Boys in the hood

Lutheran, The, May 2002 by Elliott, Bob

In Chicago's Cabrini-Green, there's `holy family'

Here's the problem You have nine identical gold balls, one containing a rare and valuable coin. If you open the wrong ball, you forfeit the coin. You have a sensitive scale that can tell you which ball holds the coin because it's heavier than the others. But here's the catch: You can use the scale only twice. How do you find the ball with the coin?

If you can't figure it out, ask one of the Boys in the Hood from Holy Family Lutheran Church.

Holy Family sits on the edge of Chicago's Cabrini-Green, arguably one of the most famous-or notorious-public housing developments in the country. It was the location of the 70s TV sitcom Good Times, and some of the show's exterior scenes were shot there. Before and after the show, Cabrini-Green had a reputation for rampant poverty, gangs, violence, drugs and crime.

Throughout its history, Cabrini-- Green has been tossed, kicked and fumbled carelessly in the rough and tumble game of Chicago politics. Today it sits dead in the path of a surging wave of gentrification on coveted real estate a mile from Chicago's downtown.

Leslie Hunter stands at the top of the stairs that lead from Holy Family's front door to the narthex, ready to greet his boys. He is the church's youth director and runs the Boys in the Hood program. Two boys are already in the congregation's homework center; another is in its computer lab on the first floor of a Cabrini-Green high-rise.

About 20 boys-ages 8 to 17-are active in the program. Half that number attend any given meeting or outing.

In its early days, Boys in the Hood focused on sports and athletics. Those are still part of the program, but since he took it over in 1998, Hunter-who grew up at Holy Family-has put increasing emphasis on equipping these young men for life beyond Cabrini-Green.

When it's time to start the weekly meeting, five boys gather in the narthex; others will join them later. Hunter calls them into a circle and they kneel to pray. After prayer, they lie belly down on the floor. Hunter introduces the problem of the nine gold balls-represented by crumpled paper from a legal pad. The scale is two cardboard French fry containers from a takeout restaurant. Hunter holds a box in each hand.

Once he has described the problem, two boys grab some of the crumpled paper balls and try to open them. Hunter patiently stops them. "If you think you're gonna find some money in there, forget it," he says. "This is pretend. But if there was real money in there, how would you use your two shots with the scale?"

A boy picks up two paper balls and drops one in each container. "That won't do," someone says. "You got to get real lucky the first two times or you blow it."

Hunter smiles. "That's right. So what would you do?" he asks.

The boy scoops up all of the balls but one. He puts four in each box. One of Hunter's hands rises and the other falls, indicating that one set of the paper balls is heavier than the other. "But you left one out," says one of the younger boys. "Doesn't he have to weigh them all?"

"Maybe. Maybe not," Hunter answers. "Let's see. What do you do now? Remember, you get only one more chance with the scales."

The boy empties one of the containers and refills it with two balls from the other box. Hunter's hands move out of balance again.

One of the boys protests, "But we still don't know which is which. We got two balls left and no scale."

"But you're pretty close," Hunter says. "Think about it."

Some want to give up, but Hunter quietly insists that they almost have it solved. "You know," he says, "in life most problems can't be solved in just one or two tries. It takes a lot of work to find the right way. You have to think before you act."

The boys think for several minutes. One says tentatively, "Four is too many. I mean, it still leaves us with two and two, and that don't work."

"Good, "Hunter says. "Now what does that tell you?"

The boy looks down at the floor, and then asks, "Three?"

Hunter smiles and nods: "Yes." It takes awhile for all the boys to see the answer (see box, page 33). Some explain it to their friends.

"I'm proud of you," Hunter says. "You hung in there and worked it out together. Sometimes that's all it takes. Sometimes you really need to figure things out before you rush in and maybe blow a once-in-your-life opportunity."

Beyond Cabrini-Green

It's clear a strong bond exists between Hunter and the Boys in the Hood. Along with the mentoring Hunter works into every session, the program has introduced its members to the world outside Cabrini-Green. Some had never eaten anything but home cooking and fast food until Hunter and Charles Infelt, pastor of Holy Family, took 10 of the boys to Greek Islands, a restaurant in Chicago's Greek Town.

They've also gone on field trips to the Museum of Science and Industry and the Chicago Botanic Garden. And they've watched a basketball game from a skybox at the United Center arena. Partner congregations or individual patrons and friends of Holy Family sponsor the trips.