Get to Know My Block My Hood My City

While volunteering for the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center, Jahmal Cole made a fascinating discovery. Although millions visit Chicago every year from all over the world to explore the host of attractions and restaurants available downtown, many young Chicagoans — particularly those on the South and West Sides — never take advantage of them. And many, he realized, barely even venture beyond the boundaries of their own neighborhood. To reverse that trend, he founded My Block My Hood My City, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, in 2015.

By Dave Lifton (@daveeatschicago)

Cole started with the Explorers program, which takes kids on after-school trips to other neighborhoods, where they can try foods from other cultures and meet people who can show them opportunities they never thought existed for them. An added benefit for Cole is that it instills a sense of pride in their hometown and empowers them to achieve.

“You ask them what they want to be, they say they want to be a rapper or a basketball player,” As he told 60 Minutes Australia. “Well, if I can take them 10 minutes away to Pepsi or Gatorade and they learn about consumer engagement, they never knew that job existed prior to that educational field trip. So I want to expose them to as much as possible. … I take that same student to Devon Ave. [where there’s a large South Asian community] and we have curry. We just expose them to different palates, different professions, different cultures, and different cuisines [to] expose them to more of the world than their block.”

The signature event of M3, as it’s known, is Downtown Day, which began in 2023. On a Saturday in the summer, 1,000 kids come into the heart of the city from the South and West Sides. They’re given a debit card with $50 loaded onto it, a t-shirt and a guide to downtown, and with the involvement of chaperones, get to explore downtown attractions, either for free or at discounted rates. Given that local youths are often made to feel unwelcome at the city’s most popular sites, the message of Downtown Day is clear: Chicago belongs to you, too. 

They grew up with this narrative that isn’t their own,” Monse Ayala told the Chicago Sun-Times. “When they can go somewhere and feel like they’re part of the city and they matter, I really can’t describe [the impact], but it’s been missing. … If we’re not continuously providing these opportunities for our young people, they’re going to keep falling back into this false narrative.”

But such efforts would be fruitless if My Block My Hood My City wasn’t also working to improve the neighborhoods where so many of the participants live. M3’s #SaveStreetball campaign works to renovate the 772 basketball hoops in Chicago’s parks with new rims, backboards, and nets. During the holiday season, Be a Part of the Light strings lights along Martin Luther King Dr.

In order to get a better understanding of the whole city, Cole has embarked on the Live 77 program, where he’ll be living for a month in each of 77 of Chicago’s Community Designated Areas. This will give him the opportunity to meet with neighborhood leaders and residents to help them determine their future. As of August 2025, he’s been in Pullman, South Shore, Chicago Lawn, Humboldt Park, Portage Park, Rogers Park, and Uptown.

But trying to make a difference in Chicago’s most underserved neighborhoods one block at a time requires money. The Hoodie Ball is its annual fundraiser, but unlike most gala events, where formal dress is required, attendees are encouraged to wear their favorite hoodie. The night includes a silent auction and has received sponsorship from Chicago-based major corporations like United, Wintrust, and BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois. 

My Block My Hood My City has also partnered with Molson Coors on the Cheers to Our Neighborhoods initiative, with the brewery donating $100,000 and up to an additional $50,000 in dollar-for-dollar matches to support M3’s neighborhood cleanup events. At a smaller level, merchandise can be purchased at M3’s online shop. 

The South and West Sides of Chicago have been decimated through decades of private and public disinvestment that have resulted in extreme poverty and crime. Reversing that course can’t be done overnight, nor by just one person. Jahmal Cole understands that as well as anyone, but he also knows that his approach is setting an example for others to follow. As he told PBS NewsHour in 2024, “I think the best thing for people to do is to ask themselves, ‘What’s something simple I can do that will make a difference on my block?’ 

In 2025, eATLAS contributed three of its popular Chicago-based Scavenger Hunt Adventures to M3’s Downtown Day. The top finisher of each Adventure received an extra debit card. The pictures in this post were taken during M3’s Downtown Days.