A Chicago pastor is sleeping in a tent on a roof this winter to raise awareness of violence and poverty in the Windy City.
Corey Brooks, the pastor and CEO of the nonprofit organization Project H.O.O.D., has spent 58 nights so far atop a shipping container outside of his church.
“It’s important because we are stopping violence, we’re ending poverty,” Brooks said of his endeavor, which so far has raised $2 million, during an interview Monday on Fox and Friends.
AT LEAST 74 CHICAGOANS INJURED AND 14 KILLED IN SHOOTINGS OVER JULY 4 WEEKEND
As part of his goal to draw more attention to rampant violence in the city by sleeping on the roof, Brooks hopes to raise enough money to build a community center to serve as a place for Project H.O.O.D. to mentor the city’s youth. Project H.O.O.D. aims to “provide mentorship, training, and community” for residents of the Woodlawn and Englewood areas, according to the website.
“We made up in our mind we are not going to wait on government or wait on anybody to fly in and save us,” Brooks said. “We are going to tackle it, and we’re going to handle the issues, and we’re going to solve the problems with positive solutions and helping young black brothers in our community to change their lives forever.”
Gun violence is a persistent problem in the city of roughly 2.7 million people. Over the weekend, four people were left dead and 25 wounded as a result of gun violence in Chicago. During the weekend prior, nine people were reported wounded.
After a 2021 in which the city recorded a quarter-century high in homicides, Chicago police reported five murders from Jan. 3 to Jan. 9, a 71% decrease during the same period in 2021, when there were 17 murders, and there were 30 shooting-related incidents reported, compared to 45 in 2021 — a 33% decrease.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot requested additional federal resources from the Justice Department in December to crack down on illegal guns.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Brooks said Project H.O.O.D. and similar organizations are important because they seek to “alleviate poverty” and “alleviate violence.”
“Just because you grew up in the hood, the hood does not have to be in you. Just because you grew up in a tough environment does not mean that you cannot succeed, that you cannot achieve, that if you put hard work in, if you are committed and courageous, you can achieve the American dream that everyone is out to get,” Brooks said. “That’s so important not just to these young men, but to all the young men in our community, especially those who are committing these violent crimes.”
