Photo by: Jackson A. Thomas

The Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council (BYNC,) 1751 W. 47th St., is one of the oldest nonprofit community organizations in the United States. The council serves a great area of Chicago’s South Side and neighborhoods within the community. Residents of these communities experience high unemployment, juvenile delinquency, poor housing and education problems.

The BYNC after-school tutoring programs offer children and students with potential the hope they need to dismiss negative images and stereotypes of the Back of the Yards neighborhood.

According to David Lopez, a tutoring instructor in the Back of the Yards neighborhood, the BYNC’s programs are designed to aid students from local schools and help them improve in their homework and study skills.

Lopez said the program focuses mainly on math and reading because these are the subjects he and other volunteers find students need the most help in.

“When we get the report cards, we actually assess what they are doing good in and they are doing not so good in,” Lopez said. “Most the time, like 80 percent of the time, we find math and reading to be the bigger problems.”

While most would assume an after-school tutoring problem would strictly serve students who are close in proximity to the building it is held in, BYNC is not confined to providing help to only those in the neighborhood.

“A majority of students come from local schools,” Lopez said. “We have about 18 students [who] attend here we are currently serving. An average of between four and five [come from] Lara, Hedges, Chavez and Hamline. Other schools we serve are Uno Charter schools. A few students do come from there, such as Marias El Sego, Alexander Graham, Dallas Academy. We use to serve a school by Gold Coast too.”

Lopez said children in this neighborhood need tutoring because of the peer pressure put on them and violence in the neighborhood. Many students have a hard time paying attention or staying focused on what is being taught.

“It can be hard to actually find the time do homework in a violent area,” he said. “It becomes a little difficult, and some students can become inattentive when they are at school.”

Lopez said the after-school tutoring programs were created more than 10 years ago, and they came about because a necessity from students they were actually serving was seen.

“We’re an agency that provides tutoring, after-school computer classes and after-school dance classes. There was a need for students who were in those programs, so out of that came a need that was filled in.”

Samantha Raynoso, a secretary for BYNC, said the programs aim toward children who are between the ages of 8 and 13 years old and are divided into three different groups: 8- and 9-year-olds, 10- and 11-year-olds and 12- and 13-year-olds. She said third- and fourth-graders usually come in from 3 to 4 p.m., fifth- and sixth-graders come from 4 to 5 p.m. and seventh- and eighth-graders come from 5 to 6 p.m. There are a few high school students who come as well, and it’s all based around a class-like structure.

Lopez oversees the process and development of all the students who attend, and he said he has certain volunteers who come in to help. He said some are actually students who have been in the programs before, completed part of or majority of the programs and have moved on to high school.

“They usually come back because they like the program so much,” he said. “Now they want to give help to other students who are here, and some might need community service hours to graduate.”

Although the Back of the Yards neighborhood is predominantly Hispanic, Lopez said the council doesn’t discriminate against anyone, and other students from other ethnic groups have come into the programs in the past. The council does have open registration, so a student would easily be able to join the tutoring programs.

“Students just need to come in and fill out an application,” he said. “The space is kind of small, but we try to take in as many as we can because it’s quality versus quantity.”

After clocking out from a long day at a stressful job, the last thing working men and women seeking a little carefree after hour entertainment want to worry about is how they’re going to get home if they’ve had one or two drinks too many. From public transportation, such as, the Chicago Transit Authorities trains and buses, to taxi cabs and the Metra, if you live in the city, you have choices. Not to mention walking.

“Whenever I go out, it’s usually pretty easy to just take a cab,” Sophia Diaz, resident of downtown Chicago said. “You don’t have to worry about having a designated driver, which eliminates the chances of somebody driving drunk.”

While taxis might be one easy way to go from place-to-place, other options of getting around the cities well-known nightlife scene include the “El” train and public buses.

“The El is easiest for me,” Jose Lozano, 22, resident of Logan Square said. “I only go out like twice a year since most of my time is spent working, and there’s a train stop right by my job, so it’s the most convenient whenever I do go out.”

Chicagoans are constantly in a battle of which side of town is better, the North Side or the South Side, while some fear their safety is in jeopardy the farther south they go, others find that the drinks are cheaper, and parking is easier on the North Side.

