Early in March our Harambee spring semester was about to begin- we contacted students, created a schedule and held orientation… and then everything changed. We conducted safety training courses though zoom in May and started up a crew of 5 young adults working in the community on sliding scale projects. In June we scoured every detail of COVID safety guidelines for construction workers and youth programs and found great recommendations to restart our youth program for the summer and fall. We adapted, adjusted and found ways to get our teens back to work outside tuckpointing homes in our community. The summer program was especially meaningful for our teens whose social connections were mostly lost during the initial lock-down here in Chicago.
As summer turned to fall, all of our teens headed back to school remotely. Our youth shared they were feeling lethargic and unhappy after spending hours on their laptops trying to focus all day. Many were attending high school for the first time and were shocked by the workload, but didn’t have the capacity to stay productive to meet the new challenge. Many started the year too embarrassed to speak up in class when they didn’t understand the content as all of their teachers were unfamiliar. Many were disappointed in themselves by the grades they were earning. On Harambee work days they entered the building, signed in and had their temperature checked and we would ask how school was going. Too often their responses were not marked by confidence.
Despite their frustrations and discouragement, we were so thankful they got out of the house to come to River City. There was clearly something life giving in completing physical work when so much of their daily lives were spent online. They were more productive than ever and our job sites were marked with exuberance. They were proud of the work they were doing because tuckpointing is difficult to master, and now it’s familiar work they are good at. They were glad to be together for a purpose. In total the youth program and our new “Graduate Crew” completed work for twelve homeowners at a value over $53,000.
2020 has been a year of difficulty, but also a year teenagers have found purpose in the work of rebuilding their community.
Enjoy this short video of highlights of Harambee’s time at work in 2020.