Zawadi was brain child of the late Dr. Vera Stevenson, a former Chicago Public School principal and longtime parishioner at Our Lady Help of Christians Catholic Church. Dr. Stevenson recognized that children in the Austin community on the far westside of Chicago were in need of a social and emotional support network above what was being provided through their schools and families.To this end, in 1994, she launched the Zawadi Youth Group to fill the needs she saw. She chose the name “Zawadi” because it is a Swahili word meaning “gifts adults give to children.” The group has been a great success and has served approximately 75 youngsters annually, grades K-8, for the last 11 years. Most of the children participate in Zawadi for many years. Some of the younsters who started with Zawadi early on, come back as high school volunteers hoping to share their good experiences, camaraderie and peer support and leadership with the current group of children.The group is staffed entirely by volunteers, many of whom are current or former school teachers, and who have a history of other youth service activities. Zawadi meets alternative Saturdays throughout the school year. Zawadi participants take part in team-building, life skills, academic enrichment, arts and crafts and recreational activities. Volunteers also work with parents to assess the children’s academic progress and identify strategies that might help students who are struggling.Zawadi benefits from an established relationship with DePaul University School of Education, which has led to a great number of opportunities for participants which would never have been available to them otherwise. Some of these opportunities include making a community mural, a video history and a booklet commemorating both Zawadi an the history of Austin. Some of the older students were also able to participate in a computer video production workshop at DePaul University.
Zawadi’s budget is extremely small, approximating $50 per session, which goes to supply a light lunch for the children. The budget comes entirely from donations, some of which have come from friends and family of Dr. Vera Stevenson. In addition, when they register their children for Zawadi, parents have been asked to make a small donation. In recent years, however, because of the very tight economy, most parents have been unable to contribute money. Some of them have instead provided juice, cookies, lunch meat and other in-kind goods and services. In addition, the Zawadi volunteers provide funding out-of-pocket.
In 2005, Our Lady Help of Christians Church was closed and parishioners were integrated into St. Martin de Porres Catholic Church. In 2006, Zawadi began again at the new site gaining new volunteers to work on the program.