BUILD report shows 13% decrease in violence around Austin campus
While there was a 9% increase in violence in Austin in 2023, the half mile surrounding the Austin campus of BUILD — or Broader Urban Involvement & Leadership Development, a gang intervention, violence prevention and youth development organization — experienced a 13% decrease, according to the Chicago Data Portal.
The data is a part of BUILD's recently released annual report, summarizing the organization's efforts and effects from June 2023 to June 2024.
Since 1969, BUILD has worked to connect young people with each other and support them to overcome barriers and thrive in their communities. BUILD case workers and mentors connect with youth on the West Side in the street, through after-school programs, and from June 2023 to 2024, in a record 20 schools.
Funded by individual contributions, plus foundation and government grants, BUILD offers support services for mental health, crises and violence intervention, plus programs for college and career pathways, and workforce development. The organization has also hosted over 100 community events or pop-ups to engage the community and interrupt violence.
"I was in a deep hole when I first came to BUILD. They took me out of that deep hole," said Liliana, a 16-year-old quoted in the report. She said BUILD encouraged her to participate in its programs. "I used to be crazy, just a straight hothead. Now, I just go to school, go home and to BUILD. It's all I do now, and I'm happy."
In its 2024 fiscal year, BUILD reported it touched the lives of more than 2,750 young people, and its community events reached more than 7,500 locals — over 3,000 more than either of the previous two years.
Of those whom BUILD served, 99% have witnessed violence, 63% in the past year. 83% said they have friends or family in gangs, with 7% involved themselves. And nearly half were bullied, with another 40% recently suspended or disciplined at school.
But since participating with BUILD from the summer of 2023 to 2024, 65% of those who were involved with gangs detached from them or are in the process of doing so. Another 85% had no detentions or expulsions during that time, and 82% had fewer disciplinary infractions.
From the 2023 to 2024 financial year, BUILD saw 6,405 more individual therapy sessions, 2,821 more group ones, and a 260-person increase in the number of youths in therapeutic care.
The annual BUILD report tells the story of D, a 16-year-old, who the organization suggested go to therapy.
"Of course there were bumps in the road – he struggled, he really put his mom through the wringer," BUILD officials said. Now, D has a stipend job at BUILD. "His mom says his behavior has improved. He comes to work every day like he's supposed to. He's not disruptive at home. He's not disruptive at school. So, it takes time, but BUILD works."
BUILD's increase in the number of people it has reached is largely due to the organization's expansion.
While BUILD still operates a community site inside the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center, it opened its Youth and Community Hub last year in Austin, and this was its first full year on the campus.
In the summer, the Austin Campus was open until 9 p.m. nightly and until midnight three nights a week — sometimes for a late basketball night or for outdoor movies. Last month, the Austin campus held its first Halloween Spooky Farm.
"BUILD Austin feels like a space for everyone, and having grown up just 10 minutes from here, I didn't feel that I had that," a BUILD neighbor said in the report. "It makes me feel hopeful to see what's being built by community."
