** On July 20, 2008, Bob Jemilo - one of BUILD's founders - passed away. Our thoughts go out to his family, and we thank him for his lifetime of service. Please click here to read his tribute, which appeared in the Chicago Tribune.

In 1969, two street-gang outreach workers founded BUILD as a street intervention program after government funding was terminated for their work at the Division Street YMCA. They met with corporate business leaders to develop BUILD, which stands for Broader Urban Involvement and Leadership Development. BUILD began by working with fewer than 200 gang-affiliated teens in one Chicago neighborhood and today serves over 2,500 youth in 9 Chicago neighborhoods and throughout Cook County through our Rehabilitation program in the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center. BUILD's comprehensive programs include: Prevention, Intervention/Rehabilitation, and BUILDing Futures.

BUILD primarily works in the following communities, although we reach youth from across Cook County:

• West Town
• Humboldt Park
• Logan Square
• Near North
• Belmont Cragin
• Hermosa
• East Garfield Park
• Uptown