“Englewood is everything to me,” says Corie Luckett, who moved to the neighborhood as a second grader and still resides there nearly 35 years later. “You hear about the shootings, but you don’t hear about the thousands of people trying to bring the community back together.”
Corie is one of those thousands, and has been instrumental in promoting a sense of community for the youth of Englewood through Think Outside Da Block, a local non-profit he helped found. The family-focused organization provides young people with positive influences and opportunities, ranging from skate parties, youth rallies, and summertime festivals to Thanksgiving turkey giveaways and Christmas toy drives.
He is also the owner of Englewood Branded, a new neighborhood store that offers custom screen printing services to companies and organizations of all sizes, and designs and sells Englewood t-shirts, mugs, key chains, and more, all with the goal of giving residents a sense of pride for their community.
Corie’s new business will also be home to the Printing with Youth Initiative where he’ll teach neighborhood teens the basics of screen printing and mentor those interested in starting their own business. Youth-focused Saturday workshops are part of his plan as well, and will double as a platform for those in attendance to discuss important issues they may be faced with and help each other problem solve.
“I want to see light shed on how we are a community striving for greatness. Englewood is rising above adversity and low economic standards. People are getting into the groove of working and bettering themselves. To be a part of that change and the solution is great.”
This is #EnglewoodRising.
