U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Bureau of Justice Assistance

February 1999

Nancy E. Gist, Director

Onsite Visits, Case Histories, and State 

and Local Innovations From the erspectives Bureau of Justice Assistance

ractitioner

Founded in 1991, this

Club is located in the

largest public housing

development in the

United States. The Club

serves more than 1,500

members, predominantly

African-Americans, in

the Grand Boulevard

and Washington Park

areas of Chicago.

The Robert Taylor Boys and Girls

Club of Chicago

By Patrick J. Coleman, Elizabeth Lahey, and Kristine Orlando, BJA

Bulletin From the Field

◆

◆

On March 23, 1998, we hailed a

Checker Cab on Chicago’s North

Side and asked the driver to go to

5120 South Federal Street. It was obvious

that the cab driver had no idea where this

address was; this address is not frequented

by cabs. From a few blocks away, any one

of the 16-story, high-density (32.4 units

per acre), low-income Robert Taylor

Homes could be any apartment building.1

However, the uniformity of the brick-red

and dust-white alternating clusters of rectangular buildings gives the neighborhood

an institutional look.

The outside walls of the Robert Taylor

Boys and Girls Club of Chicago (the Club)

are covered with bright colorful murals

depicting children playing sports and enjoying themselves. The almost electric yellow, green, and purple pictures send the

message that this place is fun. The Club

stands in sharp contrast to the Robert Taylor Homes development located directly

across the street with its dilapidated, circa

1959, buildings surrounded by mud and

broken glass. Nothing else colorful was

visible on South Federal Street, not even

businesses with colorful signs.

In 1996 President Clinton authorized

$100 million in grant funding for the Boys

and Girls Clubs of America (B&GCA) to

be awarded over 5 years. The bulk of these

funds are being used to enhance the programming of the 2,500 Clubs around the

Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago Board Member

Mrs. Renee Crown visits the Robert Taylor Homes

Boys and Girls Club.
2

Bulletin From the Field: Practitioner Perspectives

This series is dedicated to the exploration of vital issues in criminal justice program development and management. Case studies highlight the work of progressive, innovative people and programs in state and local criminal

justice systems. Although a case study may include a detailed description of the operational aspects of a program,

it is not a scientific program evaluation. Rather, it is a document designed to explore the interaction of factors

such as collaboration, politics, resources, culture, and others that play a part in successful public management.

country so that they can serve an additional 1 million children. In 1996,

the Bureau of Justice Assistance

(BJA) was awarded $35.35 million of

these funds to support B&GCA over

the next 5 years. In 1997, 260 jurisdictions received funding for new

clubs or outreach programs.2

We went to the Robert Taylor Boys

and Girls Club to see if it is possible

to maintain a neutral, safe haven for

children living in impoverished conditions in a neighborhood troubled

by violence and crime on the border

between rival gang territories. If you

look at the Chicago Police Department’s crime maps of the 5100 South

Federal Street neighborhood during

the 2 weeks around our visit to the

Club (figure 1), you can see the incredible rate of crime and violence

that occurs in this area. Even the

crime map covering a 24-hour period

during our visit (figure 2) is littered

with marks indicating narcotics and

assault and battery crimes. Can a

club—an afterschool program—really

make a difference in the lives of

children facing such enormous

challenges?

The Club is an amazing place. This

public, nonprofit organization has the

mission of “building men and women,

one kid at a time.” The Club is paradoxically situated in a community

where all the raw materials—the children—are available, but almost none

of the resources necessary to refine

those raw materials and accomplish

the Club’s mission are available. And

yet, from our viewpoint, the Club is

an unqualified success. It provides

a clean, warm, safe haven for children—a place where they can play,

build strong bodies, get help with

their homework, and learn how to use

computers and the Internet. This is a

place where children can dance and

laugh and dream; where children can

develop and find the support to resist

the destructive influences of the world

around them; where, considering the

specter of the housing development

across the street, the children can

latch onto hope and turn their dreams

into reality.

A Tour of the Club

Into the Club we went. As we entered,

we passed a paper banner that said,

“Welcome Justice Dept.” And even

though there was no one in sight, we

felt welcome. The clean, bright,

colorful entryway was full of life. Ken

Dunkin, the Director of the Club,

greeted us and led us to the activity

room. Like the Club’s exterior, the

entire length of the main hallway is

painted with bright, colorful murals.

