chi's Story

"I came across Brookside in 2019. I’m from Chicago. I am from Lakeshore Drive — let me clear that up — so I had everything I ever wanted and then some.

I don’t know what it was, but the streets were calling me. They were having fun. I had a car, but they had multiple cars. I had one pair of jewelry, but they had 10 or 20. They had things that the normal 16, 17, 18-year-old didn’t have. It’s glittery, but it’s not worth anything. I was drawn to that at a very early age, and I was hooked instantly.

While I was incarcerated, they were telling me that they had programs for me. I had never heard of a place that had programs for anything. They told me about a place called Wheeler Mission, here. So I went with that.

I got to Wheeler. I got out. Then I ended up at RecycleForce. Then from RecycleForce, I ended up here — and it’s been home ever since then.

In every story, once the good is fulfilled, you must move on to shed light in other places where there is darkness.

That is my story."

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