CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A Chicago police officer, who founded an after-school program for young people in the Woodlawn neighborhood, has hit the grant jackpot and she has big plans for the money.
Chicago Police Officer Jennifer Maddox is being given a million dollars by the Beachbody Foundation so her Future Ties organization can buy a former Walgreen’s on 63rd and King Drive and turn it into a health, wellness, and social service center for the community.
“Man, this has been just a dream come true. It’s just awesome," she said.
Beachbody CEO Carl Daikeler said the Beachbody Foundation is making the donation to mark Beachbody going public on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday. While Daikeler and others were ringing in the start of the trading day in New York, Officer Maddox and others were ringing bells at the same time.
Daikeler said the company had thought about having a “super workout” led by many of its trainers or handing out t-shirts with the company’s name on it. In the end, he said, he found donating to Future Ties to be the most appropriate thing to do.
“There’ll be a basketball court, a kitchen where they can do nutrition classes and training. We’re going to provide really healthy shakes for the kids,” he said.
Jennifer Maddox has been a Chicago police officer for 25 years. She works the midnight shift so she can spend days working at her non-profit organization.
She started Future Ties, with an after-school program about 10 years ago in the Parkway Gardens Apartments on 64th and King Drive.
“You had a complex that had over 1,200 kids with no playground. Just a parking lot and the sidewalk," she said.
The new Future Ties center will be a block away from those apartments. Maddox said Future Ties is buying the building for $800,000.
“Beachbody has just stepped in and been a game-changer," she said.
Beachbody CEO Carl Daikeler praised the work Officer Maddox is doing.
“What she is doing on the South Side of Chicago is nothing short of heroic and she’s the kind of leader that we like to back," he said.
Maddox said she and her partner would often notice kids in the neighborhood not having anything to do nor any place to go and that she has always wanted to do more. Now, she said, she can.
Beachbody’s Carl Daikeler said Officer Maddox is leading the way in building trust between police and the community.
“Officer Maddox has made it her mission to build a bridge so that police officers don’t feel constantly under threat and the community doesn’t feel constantly under threat by the police," he said.
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