Plans are moving forward to found Adam’s Place in rural southwestern Wisconsin, a youth home for teen boys named in honor of the 13-year-old who was shot and killed by police in Chicago.
Officer Eric Stillman shot and killed Adam Toledo in a foot pursuit on March 29 this year, a split second after video shows he had dropped a gun and raised his hands. Adam was with Ruben Roman, 21, who is facing charges after prosecutors say he fired the gun that brought police to the spot in the first place.
Using technology that tracked gunshots in the area, police arrived less than a minute later and chased both individuals, arresting Roman first as another officer continued to run after Adam. The incident sparked a new foot-pursuit policy at the Chicago Police Department.
Adam’s Place would provide a home for at-risk boys modeled after the Boys Farm in South Carolina, a faith-based residential organization for boys in troubled family situations founded in 1960 by a pastor and his wife.
One of Adam’s family attorneys, Joel Hirschhorn, said he suggested the idea to Adam’s parents, and has long ties to the Boys Farm in South Carolina. The goal for the home, he says, is to provide an alternative way of life to boys who may be otherwise caught in gang violence.
“I mentioned that to (Adam’s) mom and dad as a possibility of taking this strategy and turning their grief into joy, their despair into hope, they would create this Adam’s Place for kids like their son who are marginalized and at risk,” he said. The family, he said, reacted enthusiastically.
“We’re very excited about it,” Adam’s mother Elizabeth Toledo told News 3 Now on a brief phone call. “It’s something so we could save at least one of the kid’s lives.”
Both parents as well as three adult children will serve as board members of the organization, alongside Hirschhorn and his wife, family attorney Adeena Weiss Ortiz, and Dr. Wade Dyke; there’s two slots left to fill with Chicago or Milwaukee community members.
The home is still in its early stages, with Hirschhorn completing the purchase of about 70 acres in the township of Potosi in Grant County and now working with community members to move it forward. He says the land will remain in his control and rent to Adam’s Place for $1 a year until the organization is self-sustaining, at which point he’d sell it back to them.
Initial plans will provide housing for about 10 boys from the Chicago and Milwaukee areas, and be routed to Adam’s Place through youth organizations identifying candidates for the home. Referrals will not come through the juvenile justice system, but rather through non-profit organizations, churches, social services, and community members.
Hirschhorn estimates it will cost about half a million annually to operate; currently, he has fundraised $120,000 and says he has commitments for another $250,000, with contributions ranging from $5 to $20,000.
Potosi community looking for answers
Potosi-area community members are approaching the concept with caution, with leaders saying they have more questions than answers right now. Hirschhorn had a meeting with school district members on Wednesday that the school said was productive and went well, given the district is looking at potentially needing to invest in extra resources to properly educate any teens coming through the organization.
“The community’s feelings is they’ve had more questions than answers,” Potosi village president Mick Whitaker explained. “Everything is based on rumor.”
They’ve scheduled a community meet and greet with the attorney to get some of those questions answered, with plans to meet at the school district building the evening of August 11.
“The biggest fear is the unknown,” Potosi school district superintendent Kurt Cohen said. “This will be brand new for our community, brand new for our school district, and without those answers right now people can fill in their own blanks.”
Overall, should the project go as explained, both Cohen and Whitaker believe there will be mutual benefit to both the youth and the small community. The village population is fewer than 1,000; the organization falls just outside village lines in the surrounding township. Upcoming hurdles include obtaining the necessary building permits from the county, officials say.
Cohen sees it as an opportunity for the small community to be exposed to different perspectives. “Just the chance to bring in someone from the outside,” he explained.
“I’m kinda anxious to see it come into here and see how this whole thing works out,” Whitaker noted. “It’s definitely a good thing for the kids if it goes the way he says. I hope it does.”
Local community members could have the opportunity to serve on an advisory board, Hirschhorn said.
“I’m going with hat in hand, my little tin cup, trying to show that I’m here to build and make this a better place and I hope I encounter some people who are willing to participate.”
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