by Alex Morales
Published: August 26, 2009
On August 22nd , during the Hoops in the Hood Cross-City Final at Seward Park, The Resurrection Project was recognized for pioneering a successful initiative, the Resurrection Basketball League (RBL).  For the past 10 years, RBL has provided provides neighborhood youth with safe alternatives to gang activity during Friday nights in the summer.
In 1999, The Resurrection Project initiated this program designed to engage the youth in healthy, teach them about leadership and sportsmanship, and prevent them from engaging in gang violence. The effort gave birth to the Resurrection Basketball League (RBL), an initiative whose goals are to build relationships within the community and directly impact the youth by providing a safe space for them—and their families—to have fun and learn team-building in an environment that usually is reserved for gang activity.  During Friday nights, RBL youth discover, on the blocks they are taught to avoid, that they have alternatives to the guns and violence that dominate those areas.
The Resurrection Basketball League program served as the model adopted by the City of Chicago for Hoops in the Hood, a citywide LISC sponsored program.   Today the Hoops in the Hood street basketball program is present at 11 New Communities Program neighborhoods and also encompasses arts activities, public health screenings and police engagement, thus laying the groundwork for stronger safety-oriented collaborations between residents and law enforcement.
“This honor is all due to the great work by all of the volunteers & staff along the years and the kids that made us realize that it wasn’t about us, it was about them and that we needed to address safety in creative ways” declared Alvaro Obregon, TRP’s New Communities Program Director and co-founder of the Resurrection Basketball League.
As we enter a second decade of providing safe spaces for youth, The Resurrection Project looks forward to successfully continue providing these positive recreational alternatives to our neighborhood’s youth.