Figure 1. Crime activity over a 2-week

period in the Robert Taylor Homes

neighborhood.

Assorted Crime Incidents for District 002 – All Locations

Figure 2. Crime activity in a 24-hour

period in the Robert Taylor Homes

neighborhood.
The Robert Taylor Boys and Girls Club of Chicago

3

Director Dunkin told us later that

children participating in a summer

jobs program were paid to paint the

murals with the assistance of artists

from the Chicago Children’s Museum.

We noticed that, although the hall

floors seemed clean enough to eat off

of, a janitor was preparing to polish

the floors with a large machine. Ken

explained that keeping the Club clean

was a high priority and he believes

that part of a healthy and safe environment is order and cleanliness.

Gang symbols are forbidden in the

Club, and the children are not allowed to wear ball caps inside. The

color of a cap, Ken explained, is one

way a youth can indicate his or her

membership in a particular gang.

In the activity room, we were introduced to Dr. Billie Adams, a wellrespected pediatrician and member

of the Club’s advisory board. We explained to Dr. Adams and Ken that we

wanted to write a case study about the

Club’s mission and activities, and that

we were interested in how the Club

functioned and survived in a public

housing setting.

Dr. Adams indicated the building

across the street and said, “What this

kind of deprivation has meant to the

community, is that there is no community outside of the Club. Even if there

were a theater or a store it would be

better. But there’s nothing. No afterschool programs at all outside of the

Club.” This deprivation is reflected

in the extreme demographics of the

people living in the Robert Taylor

Homes. Of the more than 11,000

people living in the development, less

than 5 percent are employed, 84 percent earn less than $10,000 a year,

and 41 percent earn less than $5,000

a year. Seventy percent of the Taylor

residents are under age 21, and 99.9

percent are African American.3

 The Robert Taylor Boys and

Girls Club provides a clean,

warm, safe haven for children—

a place where they can play,

build strong bodies, get help

with their homework, and

learn how to use computers

and the Internet.

We asked Dr. Adams what the Club

needs to succeed in the Robert Taylor

Neighborhood. “Resources!” she proclaimed. “The need for resources here

is terrible. The staff are stretched to

the limit. This Club is less than 10

years old, so it doesn’t have the donor

base that a lot of the older clubs have.

That makes it really hard to raise

enough money from private donations.

Older clubs have a donor base of children that grew up in the club and now

give back to the club that helped

them.” She noted that some clubs

have a lot of contributors for special

reasons, as in the case of the James

Jordan Boys and Girls Club of Chicago—the club named after Michael

One Club

Member’s Story

My name is Laresa Robinson

and I live in the Robert Taylor

Homes in Chicago, Illinois.

My home is in a crimeinfested neighborhood. I was

stereotyped as a criminal

when I was only 13 years of

age. I am the oldest of four

children, and I’m the first to

attend a 4-year college. My

mother wasn’t able to finish

high school, and I believe

that is the reason why she

pushed me so hard to go to

college. Most members of my

family were gang members,

but the Robert Taylor Boys

and Girls Club showed me

that there is more to life than

gangs and motivated me so

that I would not become a

crime statistic. The Club and

my mother are helping me

become the woman that I am

going to be. Ken Dunkin, the

Director of the Club, is a

positive role model for me

and the other children in my

neighborhood. I was a junior

helper in the computer room

at the Club, where I received

much valuable hands-on

computer experience. I am

currently a Computer Information Systems major at

Wartburg College in Waverly,

Iowa. I am forever thankful

to the Club for providing me

with this opportunity.

Children participate in athletic programs in

the Club’s six-rim gym.

◆

◆

◆

◆
4

Bulletin From the Field: Practitioner Perspectives

Jordan’s late father. “[The Club at

Robert Taylor] has neither of these

things going for it and is often struggling to make ends meet.”

From the activity room, Director

Dunkin led us to the Club’s impressive gym, which is almost the length

of a football field. It has six basketball rims and a gleaming floor.

Standing in the gym you have the

impression that you are on the court

of a professional basketball team. It

is a sharp contrast to the dilapidated

courts across the street that are littered with broken glass.

