Youth Voice Week: Afterschool Ambassadors Spotlight

April 12th to 18th is Youth Voice Week, and we’re celebrating with a statewide Week of Action. This week is a powerful opportunity to uplift youth voices and advocate for Out-of-School Time (OST) programs.

Our goal is bold: engage 1,000 students across Illinois in advocacy in just one week.

“Dear Members of the Illinois General Assembly, 

My name is Cindy, and I am from Albany Park, one of the neighborhoods in the congressional district that you all represent. I am a Youth Afterschool Ambassador with Afterschool for Children and Teens now (ACT Now), and I am reaching out about the inaccessibility of after-school programs in Albany Park and Illinois. 

After-school programs are a significant part of my life. I’m currently an After School Matters apprentice, and I have the pleasure of collaborating with participants in arts and crafts, research, and wellness conversations. Besides that, my sophomore and junior years of high school were a pivotal part of my development because of the after-school activities I was involved in. I was a co-founder of the student council, a junior representative, president of the newspaper club, and stepped into a plethora of other leadership roles. After-school programs kept me engaged in my community and allowed me to form connections I would not have otherwise. Unfortunately, hundreds of children in my community cannot say the same. Albany Park, one of the most diverse communities in Chicago and the United States, faces distinctive challenges due to its wide range of cultural backgrounds. Albany Park consists predominantly of Black and Brown people, which unfortunately impacts specific resources, such as convenient after-school programs. Even though CPS has accessible community schools, most of those schools are in low-income immigrant-majority neighborhoods and operate on restricted funding, so available resources are already far out of reach for children. This issue, combined with the lack of available after-school programs, leaves little room for developmental growth. Families are forced to seek out independent services, which are usually beyond their means, to receive resources, and families throughout Illinois struggle to enroll their children in after-school programs due to limited spots, extended waitlists, and unattainable costs. Multiple after-school programs also run on grants, which are frequently cut, and that causes reduced hours, staff, and threatens permanent closure. 

 Despite my commitment to activities in and outside of school, being part of them was not easy because my school rarely received adequate funding to invest in resources that weren’t exclusive to fixing staffing shortages and aged infrastructure. Although a huge accomplishment, I, along with a few students, had to build our school’s student council from the bottom up, and there was little promotion of it; I constantly had to seek out opportunities because my school couldn’t afford various activities. Without a host of readily available activities, the likelihood that a student will be discouraged from attending school and actively participating is extremely high. After-school programs combat this issue by providing activities that typically interest children, such as sports, arts and crafts, and outdoor play, and creating activities that cater to particular interests so all students are engaged. After-school programs also provide a haven for students who are surrounded by a hostile environment, such as environments containing drugs and abuse. 

With that being said, I kindly request that all of you immediately acknowledge the issue of after-school programs receiving insufficient funding and the effects that leaves on millions of students and their families. This issue especially affects students who come from low-income backgrounds and are already denied a variety of resources and opportunities. Once fully invested in, these programs will undoubtedly leave a profound impact on communities statewide. 

I appreciate everyone’s time, consideration, and effort on behalf of the state of Illinois and the roles you all play in upgrading the circumstances of children and their families. Please continue to advocate for the well-being of community after-school programs. 

Sincerely,

Youth Afterschool Ambassador – Cindy A. 

ACT Now Coalition”