Page 46 - November 2018

C D f cer in running for C ero of the ear
n BY DAN CAMPANA
A veteran Chicago Police Officer has made the final round to determine CNN’s Hero of the Year.
Jennifer Maddox, who was featured by CNN earlier this year for her work with children in Parkway Gardens, is among the final 10 people under consideration for the honor. Each person can cast up to 30 votes per day, and voting is open through Dec. 12 at www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cnn.heroes/vote/. The winner will be announced during the 11th annual CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute, which airs live from New York on Dec. 17.
Maddox’s son, a Cook County sheriff’s officer, nominated her to recognize a decade of her work to give children living in Park- way Gardens a place to learn, have fun and gain new experiences.
What started in an empty basement as a drop-in center with a few board games and jump ropes for kids eventually developed into the Future Ties organization, which runs 11 months of the year and provides an after-school program for children in kinder- garten through fifth grade. Over the summer, it runs a mentor- ship summer camp for older teens preparing to join the work- force. Future Ties also offers weekend family enrichment trips for children and their parents.
For reaching the top 10, Maddox receives a $10,000 cash prize. If she is selected as Hero of the Year, CNN will award $100,000 to Future Ties.
In an interview this summer, Maddox recalled the humble be- ginnings of what became Future Ties, days when she spent her own money to provide local children with an alternative to a path
that often leads to violence.
With so many kids in a three-block area surrounded by gang
territory, Maddox recognizes the value of creating such an oppor- tunity for children and developing the old-school neighborhood feel, where everyone takes an interest in looking for out for the community’s youngest members.
“If you don’t have anything for them to do, what do you expect is going to happen?” she said in her interview, referring to ev- er-present concerns over violence. d
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