Tina had just finished at an alternative high school and was living in public housing in Uptown in Chicago. Someone who heard about the Citizen Leaders program brought Tina to participate. Tina was shy and rarely spoke in the opening meetings. By the fourth meeting, everyone was to have an idea of the project they wanted to create and who might work with them. Tina cared that there were unemployed young men in her neighborhood, some in gangs, who needed something worthwhile to do. She knew they liked to play basketball. The Park District said they didn’t have a basketball league because no one was interested.

So Tina did something very simple. She put up a notice asking young men to sign up if they wanted to play basketball. Over 200 people signed up. She decided to organize a league as her Citizen Leaders project. Overwhelmed with interest, but with limited funds, Tina had to get donations from local businesses (uniforms, balls), court time from parks, and find referees. She recounted, "Now, I can’t hardly walk down the street anymore ‘cause of people yelling ‘Tina, Tina’... Now everybody wants to talk to me."

By the end of the summer, there were hundreds of people playing basketball in the Uptown league. Rival gangs played together without fighting. The league led into a leadership development and job-training program for young men. The Park District built it into their program. It inspired the starting of other leagues. Tina, who had been unemployed, got job offers from the Park District and a local high school as a community outreach worker because the project had brought out and made visible her commitment and leadership skills.

Where had Tina begun? With the simple hope that she could make a difference to some friends of hers. As it turned out, she made a difference that transformed the neighborhood as well as her. Her own commitment was leveraged many times over by other people, who were inspired by her own enthusiasm and got involved themselves.