With book bag and school supply giveaways ramping up for the 2022-23 school year, a philanthropic organization focused on bringing healing to mothers who have lost children to Chicago gun violence is donating clothing essentials to students returning to school.
“A great deal of kids get teased in school because of how they look, so Heal Your Heart decided to aim to strengthen the self-esteem of some of the youth from the LowEnd (whose) families have experienced loss of members. The LowEnd has lost several people and children to gun violence,” said Heal Your Heart founder and former Ida B. Wells resident Octavia Mitchell, adding that the group will be giving away undershirts, underwear and socks for the new year. “We want them to know your community is still here and we care about your success and well-being.”
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The LowEnd comprises lower street numbers on Chicago’s South Side beginning at Cermak Road near the former Harold Ickes Homes continuing south to 51st Street.
The Heal Your Heart Foundation helps mothers who have lost children to gun violence, especially those who grew up in LowEnd public housing that has been demolished. The residents of Ida B. Wells, Madden Park, the Darrow Homes and other nearby housing projects were scattered across the city “and lost their sense of community,” Mitchell said.
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“The best way to reach these families is during the reunions that are held during the summer,” Mitchell said.
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The Jaya Beemon Foundation, named after a young woman who lost her life to random gun violence, has donated book bags to the cause, according to Mitchell.
This Sunday the Clarence Darrow Homes reunion will take place, behind Walter H. Dyett High School for the Arts in Washington Park at 51st Street and King Drive. There will be numerous raffle giveaways between 2 to 6 p.m. of $25 gift cards for undergarments.
The same type of event will occur Sept. 3, with the Madden Park Homes reunion being held behind the Museum of Science and Industry at 57th Street and DuSable Lakeshore Drive in Hyde Park.
On Aug. 27, another gift card giveaway will be held for former Ida B. Wells youth at Ellis Park, at 3520 S. Cottage Grove Ave. Then the following day, Heal Your Heart will be at Parkway Gardens to help local youth before school starts.
“The children and youth in these areas live in one-parent homes, and some have lost siblings to gun violence,” Mitchell said. “There is so much going on. Health concerns, higher prices at stores. … We just want people suffering to know they are not alone.”
For more information on the events or how to donate, contact healyourheart2010@gmail.com or call 312-581-1770.
