The Peace Corner Newsletter                              October 2005                                        Year 2, Issue # 4

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P. O. Box 440113,  5014 W. Madison, Chicago, IL. 60644. Tel. 773/261-5330
Email: thepeacecorner@yahoo.com                                        Web site: www.thepeacecorner.org 

EDITORIAL STAFF: 
Fr. Maurizio Binaghi, Mike Reever, Shawn Seawood, Joseph Williams, 
and all those who want to help!!!

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Are you sure you know all the services the  Peace Corner offers to  everybody who may need them? THEY ARE: - Friendship & Support - The Tutoring program.  - The Job Training     program. - The G.E.D. program - The Computer class - Legal Counseling  (if you    need to talk to a laywer)     ...and never forget  the opportunity  to have a lot of fun....

"IT’S  ABOUT  TIME!"   ...            First of all let me apologize to all of you: it has been a long time since the last issue of our newsletter was published. Several reasons can be used to explain the delay, but there are no real excuses: I am sorry, it will never happen again.             So many things have happened in these past months: it will be hard to try to summarize all of them. I will let Shawn and Joseph tell you about another successful Summer Program: 45 youth involved daily with various recreational activities at the Peace Corner. Shawn will also tell you about our experience in Ohio, where a group of ten very promising young men, the Peace Corner Leadership team of the future, was involved with “team building activities” going from horse back riding to cattle drive to paint ball.                Now the center is already in full gear with all our programs resuming and the beginning of new ones. In fact starting October 12 we will be open also in the morning for a literacy/pre-GED course in collaboration with the Healthy Austin Coalition while our GED program, tutoring program and Computer class will continue as usual, furthermore we have decided to foster and improve our Job Training program which offers jobs while training youth in home remodeling and construction.             Finally, some of you may have noticed him roaming around the center doing a myriad of things: he is Mike the new associate director. Mike Reever has been teaching in our GED course for the past two years and has been a great asset to the Peace Corner. Now he has joined our staff and he will be doing even more. In fact he will be in charge of the new Job Training Program while coordinating the GED class and work with me and Joseph in the running of the center. You can know more about Mike by reading what he wrote for us. We are blessed to have him with us and we wish him a great and “busy” time with us.             Once again, I feel blessed and honored to work with all of you: guys at the center, volunteers and friends of the Peace Corner. I really thank you for who you are and what you teach me every single day. I am thankful to God for our little Peace Corner that has touched so many lives, especially mine, through the lives, the smiles and the struggle and dedication of so many wonderful people. May God Bless each and every one of you!  ---- Fr. Maurizio

           Every year the Peace Corner has a summer program where we have lake front activities, barbeques, and field trips. When we go to LaGrange Park we have baseball, basketball, football, and tennis games. We have swimming pool parties and bonfires when we go to Michigan. This year we cannot forget about Cincinnati where we went horse back riding and paintballing. We also went to Indiana Dunes National Park. The summer program is great because it gives the kids a chance to get away from the street corner and into a good environment.
                                                                                             ----  Joseph Williams

           Our weekend in Cincinnati was fun because we spent time with all of our friends and there was never a tired moment when we wanted to go home. The first thing that we did when we got there was play basketball. The place we were sleeping at was big enough that everyone could have had their own room, but we had three people to each room. The next day we went paintball shooting and it was so much fun. Our paintball team was winning and hitting them all over their suits, but they began to make a comeback and won the paintball shootout. Afterwards, we went on a cattle drive and a fifty minute horse ride that was a lot of fun. What also made it fun was that no one knew how to ride a horse. I can say this was my best weekend of the summer and I am really looking forward to next summer. Until then, I guess I will be sitting at the Peace Corner playing with all of the people there.

      HI, I’M MIKE!

           Hi all at the Peace Corner! My name is Michael Reever and I am the new Associate Director. I am extremely humbled and honored to have been offered that position by Fr. Maurizio and I look forward to many of the new challenges that await me. I have been involved with the Peace Corner for two years now as a GED teacher. I can tell you that being a GED teacher is the most rewarding part of my life and is the highlight of my week every week, so it was a no-brainer to take this position when it was offered. My main priority will be with handling the job training program; although I will still be heavily involved with the GED program, and anything else that I am able to help out with. I am currently 21 and go to Loyola University of Chicago majoring in Political Science. I am a huge Packers fan (0-4 as of today). I like John Mayer, Trapt, 2Pac, Kanye West, and am a Spider-Man fanatic; so you can give me a hard time about all or one of these things. If you need any help with homework or someone to talk to just let me know. Most everyone I know calls me “Reever” or you can call me Mike. I look forward to meeting everyone and learning everyone’s names, although I know some already. Thanks again to everyone for this amazing opportunity and I look forward to meeting you all!

---- Mike Reever

You cannot miss this  December 16, 2005, at 6.30 PM the Peace Corner will hold the “second ever” Peace Corner Fundraiser. A delicious and incredible dinner at Brunetti’s Banquets in Franklin Park.  Tickets can be purchased by calling the Peace Corner at : 773/261-5330.