711 West Monroe Street

Chicago, IL, 60661

312-486-1021

Life-Changing Love in Action

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ABOUT THE INITIATIVE

Young adults enjoying the annual spring "Kinship Grill and Chill"

The Kinship Initiative is rooted in Asset Based Community Development as espoused by Northwestern University's ABCD Institute, Catholic Social Teaching professed by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the good news of The Gospels and also the faith, genius and commitment of people in North Lawndale and Old St. Patrick's Church.

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MISSION

Through the Kinship Initiative, people of North Lawndale and Old St. Patrick's Church walk alongside one another in friendship, sharing our talents and resources to secure justice, opportunity and the transformation of our communities.

VISION

Strengthening the reach and organizational capacties of our Kinship partners and affiliates.
Fostering awareness, contemplation, dialog and action to counteract historic racial and economic oppression, and all other evils that seperate Chicago's economic haves from its have-nots.
Developing networks of sharing, creativity, advocacy and restoration across racial, class, religious, neighborhood, gender and generational lines to address the pressing social issues of our time.
Modeling collaboration such that it transforms the North Lawndale neighborhood, Old St. Pat's Church and all who are open to learning from our inter-community collaborative approach.
Contributing to North Lawndale's safety, cleanliness, vibrancy and progress so it will become a destination neighborhood in etro Chicago
Encouraging and supporting North Lawndale's local leadership, its deliberte visioning and planning processes, its residents and its other allies.
Seeing our visions fulfilled without North Lawndale suffering from exploitative patterns of gentrification that ultimately alienate and displace the neighborhood's current residents.

VALUES

1.) RELATIONSHIPS - Human connections that develop friendships and trust and cause us to dream, dialog, plan, work, play and pray together with purpose, respect and love.

"The measure of our compassion is not in our service of those on the margins but in our willingness to see ourselves in kinship with them." - Fr. Gregory Boyle, S.J., from his book Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion

2.) MUTUALITY - Equitable, two-way relationships through which we strive as much or more to give to others as we hope to receive from them.

“In a real sense all life is inter-related. All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be, and you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be. This is the inter-related structure of reality.” - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's Letter from A Birmingham Jail

3.) NETWORKING - Sharing our time, ideas, resources and opportunities to uplift each other with the belief that, "We are in this together," and "There is plenty for everyone."

“I’ve come to believe that each of us has a personal calling that’s as unique as a fingerprint – and that the best way to succeed is to discover what you love and then find a way to offer it to others.” – Oprah Winfrey

4.) SERVICE - Assisting each other to the best of our ability without pitying, degrading, judging, imposing, intruding, making others solely dependent on us or expecting praise for our efforts.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God--this is your true and proper worship. - Matthew the Apostle, Romans 12:1

KINSHIP CREED

Kinship is a way of being church in the world today. It sees the sacred in each person, unifying, renewing and transforming.

Kinship is gathering around the table to feed each other. It celebrates difference and commonality, deepening relationships and communion.

North Lawndale residents and Old St. Pat's members celebrate yet another monthly meal service of 200+ people at My Brother's Kitchen, an outreach of the Young Men's Education Network. (YMEN).

Kinship is an invitation for everyone to share their gifts. It enriches all through loving service, fostering interconnections and mutuality.

Kinship is an orientation of the spirit. It embodies an attitude of justice, being both journey and destination.

Kinship is love in action.

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ABOUT THE INITIATIVE

MISSION

Through the Kinship Initiative, people of North Lawndale and Old St. Patrick's Church walk alongside one another in friendship, sharing our talents and resources to secure justice, opportunity and the transformation of our communities.

VISION

Strengthening the reach and organizational capacties of our Kinship partners and affiliates.

Fostering awareness, contemplation, dialog and action to counteract historic racial and economic oppression, and all other evils that seperate Chicago's economic haves from its have-nots.

Developing networks of sharing, creativity, advocacy and restoration across racial, class, religious, neighborhood, gender and generational lines to address the pressing social issues of our time.

Modeling collaboration such that it transforms the North Lawndale neighborhood, Old St. Pat's Church and all who are open to learning from our inter-community collaborative approach.

Contributing to North Lawndale's safety, cleanliness, vibrancy and progress so it will become a destination neighborhood in etro Chicago

Encouraging and supporting North Lawndale's local leadership, its deliberte visioning and planning processes, its residents and its other allies.

Seeing our visions fulfilled without North Lawndale suffering from exploitative patterns of gentrification that ultimately alienate and displace the neighborhood's current residents.