Making The Future Brighter.
Over 15 years ago, me and two of my closest friends tossed around the idea of creating an after school program for young men and women. The program would be like the ones we were a part of in our youth, where you learned about the world beyond the school halls; emotional development, social issues, economics and lots of things you, at that age, didn’t really get anywhere else. Ultimately it was all about being a more complete human, and doing your part to leave the world better than how you found it. Unfortunately, this program never came to fruition and left us trying to help out our communities in other ways.
I took it upon myself to lean into volunteering as much as I could. Whether it was giving a year to Americorps and their Jump Start program, where I led a team of teacher assistants at an elementary school on the West Side of Chicago, volunteering at a local food drive, creating care packets for the children’s hospital, youth mentoring with local organizations or just simply shoveling snow for the elderly, I wanted to help the community. With every organization I helped, with every dollar I gave, I always wished I could do more. I also never stopped dreaming of that youth mentoring program. Which brings us to now, the L.Y.D. Foundation. This foundation is truly about living your dreams and helping others to live theirs. The ultimate goal is to become a community hub and build a resource center that supports economic development in the communities we serve, confidence and literacy in the youth we mentor and a sense of collective pride in the neighborhoods we reside. I am excited for the future of L.Y.D. and all those we will be able to help, with every donation and man hour committed, we will get closer to leaving the world better than we found it. Let’s get to work!—
Chris Smith
Director, Mentor, Dreamer