Member Spotlight: Youth for a Better Future

Youth for a Better Future, a non-profit who moved into Old Town this year has a mission, “To empower youth to become future leaders and servants of their community through positive mentorship.”

Youth for a Better Future, or YBF for short, provides mentoring in S.T.E.A.M., Health and Fitness and Cultural Exploration. They support a community of over 3,000 residents in low-income housing in Old Town, which more than half of which are youth.

YBF serves youth ages 4 and up while also providing resources to their parents. Their services include coding workshops, piano lessons, and a cultural exchange class where participants learn about the world outside of our neighborhood, like foreign countries and languages. Other programs teach financial literacy, engineering, science, and fitness initiatives. YBF also has a Math Matters program which focuses on creating more enthusiasm around math. This summer they are launching some very exciting programs to keep the youth we serve safe and active while school is out.

Adem Aluka, the founder of Youth for a Better Future is originally from Togo, a country in West Africa. He grew up internationally, lived on 5 different continents, and became fluent in 5 languages by the age of 11. His passion for service was developed very early on. He was influenced by his father who was a country director for Global Non-Profits around the world. Adem’s desire for creating a platform to primarily support youth of lower income areas was fueling.

Since his arrival in the US, Adem could not understand why there was so much crime in a city of great love and resources. He found it to be alarmingly present in youth ages 14 and up. With an upbringing centered around love and togetherness, Adem was committed to shining light on not only opportunities but the possibilities as well.

After years of experience in Technology, Sales, International Modeling and Volunteering, Adem founded Youth for a Better Future in December 2010 targeting younger youth. YBF initially started its mission on the South Side of Chicago, more specifically, Englewood, which is a high crime and poverty stricken area. Now serving out of the Old Town Marshall Field Gardens community, YBF is on the frontline to empower those they serve and continue to build an organization that not only reaches local communities but additionally impacting global markets.

On the neighborhood, Adem says, “I love that the Old Town neighborhood is very vibrant. I admire the push for inclusion for everyone and how supportive and helpful the OTMRA has been in welcoming us to the community. We are excited and energized to get involved and serve the Old Town area and beyond.”

Want to get involved with Youth for a Better Future?

Volunteer assistance is needed in the following areas: administrative, fundraising, volunteering recruitment. YBF has open time for summer programming during the week M-F, and Saturdays starting June 21st and field trips.

YBF also welcome events hosted on our behalf, marketing to promote Youth for a Better Future and our events (digital marketing, print advertising, flyers, face-to-face marketing, etc.).

They strive to offer all activities and programs at low to no cost for low income families, so we ask our community to donate or sponsor one student for the summer at a $200 one-time fee. Every little bit helps. All donations are applied to program expenses such as: field trip fees including transportation and entrance fee for some venues, snacks and meals, supplies, camp t-shirts, and other S.T.E.A.M programming costs.Lastly, I would like to remind and sincerely encourage everyone to support by making a donation to YBF. Our initiatives rely on the support of the community and with the help of everyone, we will be able to further fuel our programs and impact our community.

We encourage you to visit www.youthforabetterfuture.org/donate to send your contribution. Our youth and the future depend on it!

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