City and CPS Offer "Safe Haven" Holiday Program For Kids

By Anna Deem in News on Dec 20, 2009 8:00PM

For a lot of unsupervised kids, the two-week winter break can be dangerous when their idle time turns to causing trouble. To keep kids busy during the holiday season, the city and Chicago Public Schools have partnered with 33 different churches citywide to create the first ever "Safe Haven, Safe Holiday" program, which runs this Monday through Wednesday, and again Dec. 28-30.

The program will operate around the theme "Stop the violence, stop the silence," which highlights the need for communities to speak up when witnessing crime. Kids will engage in performing arts projects based around the theme and in anger management/conflict resolution work. CPS vendors donated food for the six-day program, and the city is funding the activities and transportation. On Dec. 30, students citywide will present their projects at Doolittle Elementary.

For more information, call 311, or visit cityofchicago.org. [Chicago Sun-Times]