At one end of the gym is a stage

where the children put on plays. At

the other end of the gym, Marty, the

physical education instructor and

former high school all-American

baseball, football, and basketball

player, monitored the children as they

played basketball. Marty is a large

friendly man, and the children’s respect for him was apparent. Ron, a

volunteer little league baseball coach,

was also present, signing children up

for the spring leagues. We asked Ron

what he thought this Club means to

the children and he told us, “People

from the outside looking in [at this

community] think there’s nothing good

here. But these kids want to be doing

positive things. The Club and these

[baseball] leagues give them a chance

to do something positive.”

The younger children, ages 6–12, are

allowed access to the Club from 2

p.m. until 6 p.m., and the older children are allowed to come in after

6 p.m. Director Dunkin explained the

importance of separating older children from younger children. The

younger children need to be protected

from some of the older children’s bad

habits, like profanity. It is also important that the younger children be sent

home at earlier hours to ensure that

they arrive home safely and spend the

evenings with their families.

Our next stop was the Club’s library

located down the hall from the gym.

We were pleased to see that the library is large and houses many books.

The books are in good condition, and

the walls are adorned with colorful

artwork by the children. It resembles

an elementary school library. Several

children were sitting at a small table

reading and laughing. The friendly

librarian explained that the Chicago

Public Library operates the library.

The Robert Taylor Homes Local Advisory Council has an office in the Club

building. We stopped by the office

and spoke to Mildred Dennis, the

Local Advisory Council President.

Ms. Dennis told us that the city is

preparing to tear down the Robert

Taylor Homes and finding housing for

the development’s residents has been

difficult. Two forms of relocation are

being planned by the city. Robert

Taylor residents may be relocated

to low-density housing developments

in other neighborhoods or they may

be given rent subsidies to allow them

to relocate to “nonpublic” housing

developments.

The three rules of the Club were

posted on the walls throughout the

building: 1) No hats (to ensure that

the Club remains gang neutral); 2) No

smoking; and 3) No sunflower seeds.

Despite the rules posted throughout the

Club, we encountered one brave little

girl in the gym eating sunflower seeds.

We toured the day care center, the

computer room, the dance room, and

the game room on the second floor of

the Club. We spent most of our time

in the computer room, which was

filled with young enthusiastic children who were laughing, learning,

and getting along. Around the room

more than 24 computers lined the

walls. The E-mail Club had recently

The Club provides literacy classes

and welfare-to-work programs

for adults and offers a wide

variety of programs for children,

including physical education,

social and recreational activities,

and arts and crafts.

had a sleep over in the computer

room and the kids eagerly told us

about it. One wall had windows with

a view of the housing development.

It was “E-mail Day” in the computer

room. The children were sending email messages to their assigned pen

pals at a large consulting firm located in Chicago. Ken explained that

the consulting firm was a “good

friend” of the Club. Some of the children played games on the computer

and others wrote book reports.

Children develop computer skills in the Club’s

computer room.

◆

◆
The Robert Taylor Boys and Girls Club of Chicago

5

Other stops on the tour included an

area where the Club provides literacy

classes and welfare-to-work programs

for adults. Ken told us that the Club is

renovating the dance room so that African dance and ballet classes can be

offered; a major hardware store has

agreed to donate the materials.

Back in the computer room, we met

DeAndre, a bright 12-year-old boy.

Because of his excellent grades in

school, DeAndre went to Disney

World last year with children from

other Boys and Girls Clubs around

the country who had their own success stories. We asked DeAndre why

he liked to come to the Club and he

told us, “My favorite part is the computer room. I like to write e-mail

[messages] and do my homework here.

Coming to the Club gives me a place

to go instead of getting involved in

one of the gangs.” We asked DeAndre

why most of the kids he knows get involved with gangs. “For protection,”

he said. “Kids get into gangs because

they don’t feel safe any other way.”

We asked our friend DeAndre to

interview Club Director Ken Dunkin

so that we could learn about the

Club’s history and the everyday

problems he and his staff face.

DeAndre found out that a man

named Carl Lavender founded the

Club in 1991 and currently serves as

the Senior Vice President.

“Coming to the Club gives me a

place to go instead of getting

involved in one of the gangs.”

DeAndre (12 years old)

Club member

The Club receives funding from private donors and grant funding from

local, state, and federal sources. The

building that houses the Club is

leased from the Chicago Public

School System for $1.00 per year.

