'It Starts With One': Frankfort Non-Profit Hopes To Stem Violence

FRANKFORT, IL —With an aim of creating positive energy and a hopeful future, Frankfort couple John and Jill Ludwig started their nonprofit, These Streets Are Holy, in 2017.

"[We do] music, mentoring and urban gardening in at-risk communities," John, who serves as executive director of the nonprofit, told Patch.

The nonprofit focuses on the communities of Roseland, Matteson, Calumet Park and Chicago Heights. The organization also holds summer camps, and just wrapped up its camp season of 180 kids, ages 5 to 13.

John, who is also a musician with a background in gospel music, began planning the nonprofit as a way to help communities affected by violence.

"Over the years, I found that one of the enduring narratives in the Chicago area is the high rate of violence and murders," he told Patch. He wondered how he could change things, and how he could help.

The name of the nonprofit comes from a message that John said he received from God late one night when he went to sleep troubled by the violence.

"I'm not someone who would say this happens to me regularly," he told Patch. "I would describe what was happening as a conversation without words, where I just understood what was coming at me. It went like this, 'John, these problems won't be solved by more police or schools or programs. People need to turn back to me and get that relationship right. Tell people that these are my streets and that these streets are holy.'"

John said he found himself asking, "why would you pick me, an upper middle class older white guy in the suburbs? I don't know anything about these areas and I don't look like I belong there."

"While there wasn't so much a definitive answer, I did realize that pretty much everyone in the Bible were unexpected choices in the eyes of the world. What resonated was that yes, a compassionate outsider showing up was a message unto itself, and two, my heart was open to be of service," he told Patch.

John's wife, Jill, who serves as vice president of the organization, made the nonprofit's logo and began to get the word out.

"We went to rallies and events in places like Englewood and Back of the Yards and made connections as we tried to understand what life was like for people in these neighborhoods," John said.

The group's Facebook page garnered over 100,000 followers, and the couple began to form plans on how the nonprofit could start to take action.

"It took [until] the pandemic year of 2020 for us to truly coalesce around our God-given gifts and land on providing music, mentoring and our bucket garden programming in partnership with larger organizations," John said.

The nonprofit is currently planning its seventh annual fundraiser, which will be held in Orland Park at the House of Music on Nov. 23.

Other recent projects include a recent recording studio session with the children of the Workstudy Performing Arts Choir in Matteson and some final harvests of fresh produce for the community at Roseland Christian Ministries in Chicago.

"Our [nonprofit's] saying, 'It starts with one' summarizes the hope we try to represent in these communities," John said. "And while we haven't forgotten the culture of violence that brought us to this place, we now put our focus on guiding children to a brighter, hopeful future."