Contributed photo | www.projecthood.org
Contributed photo | www.projecthood.org
Contributed photo
| www.projecthood.org
The CEO Challenge includes:
- Camp out on the “rooftop” to support Project H.O.O.D.’s mission
- Pledge your time, talent, and treasure towards building our new community center
- Encourage employee participation. i.e.: Set up their own overnight tents or get creative and come up with fun ways to promote the cause and raise funds
- Establish a matching gifts program to amplify employee contributions
- Participate in a live-stream discussion with Pastor Brooks while on the roof
- Be accessible to the media with respect to this initiative
- Spread the word and challenge five other CEOs
WHO: Pastor Corey B. Brooks and former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich
WHAT: Day 89 of 100 Day Campout Against Gun Violence discussion: Faith and how the state and the federal government might better support impactful organizations like Project H.O.O.D.
WHEN: Media Availability is at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 17, 2022.
*Rooftop access requires a mechanical lift from ground level. Please confirm your attendance and we will schedule your access.*
WHERE: 6615 S. King Drive, Chicago, IL 60637, across the street from New Beginnings Church
MEDIA CONTACT: Please reply to this email to schedule access or to be connected to a member of Pastor Brooks’ or Governor Blagojevich’s team.
###
About Project H.O.O.D. and the 100 Day Campout Against Violence
Project H.O.O.D. is raising $35million to build the Leadership and Economic Opportunity Center that will serve at-risk youth and adults in Chicago. Pastor Corey B. Brooks, founder and Senior Pastor of New Beginnings Church of Chicago and founder and CEO of the not-for-profit Project H.O.O.D. Communities Development Corporation has become a leading voice and presence in the fight against the violence gripping Chicago’s poorest neighborhoods.
He established New Beginnings Church of Chicago in November 2000 in the heart of Chicago’s most dangerous neighborhood and founded Project H.O.O.D. in 2011.
Project H.O.O.D. provides mentorship, skills training, and community for residents on Chicago’s south side with the goal of ending the cycle of poverty, violence, and incarceration by providing alternatives to crime, neglect, and hopelessness.
100 DAY CAMPOUT AGAINST GUN VIOLENCE, please visit: projecthood.org/tent-a-thon
HIGH RES IMAGES: projecthood.org/press
COMMUNITY CENTER: projecthood.org/community-center
About Rod Blagojevich
Rod Blagojevich has lived an interesting life, to say the least. He was the Governor of Illinois. The first Democrat elected to that office in 26 years. He was also the first Illinois Governor to be impeached. Later, he was known as Federal Prisoner number 40892–424 after being convicted on public corruption charges having to do with the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama when he became President. But there’s so much more to his story…
Born to a blue-collar family in Chicago, Rod shined shoes, delivered pizzas, and worked in a meat packing plant when he was growing up. He also worked for two summers on the Alaskan Pipeline. Thanks to the sacrifice of his parents and his continued hard work, he attended and graduated from Northwestern University and went on to get a law degree from Pepperdine University. He was an Assistant State’s Attorney for Cook County, Illinois, a state representative, and in 1996 was elected to the U.S. Congress.
In 2002 his personal version of the American Dream continued as he beat long odds to become the 40th Governor of the state of Illinois. The story seldom told about that time is that as unlikely a choice as he was, he initially thrived. He created historic access to affordable healthcare for children in Illinois. Free mammograms and Pap Smears for tens of thousands of women without health insurance. Established free public transportation for every senior citizen and disabled person in the state and blocked his own party’s attempts to raise taxes in the process.
In 2008 his dream, the classic “only in America” success story, took a decided turn towards becoming a nightmare. Working to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by the election of President Barack Obama, Blagojevich was charged with corruption, impeached, tried twice, and finally convicted and sentenced to 14 years in prison. He served 8-years of the sentence before having it commuted by President Donald Trump on February 18, 2020. While having made peace with the events that caused incredible pain for his family, he maintains steadfastly, as he always has, that he is innocent.
Back home in Chicago, he is building a media company with a very specific mission: Work to restore common sense to the conversation about those issues most impacting our daily lives. Blue Suede Shoes Productions is currently working on a documentary series, a podcast, and daily content distributed on social media that encourages Americans to look beyond the talking points of a particular party and instead focus on solutions to benefit everyone.
One final note: In case the company name – Blue Suede Shoes – piqued your curiosity, Rod is perhaps the biggest Elvis fan on the planet. An Elvis trivia master, he helped pass the time in prison by fronting an Elvis tribute band. True story.
Alerts Sign-up