Adam Toledo's Family Starts Urban Farm For At-Risk Youth

CHICAGO —The family of Adam Toledo, the 13-year-old boy who was shot and killed by a Chicago police officer, announced Tuesday the founding of Adam's Place. The nonprofit organization will help at-risk youth by providing a rural sanctuary for boys from historically underserved areas.

Adam's Place has a contract to purchase farmland over three hours away from the city center.

The young boy was fatally shot by a Chicago police officer in Little Village on March 29. Adam had run away from home in the days before, lured by the "thrill of the streets," according to his parents.

"Even as the Toledo family seeks justice for Adam, they also know that many families in their community and elsewhere struggle to keep their own children out of harm's way," the family's legal representation announced in a release.

Adam’s Place, Inc., is seeking federally tax-exempt status as a 501(c)(3) organization. Fundraising has begun. Members of the Toledo family will serve on the board of directors.

Modeled after the Boys Farm in Newberry, South Carolina, Adam’s Place wants to provide a space where adolescents can learn "to care for the natural world, others, and themselves, away from the dangers of urban streets," according to the release.

The family will formally introduce the organization on Wednesday, what would have been Adam's 14th birthday, in front of a mural dedicated to the young boy near Ogden and Lawndale Avenues.

"As those of us who live in Little Village and other Chicago neighborhoods know," Adam's mother Betty Toledo said in a statement, "the needs are great. But the hearts here are big."