Tyrique Glasgow’s world is about creating possibilities for the children, families and seniors in the city of Philadelphia. In 2012, Tyrique founded the Young Chances Foundation (YCF), an organization established to provide children and community members with opportunities to have fun, strengthen relationships and build positive leadership skills through peer group activities.
Knowing there is a gun violence crisis going on in Philadelphia means all roads lead back to the issue of prevention for community based organizations like YCF. Tyrique has remained steadfast in his commitment to instilling values, promoting worth, changing the negative images prevalent in low-income communities and providing positive opportunities for the people in his own community to curb the violence. With a mission that includes providing and teaching positive leadership skills among youth their HUSTLE program, YCF Youth Coalition and having created YCF’s SAFE PLACE 4 KIDS summer camps in 2013, YCF has worked tirelessly to prevent violence from cycling down through the next generation of children in Philadelphia.
In 2019, the positive impacts of Tyrique’s programming helped YCF transition to the next step–holding a designated place for the community to engage and obtain much needed resources–when YCF’s Community Engagement Center (CEC) opened its doors in South Philadelphia. The CEC quickly became a vital hub for community members all over South Philadelphia to obtain daily produce, hot meals, clothing and goods such as fans, diapers, books and toys. During the first year of the Pandemic YCF distributed over 426,000 pounds of food from the CEC to community members, along with timely PPE gear, clothing and housewares.
“In Philadelphia and cities across the nation, people in zip codes that have largely been forgotten are doing the work on the ground, believing that some kind of hope and help is coming…It’s time to stop waiting." -Tyrique Glasgow
- Friday, Aug 25 - Better Gun Violence Reporting: Lessons from the Ground in Philly from ONA23