By the Hand

By Karissa Martin

            Little hands and feet clapped and stomped at the corner of Sedgwick and Oak Street Wednesday, Sept. 26. Voices sang “God is enough, enough. You are enough, enough” in unison as kids finished filing in and transitioned from the school day to chapel time at By the Hand Club for Kids.

            Sarah James, director of the Cabrini-Green location, said the program’s mission “is working with the kids in a holistic manner—mind, body and soul.” 

            And that is exactly what the program seems to be doing.

            The program serves to tutor these children in school, provide a healthy snack and meal three days a week, provide regular physicals, immunizations, dental and eye exams, and to cultivate a faith in Christ and a place in the Church till college.

            “Once they’re with us, they’re with us forever,” James said.

            By the Hand Club for Kids is typically for students with standardized test scores below the 25th percentile and for those with behavioral problems in the classroom. This particular location takes students from Jenner, Manierre, Franklin and ChicagoQuest schools. The Cabrini-Green location is one of four program locations.

            “We work with the kids who are struggling in school,” James said. “If somebody doesn’t come and help them, then they’re just going to keep falling through the cracks.”

            And, according to the reports, they’re reaching their goals.

            When the program began in 2001, it only had 16 kids. According to the annual report, the program served 851 kids in 2011, about 200 at this particular location. Seventy-three percent of those students passed all of their classes, 100 percent received the proper immunizations, and 76 percent professed their faith. The report showed increases every year.

            But, the program isn’t just about the kids.

            “We work with the whole entire family,” James said. “Not only do we know all of the kids that come, but we know all of their parents really well, their aunts, uncles, cousins.”

            Sarah Johnson, one of the team leaders for the program, said that they make monthly visits to each child’s home and school where they discuss the child’s progress and behavior at school, home and at the program. They strive for consistency and open communication for the care of the kids.

            Larvon Birch, greeter for the By the Hand Program for the past five years, said that the program is really essential for many of these parents.

            Birch said the program really reaches out to help parents because “there’s a lot of parents out there that need help with their kids; and they don’t know where to go, and we can reach out to them.”

            Lakisha Murphy, a parent of children in the By the Hand Program, agreed with Birch. She said that the only thing that would make the program better is if the kids could be there more days of the week.

            “I just do not have words,” she said. “I think it is an amazing program…the last four years have been great. I wouldn’t trade them for the world.”

            Murphy said that the program has helped not only her kids, but it’s helped her too.

            James said that the parents don’t pay anything for their child to attend. The $5,700 cost per child per year is covered by private donations, grants and foundations, and a government reimbursement for the meals served each day.

            But, at the end of the day, there are always more families in need.

            “By the year 2020 we want to have 20 sites,” Johnson said. “There’s definitely a lot of other neighborhoods in Chicago who are desperate for something like this—something that is Christian based but works directly with the public school system.”