Ken explained that the Club offers a

wide variety of programs, including

physical education, social and recreational activities, and arts and crafts,

for children like DeAndre. “We try to

expose [the children to events] outside of this community,” Ken said.

The Club building is a sharp contrast to the units that make up the Robert Taylor Homes For example, DeAndre has seen The

development.

◆

◆

The Club exposes the children to events outside of the Robert Taylor community.
6

Bulletin From the Field: Practitioner Perspectives

Nutcracker Suite and the Dance Theater of Harlem, and he has attended a

White Sox game, a Bears game, and

several Bulls games.

Ken singled out the Club’s computer

room as a particularly valuable resource. Working with computers allows children the opportunity to

familiarize themselves with today’s

emerging technologies—writing and

sending e-mail messages, surfing on

the Internet, and even designing

Web pages.

DeAndre asked Ken about the Club’s

future prospects, and Ken mentioned

that the Chief Executive Officer of

Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago and

the Mayor of Chicago met recently

to discuss possibly establishing a

second club in the area. Ken was not

certain when this might happen, however. “Maybe within the next 5

years,” he said.

A Walk Through the

Robert Taylor Homes

Development

The Chicago Housing Authority

(CHA) describes the Robert Taylor

Homes development thusly:

The physical conditions of Robert

Taylor–B include obsolete

mechanical and electrical systems, outdated elevators, leaking

plumbing, inadequate security,

deteriorating hot water tanks and

heating riser systems, and an inadequate sanitary waste system.

The building design includes

open-air galleries on each floor

that lead to weather exposure

(a major cause of elevator breakdown) and high levels of criminal activity.4

We buttoned our coats as we exited

the Club. The Hulk, as Ken refers to

the Chicago wind, blew ferociously

through the corridors formed by the

buildings as we walked between

them. Children were playing outside

and laughing happily, even though

there was no playground.

As we walked across the street

toward the Robert Taylor Homes

development, we immediately noticed

that many windows in each building

were boarded up and painted a dark

red. The entrance to the first building

was dark. We didn’t see the person

standing in the doorway until we

passed by him. As we walked through

the unlit, 15-foot passageway, our

noses were assaulted by the odor of

sewage. Glass crunched under our

feet as we walked between buildings.

The first building we visited houses

the offices of CHA and the Local Advisory Council President. We were

told that this is one of the nicest

buildings of the complex. We walked

through an entranceway but were still

out in the elements because the main

hallways of this complex are open to

the outside. Exposure is limited only

by the steel mesh screen that is

welded to the open side of the hallways. You would think this design

would give a feeling of openness, yet

we just couldn’t shake the feeling that

we were in prison. We walked 20 feet

down to the CHA office, which is different from the rest of the building.

It is bright, has been painted a light

color, and is warm. We asked a CHA

employee why the windows of some

apartments are boarded up and

painted red. He answered, “Because

they are vacant and the Housing Authority boards them up to keep drug

dealers from doing business in them.”

We then walked across the hall to a

stairway. The entrance to the stairway

was guarded by a heavy, gray metal

door. We began walking up the stairs,

but, after two flights, it got very dark

and we stopped. We contemplated our

safety if we were to climb any higher.

We noticed that the light fixture was

gone and bare wires were hanging

from the ceiling. Ken asked that we

close the stairwell door, cutting off our

The main hallways of Robert Taylor highrises are open to the elements.
The Robert Taylor Boys and Girls Club of Chicago

7

only available source of light. It was

so dark that we couldn’t even see

each other. “Imagine,” Ken said,

“the elevator broken, as it often is,

and having to walk up to the 10th

floor at 7 p.m. when there isn’t even

the sunlight to provide guidance. Your

hands [are] full of groceries.” As we

reopened the door, Ken commented

that he routinely carries a flashlight

with him. Later, when walking

through the common areas of the development, we noticed that virtually

all of the light bulbs and light fixtures

were missing.

When we walked out of the stairwell

at the next floor, we were greeted by

the stench of trash. As we looked over

the vacant courtyard, we felt as if we

were standing in a war zone. The

walls were covered with graffiti. Directly across from the elevators was

the source of the odor—the trash

chute. Garbage that had missed the

small opening was piled all around it.

Ken said, “Imagine being 7 years old

and your mama asks you to take the

trash out and you have to find your

way through all that.” Even at 3:30 in

the afternoon the room with the trash

chute was completely dark. Ken

pushed the elevator button to take us

up for a view of the whole complex.

