Jobs, therapy offered to Chicago's most violent in effort to combat bloodshed
CHICAGO - The brakes of the No. 52 Kedzie bus groaned to a stop about 8:30 a.m., and the doors swooshed open.
Corey Givens hopped on and settled into the middle of the bus, holding his backpack as he looked out the window.
Givens was disappointed he wasn't heading to his job in a work van that day but instead had to catch the bus to go to the branch courthouse at Grand and Central avenues on Chicago's Northwest Side. He faced a hearing on a misdemeanor charge for peddling weed, the less serious of his two pending criminal cases.
Such are the two worlds Givens is straddling - honest work with a steady paycheck in contrast with quick cash, violence and court dates.
One of Chicago's largest social service agencies is spearheading a multimillion-dollar effort aimed at offering a part-time job and additional support to men like Givens who are driving the city's epidemic of gun violence.
The program, run by Heartland Alliance, has set out to find those most at risk for violence - perpetrators and victims alike - with the help of data analysts at the University of Chicago Crime and Poverty labs who crunch Chicago police data.
Seasoned gang outreach workers attempt to persuade them to