“I definitely think that the North Side is safer, especially in Wrigleyville,” Diaz said. “Drinks are cheaper, parking is cheaper if you’re driving, but it’s easier to get around if you’re walking.”

“I like the bars in Bucktown,” Nelly Hernandez, 23, resident of Bucktown said. “There is a lot of diversity, and there’s one bar called Stone Lotus, which is right by my apartment so it’s really close.”

One concern of many “riders” of public trasportation is the level of public intoxication in the evening hours.

“I see drunk people on the El everyday,” Donnie Levy, 22, resident of Hyde Park said. “I usually go out only once a month, and when I do go out to the bars or clubs, it’s really irritating to walk onto a train and be surrounded by such erratic behavior. It can also be extremely frustrating when intoxicated people get on the bus right before me and they have no fare money.”

Public transportation is a safe, easy and hassel-free way of getting home safe after a night of fun. Just be sure to know which buses and trains run throughout the night. The CTA Red and Blue Lines both provide 24-hour service. It is important to know your route home before heading out, certain buses do not run all night, and those that do may stop in isolated areas that are not well-lit.

“I’ve had to wait over an hour for a bus to get home before,” Levy said. “The train station I live by doesn’t run 24 hours-a-day, which makes it difficult which is probably why I don’t go out that much. I mean the clubs are great and I’m all for the nightlife scene, getting to and from them is a problem.”

No matter how you get home, public transportation, taxi cab or by walking, be sure to be safe.

Churches can be the landscape for many events, they provide a setting for anxious couples on their wedding day, and they can also serve as a memorial background to honor loved ones who have passed. The Lilydale Progressive Missionary Baptist Church, 10706 S. Michigan Ave., is not only seen as a place of worship and praise, instead its a church on the South Side that takes the next step by offering a non-profit program for struggling youth, recovering drug addicts and ex-cons in search of redemption.

“[One of] the organizations [we put forward] is a non-for-profit group that ministers to people who are ex-offenders or ex-drug users that are trying to better their lives,” said Kimberly McEwen, executive assistant to the church’s pastor, Romell Williams, Jr., and church administrator. “They are trying to get some skills and things to help them to enhance their living conditions, and also to make job ready in the area of construction.”

McEwen said that the men and women who come to the meetings at Lilydale Progressive Missionary Baptist Church are getting more than just worship. She mentioned one program where patrons are “getting foundational classes for carpentry,” she said there is about 10 people in the class.

There are a countless number of churches scattered throughout the community of Roseland. A majority of these establishments, which run along the 106-113 blocks of South Michigan Avenue, are somewhat old-fashioned, with metal security bars, like a jail cell, on each window to keep intruders at bay, gated perimeters with six foot tall fences and old-school pastors who like to keep their sermons on the more traditional side of the Bible.

“The pastor, [Romell Williams, Jr.], is a fairly young pastor,” McEwen said. “He’s about 31-years-old, and we have a lot of members who are older. They have been here at the church for years and years, some of them since its inception.”

According to McEwen, the goal of Lilydale Progressive is to bring together all age groups, and with Pastor Williams being so young and talented, he has brought in a lot of youth to the church.

“He’s doing a great job bringing together two different age ranges, at least with people 40 and under, and I think that’s unique,” McEwen said.

While school, friends, family and home can give support to many people, churches can be a safe haven as well for misguided teenagers and adult men and women trying to find their way and place in the world.

“I think that every kid and every adult needs [some type of] structure,” said Antonio Ashford, 34, a resident on the West Side. “No matter which community you’re from or what church you go to.”

Being one of the actual ten participants in the non-for-profit group held at Lilydale Progressive, Ashford believes that many religious organizations can benefit the Roseland community in more ways than one.

“They can give jobs, provide food, provide clothing and they can do a lot for people,” he said. “That’s what balances out the good and the bad. We need spiritual guides as far as spiritual structure, and church is valid for the community.”

McEwen said that religion used to play a big part in Roseland, but she doesn’t think it does as much anymore.

“I think that we could be a great source of help to the surrounding area,” she said. “Unfortunately Roseland has a lot of violence and drug issues, and I think that the church should be more instrumental in helping those who are trying to change their lives, and also to those who need assistance.”

Depending on the point of view, religion in a specific area can be observed as both positive and negative. McEwen said that the culture’s view on religion has changed over the years as far as Christianity is concerned since Lilydale Progressive M.B. Church is Christian-based.

