1,000 teens explore downtown Chicago as part of first ever ‘Downtown Day’

By Noel Brennan

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    CHICAGO (WBBM) — One thousand teenagers from neighborhoods throughout the city got a VIP tour of Chicago Saturday. Businesses opened their doors and attractions offered discounts for the first ever “Downtown Day.”

Chicago is home, but the teens got to play tourists Saturday.

“We’re doing new things that we haven’t done yet,” said Vaughn Webster, as he saw the city through a new lens.

He is one of 1,000 young people invited downtown to explore and experience all Chicago has to offer.

“Like the dances that we seen,” another teen said. “Walking on the Riverwalk.”

“It’s one thing coming downtown and walking around,” said Cynthia Valentin with My Block, My Hood, My City. “It’s another thing being able to go to the Sky Deck or 360 Chicago, right?”

My Block, My Hood, My City organized the event.

“A lot of our young people have never moved beyond their neighborhood or their block, and so we want them to be able to take pride not just in their community or their block, but also the city as a whole,” said Valentin.

Dozens of youth organizations and local businesses partnered together, so teens could take advantage of more than 50 free or discounted activities.

“A lot of the young people that we work with are coming from communities that have been divested from. There might not be a lot of resources or spaces where they can actively engage or positively hang out,” Valentin said.

“We don’t normally get to see each other a lot, so once we do big group outings, we get to know a lot of more students and get to vibe with them and do activities with them,” said Diamond Hutchinson.

Hutchinson, 19, sees value in connecting with other teens.

“They really just want everybody to come together and stop everything like the violence and stuff like that,” she said.

“This is just our way to bring a positive engagement of the young people into their city,” said Valentin.

This may not be their block or their neighborhood, but the city is home.

“Yeah, it feels nice. It’s something new,” said Webster.

All of the teens were also given a $50 Mastercard to spend on food and activities.

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