As part of our initiative, we introduced readers to intensive mentoring programs such as Friends of the Children, which finds the most vulnerable kindergartners and commits to more than a decade of mentoring. We visited the Cook County Jail, where a unique program called the Sheriff’s Anti-Violence Effort, or SAVE, offers many detainees their first chance to work with a mentor and learn essential life skills such as making a personal budget or managing anger. We met with students at Campos High School, a Humboldt Park charter school in the Alternative Schools Network for kids who are on the verge of dropping out, where the students called their classmates and teachers “family.” And we held a live event in February where Mayor Lori Lightfoot and a panel of activists and experts discussed the issue of keeping our youth connected. We began what we hope will be a long-running community conversation.