After waiting for several minutes, we

determined that the elevator must be

broken and walked down the stairs.

When we walked out of the building, a moving truck pulled up. Ken

asked the two men unloading the

contents of the truck if they were

moving in. One answered that they

were, and Ken gave them a hearty

welcome to the neighborhood. It

was a typical moving-day scene.

However, with all the talk of redevelopment, it was surprising to see

people moving in. In fact, the CHA

has received approval from the U.S.

Department of Housing and Urban

Development (HUD) to demolish 5

of the 28 buildings at Robert Taylor.

Three of the buildings have already

been selected and the other two will

be selected by CHA in consultation

with Robert Taylor residents. CHA

has begun relocation planning for the

residents of all buildings that are set

to be demolished.5

Ken pointed out the magnet school on

State Street. This special school is for

the best and brightest kids in the

neighborhood. Ken made the observation that the school building doesn’t

have one window on the side that

faces the housing development.

We walked past the omnipresent person in the doorway to the next building where we walked through an unlit

15-foot tunnel and back into the elements again. These apparent “sentries” at every door just stood there,

noting our presence. Ken stopped outside the next building in order for us

to see the cables coming out of all the

windows and connecting to the centrally located cable box like a giant

thin legged spider clinging to the side

of the building. “At least you get

free cable here,” Ken joked. We

started to walk further but were

stopped by a little girl questioning

Ken why she didn’t get a job she

had applied for at the Club. She

was dressed like most of the people

we encountered during our walk, in

clean, well-kept clothing. Ken motioned for her to come back with us

to the Club, and we turned around to

set out for the safety, security, and

warmth of the Club. Once inside, we

realized for ourselves why the Club

seemed to be “paradise in the middle

of hell” as one of the Club volunteers

described it.

Success in the Midst

of Strife

Our walk through the Robert Taylor

Homes development lasted between

30 and 45 minutes at most, but it left

images of decay and despair in our

minds. The contrast between the

clean, warm, welcoming order of the

Club and the conditions across the

street was almost impossible to reconcile. During our brief visit we were

able to determine that it is possible to

maintain a safe haven for children living in an impoverished neighborhood

troubled by crime and violence. The

Club has successfully created a neutral zone among gang territories and

is making a difference in the lives of

this neighborhood’s children.

By any standard, the Club has been

a great success—as a model of cost

efficiency and as a service provider

to the community. With approximately

1,500 members and an annual budget

of just over $325,000, all Club services are provided at a cost of less

than 65 cents per member per day. Children pass the time in a safe, warm, and

learning environment.
8

Bulletin From the Field: Practitioner Perspectives

that all community members are

welcome to attend.

The Club has also been a success

for the community, hosting a

number of major events that help

to bring residents together.

 There is also a Winter Holiday Celebration for the community with holiday foods and gifts and toys for the

children. In addition, the Club conducts three to four clothing drives a

year, provides day care services, and

organizes computer literacy training,

basic educational classes, and job

skills training in banking services and

housekeeping for parents in the community. The Club fosters success and

builds marketable and social skills

Club staff are dedicated and enthusiastic and are willing to work for low

wages in a dangerous neighborhood.

The Club is supported by private contributions and in-kind donations of

equipment; goods; services; volunteer

time; local, state, and federal (including Bureau of Justice Assistance6

)

grants; and ongoing coordination with

the Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago.

The Club is open 313 days a year and

serves more than 300 children and

community members each day.

The Club has also been a success for

the community, hosting a number of

major events that help to bring residents together. Each spring, the Club

organizes the “We Are Family Festival,”

during which residents of all ages are

treated to food, music, and entertainment. Every fall, the Club hosts a Halloween party and haunted house. The

Club serves a Thanksgiving Day dinner

through activities and clubs such as

the Club’s Keystone Club, Torch

Club, and “Teens, Crime, and the

Community,” as well as Junior

Achievement. Through these specific

efforts the Club provides a regular

community service workforce to the

neighborhood.

On “National Service Day,” October

24, 1998, the Club’s teens, in collaboration with a local nonprofit organization called Chicago Cares, Inc.:

◆ Painted five apartments housing

senior citizens.

◆ Explained to neighborhood seniors

how to use the “Senior Citizen

Resource Guide” that the kids at

the Club had developed.

