A Note From the couple
Jenna Hess & Paul Sutphin Just Married!
Chicago Youth Programs (CYP) is an award-winning, innovative program created by Northwestern University medical students in 1984. CYP provides over 40 comprehensive programs to at-risk youth, ages 3-25, living in the under-served communities of Washington Park, Near North/Cabrini Green, and Uptown/Rogers Park neighborhoods.
In Washington Park, our largest community program, 86% of children below the age of 18 are growing up in poverty. The need and isolation poverty creates, combined with underfunded schools and a lack of affordable after school or summer programs, feed into a cycle of poverty that is difficult to escape.
To combat this devastating reality, CYP has a goal to empower each of our youth to escape poverty by attaining the skills and degree necessary to attain financial independence. Their approach is to bring children into programming at a young age and retain them up through college, providing comprehensive resources to meet their educational and developmental needs at each stage of their journey.
CYP tracks every child in an extensive database to ensure effectiveness. High retention with sustained involvement throughout childhood, avoidance of at-risk behaviors such as teen pregnancy and delinquency, school achievement, over 90% high school graduation rates (3X community rates) and college placement rates at or near 100% all support the program’s effectiveness.