Our Community

The After School Matters community starts with a single teen who chooses to participate in a program.

Our community then expands to include each teen’s instructors, their family, their high school and their neighborhood. We multiply that by nearly 19,000 individual teens each year, and extend further to the supports that make our work possible…

• Key partners allow us to build greater opportunities for teens. Our partners include Chicago Public Schools, the Chicago Park District, the Chicago Public Library and the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services. Together, they provide safe and supportive community anchors throughout the city and facilitate access to neighborhood resources that allow us to deliver successful programs.
• A network of close to 200 community organizations throughout Chicago allows us to reach deeper into under-resourced neighborhoods and provide services where they otherwise might not exist. These community organizations partner with us to deliver programs, build their capacities and strengthen communities.
• More than 1,000 instructors – experts and successful professionals in their fields – develop and deliver programs, serve as mentors to our teens and help guide them on a path to success each year.
• In addition, we could not do the important work of serving our teens without the network of supporters who helps us sustain and enhance our opportunities, programs and community.

Our programs reach every corner of the city to provide opportunities for nearly 19,000 teens annually.

2020-2021 Program Locations