◆ Participated in the Robert Taylor

Homes biannual “Clean Up the

Hood Day.”

◆ Helped transform a formerly

vacant lot into “Mama’s Garden”—

a flower garden that has been

dedicated in memory of a community activist.

◆ Wrote letters to local, state, and

federal officials.

◆ Participated in a march to support

advocating additional initiatives

against violence.

The Club’s success is also told in the

stories of past and present club members. There are many other stories

like the one given earlier in this

newsletter by Laresa Robinson. For

example, Theo Williams is a first-year

computer science major attending

Northland College in Northern Wisconsin. Theo is the first man in his

family to attend college. He told us

that his experiences at the Club have

Club Director Ken Dunkin (left) with Dr. Frank Gardner, Honorary Board Chair.

◆

◆
The Robert Taylor Boys and Girls Club of Chicago

9

taught him the importance of good

sportsmanship, perseverance, leadership, and imagination and helped him

develop a positive attitude about life.

The Club kept him off the street and

out of trouble by keeping him engaged in structured recreation. Theo

made the Chicago Sun-Times FirstTeam All-Stars for 2 consecutive

years. Theo’s most memorable experience was meeting professional basketball players Alan Iverson, Marcus

Camby, and Tim Duncan, who conducted a clinic at the Club. Theo also

met the famous professional boxer,

Muhammad Ali, at the Club. Theo

said that meeting these people helped

to motivate him.

A past Club member told us that

his experiences at the Club have

taught him the importance

of good sportsmanship,

perseverance, leadership, and

imagination and helped him

develop a positive attitude

about life.

Douglas Massey, coauthor of American Apartheid: Segregation and the

Making of the Underclass and a

former Professor of Public Policy at

the University of Chicago, argues,

“When you concentrate poverty, you

concentrate anything that’s correlated

with poverty—[single] heads of

households, welfare dependency,

crime, violence.”7

 In addition to these

conditions, residents of the Robert

Taylor Homes live with high levels of

fear, few job opportunities, limited

access to goods, limited city services,

a struggling public school system,

and dangerous and unsanitary living

conditions. The residents of this community have little or no political

voice in Chicago and, according to

Ken Dunkin, the residents respond to

governmental relief efforts with an

understandably overdeveloped “no

outsiders” attitude.

Balancing Support

A whole series of interdependent relationships must remain in balance

for the Club to survive. First, the

Club could not possibly succeed if it

didn’t attract the children. According

to DeAndre and other children we

spoke with, the Club has to be both

fun and safe to appeal to children.

Considering the Club’s limited resources and the neighborhood, neither goal is easily accomplished.

One promising practice the Club employs is rewarding children for completing homework, getting good

grades, playing games and sports

fairly, and showing an interest in

learning about new things. The rewards come in the form of access to

computers, healthy snacks, trips to

Disney World, paying jobs, and the

use of all facilities that are available

to them at the Club.

Equally important, but much more

difficult to attain, is the goal of a safe

environment. The children and their

parents must trust that the Club is a

safe place. Achieving this goal requires more than simply telling gang

members that they can’t wear their

To survive, the Club has to be

both fun and safe for children,

have the support of the Chicago

Police Department, and be

accepted by the community.

hats inside. The Club must maintain

an understanding with gang members

that there is to be no criminal activity

or violence at the Club. Prohibiting

the display of gang colors is part of

this understanding. Getting gang

members to see that the Club belongs

to the community is essential. The

Club has to be both respected and, to

an extent, protected by the neighborhood gang members. However, the

Club cannot depend on gangs to keep

the peace. Doing so could lead to both

an imbalance of power among the

gangs and a perception by Chicago

authorities that the Club is allied with

the gangs. This is a very delicate

and tenuous balance that must be

maintained.

Another factor to consider is that the

Club must have the support, but not

the constant presence, of the Chicago

Police Department. The Club cannot

appear to be too much of an ally of the

police or it might be perceived as a

police program by the community—

just another “outsider” organization

that thinks it knows what’s best for the

Robert Taylor Homes residents. At

the same time, it is essential that the

Club clearly be supportive of law enforcement efforts and inform children

about dangers associated with gang

membership.

