Suicide is the second leading cause of death among children and young adults in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Studies have previously shown suicide rates increasing faster among Black youth than any other racial groups in Chicago. In an effort to combat these trends, two community-led organizations in Chicago — No Kids Die in the Chi and Soul Survivors of Chicago — are working to intervene early and provide young people with culturally grounded support. At the House of Hope Foundation in Humboldt Park, 40 to 50 kids come through the doors each day. Children as young as 10 years old gather after school to eat, play video games and receive support from mentors. That support ranges from a curriculum on anti-trauma and anti-violence guidance to receiving household essentials and getting haircuts, all aimed at providing a safe haven amid community violence and poverty. The space is run by No Kids Die in the Chi, a youth-centered platform started by Shawn Childs. Childs said his own experiences as a young man — repeated incarceration, struggles with drug use and sustaining multiple gunshot wounds — shaped the way he connects with youth today.
“When I was kid, I thought about suicide a lot,” Childs said. “I know what got me over it. So, that’s my role to kids, I know what helped me.” More context:
On the city’s South Side, Rafiah Maxie-Cole, a licensed social worker, greets residents across different neighborhoods as she hands out gunlocks and mental health resources. She founded Soul Survivors of Chicago after her 19-year-old son, Jamal, died by suicide in 2020. “It was the worst day of my life,” she said. “I wanted to take what everybody said, to get this pain, and turn it into something that’s productive, that’s about purpose, that’s about spreading a message; because my son died and he didn’t have to die.” Soul Survivors of Chicago is also known for one of its key initiatives, the “Walk in Purpose” project: a program that donates lightly used or new shoes from lost loved ones to those impacted by mental health, trauma or other loss.
Suicide deaths in Chicago have noticeably risen since 2018, according to Jonathan Singer, a professor of social work at Loyola University Chicago. However, the main distinction he makes is that with Black youth, “the percentage who are attempting is much higher compared to other folks.” Black students who attempted reportedly showed a rate of 11.8% in 2020, according to the CDC.
