在芝加哥南区一个帮派暴力猖獗的社区里，一位祖母始终保持着敞开家门的政策。
据CNN 报道，现年 54 岁的罗瑟兰居民黛安·拉蒂克 (Diane Latiker) 于 2003 年在她家的客厅里创办了一个非营利社区，当时有 10 个孩子参与。该项目名为“街区之外的孩子”(Kids Off The Block )，如今已发展成为一个成功的辅导中心和芝加哥青少年的避风港，去年为 300 名儿童提供了服务。
拉蒂克尔育有八个子女和十三个孙辈，她被评为 CNN 英雄。她谈到了她与那些依靠“街头儿童援助计划”（Kids Off The Block）的年轻人一起工作的经历：
“他们来自哪里，做过什么，都无关紧要，”拉蒂克说。“我家客厅曾经同时住着六个帮派……但那里是安全的。你知道吗？他们尊重这一点。”
每天都有 30 到 50 名年轻人来到中心，参加由教师和退休教育工作者提供的辅导课程、求职面试培训以及去博物馆或电影院的实地考察。
去年，拉蒂克尔终于将项目搬到了她家隔壁的一栋楼里——但在此之前，她也做出了不少个人牺牲。她卖掉了家里的电视机来筹集项目资金，还把餐厅的家具送人了，腾出地方放置电脑工作台。
15 岁的莫里斯·吉尔克里斯特告诉 CNN，他非常感谢拉蒂克。
“我12岁的时候加入了团伙——抢劫、偷窃。黛安小姐改变了我的人生。我为此感激她。”
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PS I think we write the new stories by living them. I think we can redesign our economic system to support the whole of our interconnected systems once we understand the relationships and recognize why and how we went off kilter. When we realize we can forgive the ignorance and change the entire story, we will. We are born wonderful, we each have a unique gift for the world and setting up new systems that respect and appreciate the juxtapose between the individual, the society and the biosphere ( more some subtle, some not, too many threads to show them all) we can get it "more" right in the next chapter.
Thank you Latiker for holding the light on the loss and being a beacon for the living. I hope the new meaningful work reformation arises soon. I'm working on it and would love to hear about others doing the same.
"It doesn't matter where they come from, what they've done," Latiker said. "We've had six gangs in my living room at one time...But that was the safe place. And you know what? They respected that."
YES!! when in place of real love , people respond. Risk the love! Now upping the ante, what next?
Studies show that when we are cared for, nurtured, appreciated for what and who we are and supported in real and sometimes measurable ways..we will all thrive and create a healthy world. We will not need to procreate, step on others, compete in struggle for survival or otherwise need to dominate in order to show up or validate who we are "supposed to be." That game is over but the new stories are only beginning and without the new stories what next becomes intimidating. We need to start the infrastructure for an inclusive, loving, potentiating, enabling, healthy whole systems (mind, body spirit aligned with rest of planet's natural systems) next act.