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10

Bulletin From the Field: Practitioner Perspectives

Yet another key factor to the Club’s

success is its acceptance by the community. The Club accomplishes this in

many ways. Perhaps one of the most important ways is that most of the people

who work or volunteer at the Club live

in the neighborhood. Also many of the

Club’s part-time employees are older

children from the Robert Taylor development. Club employees make a point to

demonstrate that they care about and are

Notes

1. Chicago Housing Authority World

Wide Web information site (http://

www.thecha.org/Taylor_Back.htm).

2. “BJA Grants Spark Club Creativity,” Connections, Boys and Girls

Clubs of America, Atlanta, Georgia,

Spring 1997, p. 2.

3. Chicago Housing Authority World

Wide Web information site (http://

www.thecha.org/Taylor_Demo.htm).

4. Chicago Housing Authority World

Wide Web information site (http://

www.thecha.org/Taylor_Back.htm).

5. Chicago Housing Authority World

Wide Web Information site (http://

www.thecha.org/Taylor_Stat.htm).

6. The Club at Robert Taylor received

part of a special $150,000 grant in

1994 from BJA that was passed

through the Boys and Girls Clubs of

Chicago. The Club also received

$10,000 grants in both 1997 and

1998 to support its implementation of

the “Smart Moves” Violence Prevention Curriculum.

7. Shore, Debra, “The Houses That

Gautreaux Built,” The University of

Chicago Magazine, February 1995.

For More Information

For more information about the Robert Taylor Boys and Girls Club of Chicago and the Boys and Girls Club of

America, contact:

Ken Dunkin

Club Director

Robert Taylor Boys and Girls Club

5120 South Federal Street

Chicago, IL 60609

773–924–6160

Boys and Girls Club of America

National Headquarters

1230 West Peachtree Street NW.

Atlanta, GA 30309

404–815–5700

World Wide Web: http://www.bgca.org

For more information about the Bureau of Justice Assistance Practitioner Perspectives Series, contact:

Patrick J. Coleman

Resident Practitioner

Bureau of Justice Assistance

810 Seventh Street NW.

Washington, DC 20531

202–616–0313

not afraid to be in the community. It is

not unusual to see Ken Dunkin or other

club staff walking around the development talking with children, parents, and

community leaders.

The Club must be fun for all ages and

a variety of interests, but it must stay

within its extremely limited budget. The

Club must be safe, but not so structured

that it is not fun. The Club must be accepted and protected by the gangs, the

police, and the community—all of

which, at times, exist in conflict with

one another. For now, the staff of the

Robert Taylor Boys and Girls Club of

Chicago are maintaining this fragile balance. The result of their efforts is an

oasis that offers hope for the children

of a very troubled community.

To order publications or to find out

more about BJA programs, contact:

Bureau of Justice Assistance

 Clearinghouse

P.O. Box 6000

Rockville, MD 20849–6000

1–800–688–4252

E-mail: askncjrs@ncjrs.org

World Wide Web: http://www.ncjrs.org

Clearinghouse staff are available

Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to

7:30 p.m. eastern time. Ask to be

placed on the BJA mailing list.
The Robert Taylor Boys and Girls Club of Chicago

11

Acknowledgments

The Bureau of Justice Assistance

would like to express its appreciation to the Robert Taylor Boys and

Girls Club of Chicago, the Boys

and Girls Clubs of Chicago, and the

Boys and Girls Clubs of America

for their cooperation and support in

preparing this article. We would

especially like to thank Ken

Dunkin, Club Director at Robert

Taylor, and his staff who took time

away from their important work to

meet with us. We would also like to

thank Robbie Callaway and Steve

Salem at the Washington, D.C.,

office of the Boys and Girls Clubs

of America for their review and

support of the publication of this

article. Most important, we would

like to thank the children at the

Robert Taylor Boys and Girls Club,

who allowed us to invade their

worlds and see, hear, and get to

know their Club. The children

made researching and writing this

article fun and reminded us of the

value and importance of programs

like this.

A special thanks goes to Rebecca

Morris for her research and editorial assistance with this article.

The Bureau of Justice Assistance is

a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes

the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the

National Institute of Justice, the

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and the Office for Victims of Crime.

NCJ 174442
U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Bureau of Justice Assistance

Washington, DC 20531

Official Business

Penalty for Private Use $300

PRESORTED STANDARD

POSTAGE & FEES PAID

DOJ/BJA

PERMIT NO. G–91