Project Hood Communities
Helping Others Obtain Destiny
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Project H.O.O.D. seeks to eradicate gun violence and poverty on Chicago's south side. As Pastor Brooks, our Executive Director says, "Nothing beats a bullet like having a job." Project H.O.O.D.’s programming is designed to equip youth, adults, and families with the resources, skills, tools and experiences that are needed to be successful, healthy, and upwardly mobile members of society.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Construction Training and Certification
Community residents with challenging backgrounds such as, no high school diploma, low income, criminal records, etc are trained and certified in CORE and Carpentry Level One.
Job Coaching and Readiness
This program provides 6 weeks of job coaching and job readiness support including job searching, resume writing , interview practice as well as follow up post program.
Refuge Summer Camp
Real Heroes Summer Camp provides over 200 youth ages 5-14 summer programming including reading, writing, character building activities as well as basketball camp via the Hoops in the Hood program and field trips. Our camp lasts all summer long from the time Chicago Public Schools starts summer break until Labor Day.
Refuge
Refuge provides over 100 teens food, music, games and fellowship each Friday night. We provide a safe space so our teens, aged 14-18, to have fun and enjoy each other's company without concern of getting into trouble.
Where we work
External reviews
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of construction school students: 165
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Older adults, Young adults, People of African descent, Low-income people, Ex-offenders
Related Program
Construction Training and Certification
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of meals served or provided
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Economically disadvantaged people
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Distributed during food drives in 2020. Have given over 2.2 Million Pounds of food away since the beginning of the pandemic.
Number of clients participating in educational programs
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Project H.O.O.D. (Helping Others Obtain Destiny) is a 501(c)(3) registered non-profit with the goal of ending violence and building communities, one neighborhood at a time. Our mission is to empower people with the guidance, information and tools necessary to become peacemakers, problem solvers, entrepreneurs and leaders in their communities. Some of the ways Project H.O.O.D.’s accomplishes this includes free summer camp for low-income families, mentoring, summer basketball and a Friday night safe haven for teens to enjoy food, music, games, and events called Refuge. Additionally, we provide programs that support building job skills, training, and entrepreneurial resources for community members to turn their neighborhood into an economic engine. Project H.O.O.D. offers the B.U.I.L.D. Entrepreneur Program, an incubator for start-ups, financial literacy classes, financial coaching, employment services, and business mentorship. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Project H.O.O.D. shifted programming to further support the Woodlawn community, disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. This included distributing over 20,000 food boxes during several food drives in 2020, distributing PPE in the community and partnering with other community organizations to provide both COVID testing and vaccinations.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Our strategies lie in our programming. Whether it's out construction program and job readiness program that provides underserved individuals in our community with good paying jobs or our entrepreneurship offerings (B.U.I.L.D. and our incubator space), we seek to help others obtain destiny in multiple ways. We want people to be fulfilled in whatever work they choose to pursue and we also want to create programming, mentorships, etc. to our youth so they can be on a promising path as soon as possible in their lives.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Under the direction of Executive Director, Pastor Corey Brooks, our capabilities for meeting our goals lie in his leadership, the support of our board and staff. Pastor Brooks sets the vision, the board provides the resources and connections to facilitate his vision and staff are on the ground connecting with our community members and people we serve providing support to help them realize their dreams.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
So far, Project H.O.O.D. has a 94% graduation rate for our construction program, 244 individuals placed in jobs in just the past 2 years, 31 business in the process of being launched and feeding over 15,000 community members in the past 5 years. Our upcoming programming will include media programs for youth, developing our landscaping business to provide more job opportunities for community members, more entrepreneurial workshops and programming as well as opening our coffee shop and juice bar. Our major goal is to open our community center, located a few blocks south from our current location at 6330 S. King Dr.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Project Hood Communities
Board of directorsas of 02/22/2023
Corey Brooks
Corey Brooks
James Thomas
Steve Bozeman
Carlton Lynch
Desmond Marshall
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.
Equity strategies
Last updated: 08/11/2021GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.