Having grown up on the West Side and experiencing violence in his neighborhood Tey is no stranger tohard times in Chicago. Tey entered into the AACF Youth Workforce Development Program at the age of 18 and received assistance with completing high school earning an award in the program for that. The program provided Tey with all around job readiness training and work experience in a variety of jobs including factory work, street sanitation, and with a Chicago Park District facility. He is grateful for these experiences and for the support that he received early on in AACF. “It gave me a lot of hope,” said Tey of the AACF program.
Growing up in a turbulent neighborhood had an impact on Tey. In the past year he had a gun case resolved with the assistance of a case manager from UCAN, a local organization with the mission to assist youth to recover from trauma. And during this year when Tey was experiencing homelessness as he has struggled with homeslessnes in the past, he reached out to AACF and received assistance from the AACF Housing Program. After completing a housing assessment and other paperwork, he was immediately placed in housing in the North Lawndale community of Chicago’s West Side and received financial assistance with securing furnishings. Additional assistance from AACF has included transportation fees and job training. And working with a case manager he landed a position as a farmer for the Chicago Botanic Garden Windy City Harvest urban farming program. In this job Tey receives good pay with benefits, both medical and dental. It is a job that Tey truly enjoys. “This is the only job I’ve worked in this long, for six months. Growing vegetables, dealing with the earth, it’s therapy in a way.” - Tey, on his work in farming for Windy City Harvest. Tey plans to complete additional training to obtain his farming license with the Illinois Department of Agriculture.
Tey exemplifies the strength and courage of reaching out for assistance. We are grateful that Teyhas reached out for help among many others. If you or someone you know is in need of housing assistance, job training, or help with finding a job please reach out to us. We are only a phone call away! 708-848-1700
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AACF Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship Program services are made possible by the generous support of the Illinois Department of Human Services (DHS) Illinois Youth Investment Program.