ride 
     home. It's not that I am scared or a coward, its just that 
     there are too many gangbangers and they don't care about 
     anything.
       Too many people get shot all the time. I'm not 
     complaining--I guess that's just the way it is and I have to 
     live with it. But I came today, not to complain, but to let 
     you know what Off The Street Club means to us.
       It's the only place we have to go. It's the only place I 
     feel safe. It means a place where there are still rules, and 
     right and wrong mean something.
       Maybe Off The Street Club means I have a future, that Ricky 
     Rogers has a place to grow up. Without always being afraid, 
     or bowing down or selling out. Well, I'm never going to sell 
     out. I've got Off The Street Club, and my head is high. So 
     are my hopes.
       Thanks for caring about me.
                                  ____


                       Statement of Tamika Boyles

       Thank you, Ralph.
       Good afternoon to you, ladies and gentlemen. I'm very 
     excited to be here and to be a part of this celebration of 
     the best boys and girls club--underline girls club--that 
     you'll ever find.
       I'm not going to talk today about all of the club 
     programs--and I'm in most of them--from the Busy Bee Girls 
     Club with our mentor, Mrs. Moon, or the great acting classes 
     at the Piven Theatre, the Teen Leadership Work Program with 
     Miss Holmes, or the Time To Read Tutoring Program that I've 
     been in for 4 years.
       If I started telling all about the great club programs, we 
     would have to stay here and order dinner. What I want to talk 
     about is hard to put into words, but, I and the girls I talk 
     to, think it is as important as anything to us. What I mean 
     is: How girls are treated at Off The Street Club compared to 
     most places we go.
       Almost any other place else we go, even at school, we are 
     not treated with respect. The boys say things and try to act 
     in ways that are disgusting and you just get so tired of it 
     all the time. But then you go to Off The Street Club and 
     it's--well--it's just a different world--a whole new way of 
     living together with respect. The boys are not allowed to 
     hang all over you at Off The Street Club and they have to 
     talk with respect too.
       But, I want to emphasize something important: At the club, 
     the girls must earn the respect. How we act and dress and 
     talk is a big part of personal responsibility for us. Respect 
     is a two way street at Off The Street Club. I hope I'm not 
     too forward in talking about these things, but it's important 
     to me to have a place where I can feel good about myself, and 
     Ralph said you would understand what I meant.
       So, that's what I wanted to tell you today and to thank you 
     if you have any part whatsoever in helping the club because, 
     well, girls my age are often called ``Young Lady.'' But I 
     think, to be a young lady, you need a place to be treated 
     like a lady while you're growing into one. That's what Off 
     The Street Club is giving me. Thank you for listening to me. 
     I love you all, thank you.
                                  ____


                       Statement of Arnett Morris


                          FACING OUR TOMORROWS

       I look to Chicago's future--our future--with many strong 
     emotions: deep concern yet unshakable hope, uncertainty 
     eclipsed by bold enthusiasm, troubling fears overshadowed by 
     absolute faith--intense faith in the collective power and 
     will of the many people of our city, from every community, 
     who together form the one great dynamic community we proudly 
     call home, our Chicago.
       If America is the hope for the world, and I strongly 
     believe it still is, then Chicago is the hope for America. 
     For, if the American dream is to continue to work, it must do 
     so here in the heartland, in this city that surely reflects 
     all the diversity, urban concerns and promise that empowers 
     the American dream.
       At the heart of my vision for effecting positive change in 
     Chicago's communities is a revitalization of the elements 
     that made our land and its cities great in the first place. 
     While we search for answers near and far we must tap the 
     greatest resource, the power we all have within.
       Along with solutions in fields as diverse as economics, 
     government and environmental concerns, the vision for 
     Chicago's tomorrows must, at its heart, include strong 
     infusions of true brotherhood, a rededication to the work 
     ethic, the understanding that our children must come first 
     and that, ultimately, we must work together in the certain 
     knowledge that what President Kennedy reminded us of is more 
     timely than ever, ``* * * on this earth, God's work must 
     truly be our own.''
       I will continue to do my best to live out my commitment to 
     Chicago's future by continuing to serve the very needy but 
     very wonderful children of one of its most troubled 
     neighborhoods, always attempting to keep alive in each child 
     the hope for the future that is, and must always be, the 
     birthright of every citizen of the great city of Chicago.
       Those ideals come together for me in one sacred place on 
     Karlov Avenue where the essence of the American struggle for 
     a better life meets the inspirational American tradition of 
     charitable giving. The Off The Street Club is at once my 
     cause, my salvation and my privilege.
       Through it, with it, I face tomorrow confidently enhancing 
     Chicago's future, as my mentor has taught me, one child at a 
     time.

                          ____________________