NS Featured in Southtown Star (twice!)
Monday, June 15th, 2009NeighborScapes was featured twice in the Sunday, June 14th edition of the Southtown Star:
Do you know where your child is?
Suburban boredom and a real lack of summer jobs for teens also play a role in leading kids into wrongdoing, authorities said. Jay Readey, president of the nonprofit NeighborScapes, which is running a summer camp in Chicago Heights that hired area youth as counselors, said summer jobs are an important way to keep teenagers busy and out of trouble. “A summer job gives (young people) a certain amount of structure,” Readey said. “If they’re left to invent whatever they think is interesting, we don’t always know which direction they’re going to go in.”
and…
‘Fun in the sun’
Federal stimulus money will be used to employ Chicago Heights’ low-income teens and young adults for a summer camp that organizers hope will be a first step in community reinvestment. Attorney Jay Readey was ecstatic over the community interest in the summer camp his new organization and a local church have been able to generate. Parents turned out in force last week to enroll their children in St. Mark United Church in Christ’s “Fun in the Sun Camp.” Summer camp at the church at 312 Chicago Road begins Monday. Readey, 37, president of the community nonprofit NeighborScapes, teamed with church leaders to provide a summer camp for area kids. They are hiring area youths who might otherwise be on the streets during the summer months.
