Christian Bibbs, a ninth-grader at St. Francis de Sales High School, personifies Impact Youth Chicago’s impact: The 14-year-old has become a lead drummer and a solo singer, found lifelong friends in his safe space, and changed his career dreams because of the state grant-funded program.
“At first, I wanted to become CEO of my own company,” said Bibbs, of the South Side’s West Chesterfield neighborhood. “But I discovered that music is my calling.”
Bibbs now wants to attend the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston to become a world-class drummer and build upon his February debut as a soloist at Holy Name Cathedral’s African American prayer service.
It’s part of his emergence as a leader in the Impact program’s outings to historic sites, cooking classes (think fresh donuts and vegetable soup from scratch) and the Adler Planetarium, as well as lessons in choosing where to live, shop and commute while staying within a budget.
All the while, Bibbs helped a friend with a speaking disability communicate and get greater joy out of the experience.
“Just because you’re not like the other kids doesn’t mean you can’t be yourself,” Bibbs said of his friend. “Just like my mom told me, ‘Don’t be a follower. Be a leader.’”
Sixteen-year-old Tyana Wilson volunteers to pack food for people living in homeless shelters, has been wowed learning how the stock market works, and is training to empower her peers in an After School Matters program — all thanks to her church’s teen-focused agenda.
Wilson, a Jones College Prep sophomore and self-described “history nerd” aspiring to be a U.S. diplomat, joined Carter Temple CME’s STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Camp and Youth Impact programs to boost her career, finance and networking skills.
Her experiences have combined learning with fun, such as at a youth conference in Greensboro, North Carolina, where Wilson enjoyed making new friends, attending a concert and dancing at a “sneaker” ball — a ballroom dance where girls paired their gowns with sneakers.
Wilson also overcame self-doubt when she forgot and skipped steps in assembling care packages — and received other volunteers’ reassurance that it was OK to try again, and that she could conquer the task.
“I learned to ‘go for it,’” Wilson said. “Be brave. If you don’t get it right away, that’s perfectly fine. … I grew in knowledge, in courage and emotionally.”
Both the STEM and Youth Impact programs are operated by the Carter Temple Community Development Corporation (CTCME.org and CarterTempleCommunity.org), the non-profit arm of Carter Temple CME Church in the Grand Crossing neighborhood.
The Rev. Joseph B. Gordon (Doctor of Ministry) is constantly evolving the youth ministry’s initiatives.
Gordon, with the backing of CTCME’s board and the church’s members, volunteers and supporters, focuses on programming that meets young people’s needs in the South Side, Park Manor and Greater Grand Crossing neighborhoods without being wholly dependent on grants, fees or taxpayers’ money.
“I have taught myself that cynicism is a luxury we cannot afford,” said Gordon, who lives in the Southeast Side Pill Hill neighborhood. “It kills hope and cancels creativity. I focus on remembering why we started. To make sure the people in our neighborhoods don’t just survive. They can thrive. They can experience nice things.”
Gordon, 44, designs program websites, Facebook pages and other online resources himself, and depends largely on volunteers to teach, donate and help with administrative work.
He pivots as funding sources come and go.
The Impact Youth program lost a state grant, so Gordon and the non-profit’s leaders are redesigning the curriculum to focus on quarterly or seasonal programs, rather than monthly ones.
Besides STEM and Impact Youth, Carter Temple and the Community Development Corporation host World Citizen Camp for 30 to 40 young people so they can delve into Afro-centric learning, culture and experiences, and reward 10 to 15 yearly scholarships of $500 to $1,000 to incoming high-school freshmen who compete for the honor.
“Change does not come from the sidelines,” said Gordon, a Detroit native who came to Chicago to earn a master’s of divinity degree at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary at Northwestern University. “Even if it’s a program with 10 kids signed up. We’re changing lives one person at a time. It’s that important to us.”
“We choose collaboration,” he said. “Faith over fatigue.”