BFJ

Stories of Community Support

Hearing My Fathers Voice

When a parent is incarcerated, children are cut off from the opportunity to experience the daily love, nourishment and support that parent could provide. Companions Journeying Together works to bridge that gap, and help incarcerated fathers reach out and be a positive force in their children’s lives. The Father’s Read Project helps create a healthy connection for fathers and children, with a positive focus on learning. Volunteers help pick out a culturally and age-appropriate book for each child. Then, the program records the father reading the book for his children. The hope of the program is to allow children to hear their father’s voice when they cannot be near him physically, and to encourage positive relationships and reading experiences. In 2003, Fathers Read was instituted at the Sheridan Correctional Center, the first substance-abuse rehabilitation prison in the nation. With the support of Program Warden Jordan-Luster, the Father’s Read project has served over 200 men and their children. Bread for the Journey of Chicago was happy to grant $2,000 to Companions Journeying Together to purchase books for the Father’s Read Project.

Nu Stage Theatre

Nu Stage Theatre grew out of the Chicago Theatre Company's Youth Theatre Division. Their Saturday Drama Class is an outreach program that introduces youth of an underserved community to professional theater as an alternate medium for artistic expression. Through Nu Stage Theater, Peter Chatman and Kevin Holt aim to not only introduce students to the world of theatre but also to give them a chance to release their fears, embrace diversity, and express themselves artistically.

Through participation in the program, students develop skills that are critical to their continued success, including academic (writing and speaking), personal and interpersonal (self-esteem, negotiation and social interaction), cognitive (decision making and creative reasoning), and information gathering (research and evaluation). The Saturday Drama Class has inspired thousands of students to improve their grade-point averages, reading skills, and school attendance records.

Bread for the Journey of Chicago was happy to grant $1,800 to Nu Stage Theatre so that Peter Chapman and Kevin Holt could purchase computer equipment, expand their programs, and continue to provide this valuable resource to the children of the Chicago area.

Bread for the Journey of Chicago has been officially launched.

Sergio (the Chef) won Margaret was the other lucky winner

Everyone got a mini loaf of bread! Bradford sharing more ideas.

Chicago Board of Directors
(Michael, Diane and Bradford)

Bread for the Journey, Chicago Chapter
BFJchicago@comcast.net
PO Box 60396
Chicago, IL 60660-0396
708-785-7566