Good to Great and Cabrini Connections

The Mission of Cabrini Connection is to "Engage workplace adults in structured activities that make a life-changing difference for youth living in economically and educationally disadvantaged neighborhoods." At last June's dinner Tangela Smith Marlow told of how Cabrini Connections has had a transformative impact on her life. This video captured these words.

During the next weeks and months members of the Cabrini Connections community are urged to take part in deep thinking and strategic planning that determines the future of this organization beyond the current school year.

We have provided an organized structure for more than 18 years, thanks to a core group of leaders and a wide range of donors and volunteers. It has never been easy and there has been constant change in the leaders involved. Yet with the help of volunteers who step forward to take over for those who proceeded them, we have continued to provide this space for others to try to have an impact.

If you look at the Program Locator map and search for tutor/mentor programs serving high school kids, you see only 82 listings of places that we know of doing some version of what we try to do here. Many neighborhoods have no programs. Many programs are smaller that we are. Thus, just making Cabrini Connections available and keeping it here for 18 years is a measure of success.

We have many resources on the Cabrini Planning Wiki that you can put everyone on the same page as to the history of Cabrini Connections, it's mission and purpose.

One wiki is titled Good to Great. In this we talk about key values, products and services that we offer.

It's time for new eyes and new leaders to be looking at this information, update it for the future, and take the ownership role that assures the organizations has the resources to achieve this mission.

During future tutor/mentor sessions we'll begin to introduce this planning process to current volunteers and students. If you'd like to take an active role in this process please contact El Da'Sheon Nix or Dan Bassill at 312-492-9614

So Much More Than Tutoring and Mentoring...

Cabrini Connections is a tutoring and mentoring, volunteer-based program, but we are so much more!!! Besides tutoring and mentoring services, we provide not only site based resources for our participants, we also provide off-site opportunities that we feel can and will assist the students with their current and future academic and career goals. One of the many resources that we provide are college and university trips, and today we visited DePaul University!

Over the years we have visited many of the colleges and universities in the Chicagoland area, but what made this trip a little more unique than the rest was the fact that this entire opportunity was set up by a parent of one our current students. Rhonda Parrow, mother of 2nd year student Aaliyah Griffin, is a graduate student at DePaul University and she is involved with a program at DePaul that sets up tours similar to the one we went on today. There were a total of 5 students and 2 staff that took part in this opportunity, and although it was a smaller group, those that attended had a very positive experience.

The visit started with lunch at the Welcome Center and we also were provided an hour long admission's presentation given by a current DePaul University student. This presentation provided the group with any and all of the information about the school, financial aid, classes, social life, and more! Following the information session we then were greeted with our tour guide and he walked us around the campus providing us with more information about the life of a DePaul University student. One of the biggest attractions for the group was the student center on campus which serves as one of the main meeting places for DePaul students to eat, play games, socialize, AND....do homework.

Our group spent a little over two hours on the campus and it was a great opportunity for the students and staff to get more information about the university, what it takes to get into the school, life after graduation, and the opportunity to just envision themselves walking on a college campus in the near future! We definitely want to thank Rhonda Parrow and the DePaul University for providing us with this great opportunity, we greatly appreciate the great service that we received today.

Good to Great and Cabrini Connections

As we head to the final months of the 2010-11 school year I encourage volunteers, staff, students and supporters to spend time reading sections of the Cabrini Connections planning wiki such as this section titled Good to Great.

Each year is a cycle where we begin to look from one year to the next, with new volunteers growing into leadership roles. As more members of our community become familiar with these planning documents, more become owners and more talent is unleashed to help us succeed in connecting youth and volunteers in life-changing mentoring and tutoring.

The wikis can be edited (they need editing) and new ideas can be added. As our teens look at these they can become more engaged in shaping the direction of Cabrini Connections and of their own futures.

As you have questions or want to discuss the information and ideas please contact Dan or El or set up a time when groups can discuss this information.