A few weeks ago, David T., another One Summer Chicago participant, and I met up with other youth at a worksite in Englewood. David and I are working at Children’s Home & Aid this summer on the communication team as interns. The youth were helping reconstruct the community garden next to the church they met up at. David T. and I talked to a few youth about what their future goals are, what they want to be remembered for and what made them choose to work for One Summer Chicago.

Meet Julian a One Summer Chicago Participant. Julian is part of the garden summer job program with his mentor Terry,   located on 70th King Drive in Chicago. Julian and a few other youth who are part of the program met up at a local church in their community then walked to what used to be a community garden only a block away. When they get to the garden they all put in effort to get the work done. They are all working together to improve and better the garden little by little. Julian wants to reconstruct the whole garden with the help of the other youth.

Julian is a bright and talented youth with skills that are good enough for anything he puts his mind to. Not only does Julian like gardening, but he also wants to study to become a pilot as his dream job after high school. While he has always dreamed big with his future goals, he is always open to new ideas to experiment with. In his free time, Julian likes to enjoy every minute to himself— he isn’t a social person when it comes to friends, but always loves to help others out every way he can.

David M. is a communications intern at Children’s Home & Aid. David is going to be a junior this fall at Bowen High School. He enjoys playing football in his free time and spending time with his family. This is his second year working with One Summer Chicago.

David T. and David M. are working together on a series of stories about the participants in One Summer Chicago. This is the fifth in a seven-part series