The Related Realty team is extremely proud to announce our new company-wide commitment to support Off The Street Club, Chicago’s oldest boys and girls club that serves more than 3,000 kids. We couldn’t be more excited to be involved with an organization that does so much to support children in Chicago and make great experiences and activities available to them.

To kick off our initiative, our team recently hosted 30 children for an evening of summer fun at The Grant, a South Loop condo building where Related Realty manages development sales. We thought a fun way to help the kids get to know us would be to show them a little bit about the real estate world, so we put together interactive learning stations illustrating different aspects of the industry. The stations demonstrated “construction” through a building competition utilizing model block sets, “architecture” through an exercise highlighting the components of a floor plan, and “design” through an art project using paint chip samples to encourage the use of color and imagination. Later, we enjoyed a delicious barbecue dinner on The Grant’s sun deck, followed by a tour of the building’s model homes where the children took in the beautiful lake and city views.

It was great to expose the kids to different elements of our industry and discuss the different career paths they could potentially take. The most rewarding part of the evening was by far interacting with the kids and talking with them one-on-one about their interests and personal lives. Our entire team walked away from the evening feeling inspired by the positive outlook these children have, and we are committed to building relationships and serving as mentors as we get to know them better. Our hope is that we can have as much of an impact on the kids in the future as they’ve already had on us.

We are excited to see the kids again when the Related Realty staff volunteers at Off The Street Club’s “Camp Mathieu” in Wheaton, a facility that provides the quintessential summer camp experience for more than 600 children. We’ll also be organizing future events and activities for Off the Street Club, and participating in the club’s ongoing programs such as after-school tutoring sessions. Watch for future blog posts sharing photos and updates from our activities with this terrific organization!