Handlettering Workshop

For the second half of mentorship on Saturday, mentee alumni Amanda Leon, came to TFD to teach our mentees about handlettering. Amanda is self taught in the skill of calligraphy and has turned it into a career since her mentorship in the spring. Handlettering can be done on a variety of objects such as: name tags, mirrors, chalk boards, home decor, pumpkins, and so many other things! In this workshop, the mentees first learned the main rules of handlettering; upstrokes are thin, while downstrokes are thick. Once they did some practicing on paper, the mentees moved on to some wooden pumpkins Amanda brought and came up with their own designs! They turned out great and everyone had fun learning from a past mentee!

Photo Credit: Mya Rose

Business Bootcamp

Photo Credit: Mya Rose

In the first workshop from Saturday, our mentees were visited by Robert from Healthy Coin to learn about business. In this workshop, Robert discussed the basics behind creating a business, pricing of products and services, how money works within a business, and supply & demand. They also discussed how that can cause competition between businesses. After the lesson, the mentees got to compete in an exciting and intense game reviewing everything they learned for the day. It was a lot of fun and everyone learned so much!

Photo Credit: Mya Rose

Investment Workshop

Photo Credit: Mya Rose

Jason from Thrivent came to TFD to discuss financial wellness and investing with the mentees. He went over topics like, stocks and bonds, mutual funds, savings, Roth IRA, taxes, and much more! This was an exciting workshop for everyone since they all have a great interest in investments. Jason answered all of their questions and explained everything very well. He even gave each mentee a $2 bill as inspiration. Overall, everyone learned so much and we are grateful for the information we were provided.

Photo Credit: Mya Rose

Maywood Mural Unveiling

Photo Credit: Saffron Hurt

On Sunday, October 24rd, Maywood Youth Mentoring, had it’s unveiling of the new murals for the peace garden. Teens and young adults within the community were selected to create beautiful artwork that will be displayed at the garden on the topic of” Community Love.” One of the selected youth was Dakota Lopez, who created a beautiful piece on continuing growth. TFD had a previous mentee, Saffron Hurt, photograph this event and show off the great work these individuals have created. Saffron says, “It was a warm homey experience. Everyone was so nice and to see them take pride in improving Maywood through the garden warmed my heart".

At TFD, our goal is to center Maywoodian led organizations and residents who are working constantly to improve the community.

Photo Credit: Saffron Hurt

Black Panther Event

Photo Credit: Ross LaSalle

On October 15th at the Fred Hampton House, people from all across Proviso Township celebrated the 55th anniversary of the Black Panther Party. This event was hosted by The Hampton House, Chairman Fred Hampton Jr. and Akua Njeri. This event was not only to celebrate the 55 years of the party but also to unveil the new “People’s Bench”(the refurbished Hampton family bench), official Little Free Library, and the updated Community Fridge & Pantry via ribbon cutting ceremony.

The hopes for the new space is to teach the younger generation of the impact of Fred Hampton’s life and legacy had and continues to have in Maywood, the Proviso District, and American History.

The collective of organizations involved included Save the Hampton House, Black Panther Party Cubs, Best of Proviso Township, Engaged Berwyn, Suburban Unity Alliance, Maywood Fine Arts Association, Immanuel Lutheran Church and No Child Goes Hungry.

We sent a spring mentee, Ross LaSalle to document this event through photos and video. What an honor it was to be a part of such an inspiring ceremony. We can only hope to continue to grow in our partnership with The Hampton House, and Fred Hampton Jr.

“It was inspiring and amazing being in the presence of such historical black individuals.”

- Ross

Photo Credit: Ross LaSalle