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.

Terrence is one of the youth from Englewood that dedicated his time to the One Summer Chicago worksite at a community garden next to a church located on 70th and King Drive with their mentor, Terry. Terrence signed up for One Summer Chicago’s job program for a new experience.

Terrence wants to be known for being a helping hand in his community and a good soul to be around. He has many goals when it comes to his future. One of his goals is to learn how to garden so when he’s older he can teach the next generation how to plant and have a successful career in the industry.

For Terrence growing up wasn’t easy in Englewood, but he overcame many challenges he had to face. According to Terrence, his father is the one person that made the most impact in his life because he was always there for him when nobody else was.

Just like many other youth Terrence has a vision of a perfect day in Chicago. He described it as “A day where there are no homicides or violence in the area. A day where everybody is enjoying their time safely and responsibly with nothing but love and peace is in the neighborhood.” As Terrence looks to the future, he wants to live up to his words and help Chicago see better days.

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 fourth in a seven-part series