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SURVIVING THE SYSTEM
CHICAGO CHAPTER
A Living Waters Youth Expansion Initiative
Living Waters Youth – Chicago is an official chapter of Living Waters Youth, Inc., expanding our proven Minnesota-based model into one of the nation’s highest-need urban communities. The Surviving the System – Chicago Chapter is designed to serve young adults ages 18–30 who have been impacted by foster care, juvenile detention, incarceration, homelessness, and community violence, with a strong focus on prevention, stabilization, and long-term independence.
This chapter builds on Living Waters Youth’s established systems-change work and responds directly to Chicago’s urgent need for coordinated, culturally responsive services for transition-age youth who are aging out, reentering, or being pushed out of public systems without sustainable support.
CHAPTER PURPOSE
The Chicago Chapter exists to:
* Prevent homelessness and system re-entry
* Reduce justice system involvement and recidivism
* Stabilize housing and income for transition-age youth
* Address unhealed trauma and grief that drive system cycling
* Build leadership, self-sufficiency, and community connection
This chapter is not a pilot—it is a strategic expansion designed for scale, sustainability, and public-private investment.
WHO WE SERVE
The Surviving the System – Chicago Chapter serves young adults who are:
✅Aging out of DCFS or foster care placements
✅Returning from juvenile detention or incarceration
✅On probation or court supervision
✅Experiencing housing instability or homelessness
✅Survivors of domestic violence, trafficking, and exploitation
Participants often face overlapping barriers including trauma exposure, lack of family support, limited employment opportunities, and systemic inequities. Our chapter model is designed to meet these realities head-on.
CHAPTER PROGRAM MODEL
The Chicago Chapter operates under a four-pillar wraparound service model, aligned with state, county, and city funding priorities:
1. Mentorship & Systems Navigation
Participants receive consistent mentorship and individualized support to navigate probation, child welfare, housing systems, education, and workforce pathways. Mentors serve as stabilizing adults and advocates across systems.
2. Housing Stabilization & Prevention
The chapter provides housing navigation, documentation assistance, landlord mediation, crisis prevention, and stabilization services to prevent homelessness and support safe, sustainable housing outcomes.
3. Workforce Development & Economic Mobility
Participants engage in job readiness training, credential pathways, and career placement in high-demand sectors such as healthcare, skilled trades, logistics, and information technology, with a focus on livable wages and advancement.
4. Trauma, Grief, & Healing Supports
Using a trauma-informed and culturally responsive framework, the chapter offers group-based healing spaces, grief and trauma workshops, peer support, and referrals to mental health services. Healing is treated as a core outcome, not a secondary service.
WHY A CHICAGO CHAPTER IS NEEDED
Chicago has a high concentration of young adults aging out of systems with:
✅Limited housing options
✅Fragmented services
✅Insufficient prevention-focused funding
✅Disproportionate impacts on Black and Brown communities
Without intentional intervention, these young adults face a revolving door of homelessness, unemployment, and incarceration at significant human and public cost.
The Chicago Chapter is a prevention strategy, a reentry strategy, and a cost-avoidance strategy.
OUTCOMES & IMPACT
With sustained investment, the Surviving the System – Chicago Chapter will:
✅Reduce homelessness and housing instability
✅Increase employment and earned income
✅Decrease justice system involvement and re-entry
✅Improve emotional regulation, resilience, and mental wellness
✅Build long-term self-sufficiency and leadership capacity
The chapter is designed to scale to serve hundreds of young adults annually through city, county, state, and philanthropic funding streams.
OUR COMMITMENT AS A CHAPTER
Living Waters Youth – Chicago operates with the same values, accountability, and trauma-informed standards as the parent organization. We believe young people do not fail systems systems fail young people.
This chapter exists to change that reality.
From surviving the system to building power, stability, and leadership