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Our Work
Serving the Greater Chicago area, 5 Hands Foundation exists to make sustainable living possible in communities denied stability. We serve African American men ages 18 to 35 at high risk of firearm violence. Our integrated model combines:
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Street Outreach: Trusted, trained outreach workers with lived experience engage participants through relationship-building, proactive mediation, and violence interruption strategies.
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Case Management: Individualized support through trauma-informed case management, connecting participants with housing, legal aid, employment, and mental health services.
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Victim Services: Immediate and long-term trauma recovery support for survivors of violence, including hospital/home visits, counseling referrals, and safety planning.
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Green Living: Advance green living by promoting energy efficiency, sustainable habits, and community led solutions that lower household costs and build long term resilience.
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Entrepreneurship Training: Tailored economic empowerment through the Community Entrepreneurial Institute, providing skills in business ownership, real estate, and financial literacy.
Turning Ideas Into Income
To provide high-risk individuals—those recently released from incarceration, active in street economies, or exposed to gun violence—with legitimate income opportunities, business ownership training, and a pathway out of violence through entrepreneurship.
Target Population
African American males, ages 18–35.
Distinctive Approach
The CEI begins by building trust and understanding the whole person. Supports are delivered holistically, addressing safety, healing, income, and long term stability together rather than in isolation.
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Pays participants during training, immediately reducing reliance on survival based illicit activity
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Builds business ownership, not just employment pathways
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Centers participant voice through co design with those most impacted
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Bridges healing and hustle by combining trauma informed care with real world income solutions
Theory of Change
If we invest directly in high risk individuals by providing legitimate pathways to income, ownership, and healing then we interrupt the conditions that fuel gun violence, transform individual trajectories, and strengthen community safety from within.
Restoring Hope In Washington Heights
To restore safety and stability in high risk neighborhoods, reinvest in the young people most impacted by violence, and renew community trust through prevention, intervention, and healing centered services delivered where the need is greatest.
Target Population
Youth and young adults, ages 16–24, who live in or are connected to the Washington Heights community.
Distinctive Approach
The R3 model begins in the street, not the office. Support is delivered through relationship first, meeting participants where they are before asking anything of them.
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Leads with outreach and engagement, not intake paperwork, so trust is earned before services begin
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Builds a full pathway, not a single service, spanning prevention, intervention, and long term stability
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Centers mental health and healing alongside safety, treating trauma as a root cause rather than a side effect
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Bridges immediate crisis response with education, employment, and financial skill building for the long run
Theory of Change
If we restore trust between young people and their community, reinvest in the tools and relationships that build real stability, and renew a shared sense of safety block by block, then we interrupt the conditions that drive violence and give Washington Heights a foundation strong enough to hold.
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Hiring More Hands
Case Manager (Part-Time)
Provides holistic support to individuals at high risk of violence, connecting them to trauma care, legal aid, housing, and employment services that build stability and long term success.
Target Population
Individuals at high risk of violence.
Distinctive Approach
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Builds trust before building a plan, starting with the whole person
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Coordinates trauma informed care, housing, and employment support under one plan
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Maintains a limited caseload so every participant gets real attention
Theory of Change
If we connect high risk individuals to coordinated case management then we build the stability that makes lasting recovery possible and strengthen the foundation the rest of our work depends on.
Outreach Specialist (Part-Time)
Mediates conflict and prevents retaliatory violence by engaging individuals at the highest risk of firearm violence, whether as potential perpetrators or victims, before crisis becomes tragedy.
Target Population
Individuals and networks at the highest risk of firearm violence.
Distinctive Approach
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Builds trust through consistent street presence, not one time events
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Disrupts cycles of retaliation before they escalate into violence
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Carries a smaller casebook so participants get sustained follow up
Theory of Change
If we place trusted outreach workers into the highest risk moments then we interrupt violence before it happens and give families a bridge to lasting safety.
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