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Volunteers Reach Out Into Community of Englewood

By Joseph White / Photos courtesy of COV on Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Address: 400 W 76th St., Suite 360, Chicago, IL 60620

On a picture-perfect, sunny afternoon, Chicago Police Officer Veronica Wingard looks out at Hamilton Park, located in the middle of her patrol area in Englewood. A group of 10 teenage boys is stretching for a game of touch football while another group, comprised mostly of girls, is picking out tennis rackets.

“Monday through Friday, I’m always here,” Wingard says. “A lot of people don’t even know this park exists, which is a shame, because the facilities are wonderful.”

As the boys begin their game of two-hand touch and the others walk northwest to the shade of the trees and the tennis courts, Wingard becomes reflective. “I think it is great that Mr. Lumu is doing this,” she says. “Most of the funding is gone, and these kids need something to do.”

Wingard is referring to Tonny Lumu, the CEO of Community Outreach Volunteers, NFP. Founded in 2006, the organization is an athletic and academic mentoring program for youth in economically-disadvantaged communities on Chicago’s Southside.

“When I arrived in Chicago, I saw there was a need for volunteers, but there weren’t any consistent volunteers,” says Lumu, who emigrated from Uganda in 2005. “I knew having consistent volunteers would help us better connect to the community.”

In just over three years, Community Outreach Volunteers has increased its enrollment from 10 students to well over 50. The program operates year-round, offering seasonal instruction in tennis, soccer, basketball and football as well as scholastic mentoring, job training programs and cultural enrichment activities. The overall goal is to provide opportunities to Englewood youth that, despite the existence of excellent park district facilities, they might not otherwise be able to find.

“The [Hamilton Park] tennis courts, the field, they don’t get a lot of use,” Lumu says. “The Chicago Park District has provided access to equipment and facilities that [COV] does not have. We want to use the facilities the way they were intended.”

For the other phases of the program, Lumu recruited his wife, Lucindy, for the educational side, and Dr. Robert A. Shaw was brought in to direct the health and wellness aspects. Along with several youth counselors, Lumu handles most of the sporting activities himself.

“We are working on building a team mentality,” Lumu says of the athletics program. “Our goal is to raise these young people up to become players.”

Counselor Silas Junious echoes Lumu’s ambition: “Hopefully by the end of the year we can pick some of these kids and give them a chance to try out for their high school teams.”

Junious, who has been with COV since 2008 and also volunteers at the YMCA, assists with the football and soccer programs. With football, the emphasis is on organization, teamwork and repetition.

“Many of these kids have a lot of potential,” Junious says, “but it can be difficult to get them fully in tune. They just need more of an opportunity to play together.”

Although tennis is an individual sport, COV uses it to create a sense of togetherness. Because of this – and despite the fact that her high school doesn’t have a tennis team – 16-year-old Sharonda Smalls likes to play on the courts at Hamilton Park.

“It’s a great way to exercise side-by-side with my friends,” Smalls says. “Being involved with Teamwork Englewood and COV gives me things to do and keeps me occupied.”

Lumu combines these athletic activities with academic mentoring in a manner that reflects his holistic approach to community organizing.

“I think there are a number of young people who have benefited, both athletically and with their grades,” Lumu says. “Some of the kids come for sports and stay around to be mentored.”

Lumu believes the annual enrollment increase will continue; he is hoping to have 100 or more Chicago youth involved by this summer. And while he acknowledges that more participants will require a larger staff and increased funding, he believes that the bigger the program, the greater its potential impact.

“We are trying to mobilize this community and utilize its resources,” he says. “We want to engage the parents, so they want to bring their kids to Community Outreach Volunteers.”