If supporting transformation and innovation that changes the lives of people today, impacts the generations to follow, and builds and strengthens the communities in which they live, look no further than Breakthrough. As a long-time supporter, I have seen that their model works! In fact, I believe it should be scaled to other neighborhoods in Chicago...fast! There is no other work that inspires me more.
Review from Guidestar
Breakthrough has such an important mission of providing needed services from sports to computer labs to a workout gym to an underserved community on the W. Side of Chicago!
F/CEO Arloa Sutter is a true visionary and one of the BEST and unstoppable!!
GREAT org, GREAT team— the CLOZTALK team is honored to call Breakthrough our partner!!
CLOZTALK team
>> Jonny Imerman, co-founder
After my mother passed away in jan of 2000, i realized that i was on my own and that is when i first discovered i had became homeless and being a single parent i had to leave my children with realitives in order to find my way, when i got to breakthrough i had been living in tenessee, memphis and got kicked out because of problems with my brother and his girlfriend and had come back to chicago. after three months of job searching i left my grand fathers house and had went to dhs located 10 s. kedzie & madison st. they placed me at joshuas house the next day and i stayed there from december of 2005 and moved out in july of 2006 and a staff member there by the name of teresa mchenry drove me to my first apartment at the renaissance collaborative on wabash ave with a check from them for my security deposit and three months rent paid. I was still allowed to go to their food pantry and get needed items, they gave me a move out box with needed household supplies, i even came to lunch and dinner also, and the clothes closet that was open on thursday's. they really helped me during and after the fact. This helped me to learn to help myself making me more independent. sharon was a cook there and she would fix us lunch on the weekends when we had to leave at 9am. This was a life changing experience. Thanks for my breakthrough!!!
BreakThrough serves the Homeless, the Youth, and the oppressed people of Chicago through basic human services, education, shelter, and love. This is authentic Christian Servant Leadership. I've stopped tithing to my church since they've stopped representing Jesus Christ insofar as I've witnessed and re-directed our tithe and offerings here and to other charities who have excellent ratings. My dollar has to go farther to support Christian ministries: Each penny counts at BreakThrough and they judiciously evaluate how best they can serve the urban poor, to encourage and empower them to live full, productive, healthy, happy lives. Christ lives here.