826CHI

At the end of every program cycle 826CHI, students hold something that proves they did the work: a book with their name on the cover, sitting in Chicago Public Library branches and independent bookstores across the city.

Every student deserves that moment.

Support the work >> www.826chi.org/donate

What makes 826CHI programs work is the people as much as it is about the curriculum.

Volunteers who show up every week; teaching artists who take students’ ideas seriously; teachers who trust that their students have something worth saying.

That’s the community and there’s always room for more people in it.

Get involved >> www.826chi.org/get-involved

Writing is about a lot more than what ends up on the page.

Students who write regularly get better at sitting with uncertainty, trying things that don’t work yet, and pushing through to something truer. Those habits travel.

826CHI programs are built on that belief. And they’re free for every student we serve.

Donate today >> www.826chi.org/donate
Get involved >> www.826chi.org/get-involved

What better way to celebrate the cooler temperatures than with some ice cream?

Come join us at Jeni's West Loop from 4-7pm this Thursday, 9/24. We might even have copies of our newest publications you can check out.

We can't wait to see you there!

Every young person has something worth saying.

826CHI programs exist to make sure Chicago students have somewhere to say it - with real support and a real audience.

New programs are underway across the city this fall. More young authors in the making.

Writing is how students at 826CHI learn to trust themselves.

It starts small - a sentence, a paragraph, a draft that doesn’t quite work yet. Then a revision. Then a read-aloud. Then someone in the room says: that part, right there. That’s the thing.

And something shifts.

That’s what free, consistent access to writing education makes possible. It’s what we’re here for.

Support the work >> www.826chi.org/donate

826CHI programs pair students with volunteers and teaching artists who are genuinely invested in what they have to say.

The job isn’t to fix a student’s writing or make it sound like something else. It’s to help them figure out what they’re actually trying to say - and then say it.

Learn more about getting involved >> www.826chi.org/get-involved

There’s something that happens at the beginning of every new program cycle at 826CHI–

Students walk in a little unsure. They’re not always sure what to say, or whether what they have to say is interesting. They look around the room and wonder if they belong here.

By the end of the first session, most of them have written something they didn’t know they had in them.

That’s the beginning and we get to do it again and again.

The school year is here! So are we.

826CHI programs are back in classrooms and community spaces across Chicago this fall - new students walking in for the first time, ready to write something that’s actually theirs.

Today is the last day to give to 826CHI’s Every Story Starts Somewhere campaign!

Every dollar raised goes toward free creative writing and publishing programs for Chicago students. Every story that gets written this school year starts from this foundation.

Don’t miss it >> https://bit.ly/storystartshere