“We’ve failed to reach out to [people] like we need to,” McEwen said. “The first thing taught in the Christian religion is that your love and how you treat people shows [someone] how much you care about them.”

At Lilydale Progressive, they are working towards being more loving to the community and reaching out more, McEwen said.

“Church is a place of prayer, and any in neighborhood it should be a beacon of hope.”

The center, located at 3656 N. Halsted St., will host four speed dating soirees throughout April and June 2010. Two of the four get-togethers will focus on lesbians while the other two are geared toward men.

The programs cost $10 in advance and $12 at the door. The second women’s event is scheduled to take place June 17 — the first was held April 8 — and men will have an opportunity to speed date on April 29 and June 10. All four will begin at 6:45 p.m. and end at 8:45 p.m. Proceeds will go toward general funding and programming for the Center on Halsted.

“We like doing the speed dating events because a lot of people [who come] don’t want to try to meet people through the bar or club scene,” said Christine Forster, intern for transgender and women’s programming at the Center on Halsted and a senior at Loyola University. “It’s a nice alternative for people who are a little more shy, who aren’t into heavy drinking and who aren’t into that sort of scene.”

Many people think it’s easier for heterosexual men and women to find dates than it is for homosexual men and women. Even though society has come a long way since the days of Anita Bryant and the unforgettable Christian-based slogan, “God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve,” many cultures still don’t accept same-sex relationships.

“I definitely think dating is 10 times easier for heterosexual men and women,” said Donté Rogers, 21, a resident of the Greektown neighborhood. “I feel like our history and our traditions have been shaped around a heterosexual view. There’s more straight bars than there are gay bars, there’s more areas where you’re going to have heterosexuals living in because there aren’t necessarily that many gay communities. It’s based around the way our society’s governed.”

Since blind dates can sometimes be a potential formula for disaster and online dating services attempt to create chemistry based on profile pictures, regular, old-fashioned dating seems like a thing of the past.

“I absolutely think homosexual men resort to online dating much more than heterosexual men,” said Alex Johnson, 22, of Old Town. “It’s harder to ascertain a man’s sexual preference, and it’s more dangerous to go up to a man in public.”

Santay Powell, 24, of downtown Chicago, on the other hand, feels that “heterosexual women prefer online dating more over lesbian women because most women don’t like to make the first move.

“If no one is making moves on them, going online gives them more opportunities,” Powell said.

Supporters say that speed dating serves as a fun and social alternative that takes men and women out of uncomfortable situations and encourages them to meet a large number of people. Instead of going on one long date with one person, participants go on a number of quick mini-dates.

“It offers a low pressure, low awkwardness moment to just meet people,” Forster said. “It’s quick, it’s fun, and there aren’t many queer-identified spaces that aren’t bars or clubs where people feel very comfortable going to.”

Forster also said that it’s quieter at the Center on Halsted than it is in bars, allowing speed daters the chance to really talk to one another.

The Center on Halsted has not yet conducted a bisexual speed dating event, but Forster said it is something she might consider. “There’s no point in having gay men and lesbians in the same room together because then it would be like straight speed dating,” she said. “Men expect to meet men and women expect to meet women.”

“I don’t think I would go to a bisexual speed dating get-together,” Johnson said. “It might be fun if I was looking for maybe some new female friends, but if I’m serious about it and I actually do go looking for a date, I’m going to want to be surrounded by gorgeous men, not women.”

The meaning of the word “date” has changed drastically in recent years; people nowadays can be described as a “friend with benefits” or even a “cuddle buddy.” Countless online dating Web sites are misconstrued and used for hook-ups and random sex, and some are precautious or suspicious that a speed dating rendezvous would offer the same.

“No matter what, your hormones are there,” Rogers said. “Some people are better at hiding them, but others are like,‘I need it,’ and if there is a quick way to meet somebody else who feels the same way, then why not? It’s really a personal thing and it can go either way.”

According to Forster, past events have had very high satisfaction rates for both the men and women, and there hasn’t been a situation where things have gotten too risqué.

“I’ve never actually been to one, because I’ve already got someone,” Powell said. “It would be interesting to mingle, get to know new people and see what happens. I might have to go see what they’re all about.”