James Warren started his own non-profit organization after attending the Center in the early 80's.
Written by James E. Warren, SDCC Alum 1981
I remember standing on the balcony of my aunt’s third floor apartment on Woodlawn Avenue, with my cousins Michelle and Rodney Gordon. And once Sue’s suburban was spotted, they would yell “Sue’s coming!” Then, they would race to see who could run the fastest to Sue’s Center. I was left on the balcony wondering… who is Sue? And, why are my cousins so eager to see her? Because a young mind wanted to know, I asked my aunt for permission to attend Sue’s Center.
I was impressed with the safe and encouraging environment that Sue created for all the children under her care. SDCC was comfortable like a second home. Sue, and her family, made you feel like you were a part of their family.
In 1980, I remember attending the Jerry Sloan basketball camp with Arne, Chucky, Bernard, and Rodney (See photo below). Read more…
Many thanks to all of those who attended Fall Fête and donated their time and money to make this year’s event so successful. As Owen Duncan said of the evening: “not only is the annual event crucial financially, it is emotionally and spiritually revitalizing for Sue and the rest of the staff at the Center.” Read more…
“Sue Duncan has taught poor kids at her after-school center on Chicago’s South Side for 48 years. She says her son Arne spent seven days a week there as he was growing up.
‘It was absolutely formative,’ Arne Duncan, 44, said of working with his mother. He learned that ‘kids from totally dysfunctional home situations, total poverty, can do extraordinarily well if we give them a chance.’
What he absorbed matters because Duncan is now U.S. education secretary, in charge of improving a public school system that ranks below those of other developed nations in some studies. He’s armed with $100 billion in stimulus money from his friend, President Barack Obama, more than twice the budget of any of his predecessors.”
This year’s writing project, DANGER, explores the theme of violence in neighborhoods, schools and homes.
Assistant Director Owen Duncan writes in the introduction, “In this collection we find, as in any book of children’s writings, the beautiful next to the mundane, the fantastic mixed with the gritty–but there is a deeply troubling undercurrent here. These children offer us few illusions: they know the evils of human nature; they know their world is not safe.”
The annual writing project offered children the chance to tell stories from their own eyes and practice writing deeply and vividly. One student, Serenity, even produced a video based on her story, “Danger.” Click here to read the book online.
