La Villita Community Reporters

Yollocalli Arts Reach and Enlace Chicago will build a network of intergenerational community journalists who can submit news stories and histories to be posted on the Little Village Community Portal. Through the support of the Youth Digital Media Activism (YDMA) grant opportunity, previously trained Yollocalli journalists will develop new articles for the Portal focused on civic community leaders and organizations, and receive a stipend for their work. Yollocalli will also train Enlace’s parent leaders and adult participants how to effectively write and document community news and histories. Stories covered will include the work of community/parent leaders, local environmental justice issues, immigration stories, neighborhood violence prevention efforts, and community histories. Stories will be edited by Yollocalli youth journalists.

Youth will research and document the community building efforts by youth and adult leaders, further building the civic engagement of the youth in Little Village. Even more so, adult learners will also gain new media skills from Yollocalli youth journalists through the intergenerational exchange. Both Yollocalli and Enlace provide unique ways of building civic leaders in the community, and this exchange will further provide an opportunity for youth and adults to learn from one another.