More than half a million Chicago residents are under the age of 18. An estimated one in four lives in poverty, while the same percentage reports witnessing violence on a weekly basis. [A Better Chicago]
Some communities saw poverty rates as high as 90% in 2025.
The issues are not Chicago-specific – most large urban centers have experienced the same trends of divestment, aging infrastructure, and lack of available resources for young people.
But statistics like these only tell a small sliver of the story, and one organization is refusing to tap out.
Beat the Streets Chicago serves thousands of at-risk juveniles every year, using the wrestling mat as an entryway to self-improvement and a training ground to develop well-rounded adults.
“Wrestling really is a symptom of excellence and high expectations,” Mike Powell, executive director of Beat the Streets Chicago, said. “When you demand excellence and you provide a significant amount of support, you build trust. You learn to love each other.”
Hear how Beat the Streets Chicago is rewriting futures by demanding excellence and offering comprehensive support in our full conversation with executive director Mike Powell:
Powell took over as the executive director for BTS Chicago in 2018. At the same time, the organization underwent a "reboot,” which included new strategies, leadership, and procedures. But through different iterations, beginning as Midlands Youth Foundation in 1994, the group has never wavered from its mission:
To serve Chicago’s children by molding them into champions of life.
The last eight years have been a remarkable surge for BTS. According to Powell, the organization was a "hot mess" in 2018, facing debt and a tangled infrastructure.
Today, BTS is a multimillion-dollar operation that serves nearly 5,000 Chicago kids in every city ZIP code, with 2,300 of them being exclusive Beat the Streets participants.
Six BTS gyms, along with more than 20 satellite venues, provide year-round wrestling and a cornucopia of enrichment programming. Each location has become a bastion of hope, making up a blossoming web of impact in every Chicago neighborhood.
“I believe the world is changed one case at a time,” Powell said. “And that’s our goal, to create lifelong learners, lifetime growth mindset people, people that want to give back to the community, that want to serve and make this world a better place.”
Every child that darkens the doorstep of a BTS Chicago gym is met with a warm, yet challenging, welcome. The maxim emblazoned on the doorway is indicative of what they will face: “This is a safe place, but don’t expect to be comfortable.”
Firm handshakes and eye contact are expected. And when you compete in the ring, your best is expected.
In fact, Powell says high expectations and unwavering support are the two keys that drive success.
“That’s the model we brought to Beat the Streets Chicago, and it’s why we’re having success,” Powell explained. “The exhaustive work of – you don’t get to leave. You don’t get to self-sabotage. Somebody is going to sit there and get in your face and is going to have an uncomfortable conversation with you.
And then, they’re going to tell you they love you, hug you, and then kick you in the butt and say, ‘Get back on that mat or get back in that classroom or go meet with your teacher or you need to apologize to that adult or whatever it is. That’s what our community does.”
By demanding excellence, BTS Chicago pulls it out of those it serves.
While many of the young wrestlers come from stable, loving homes, others face remarkable barriers to maturing into well-adjusted adults. That’s the bridge BTS aims to build.
“No kids should face some of these challenges,” Powell said. “Some of these kids have never seen anybody get up in their house, put makeup on, and go to work. They haven’t had things modeled for them. At nine years old, they have PTSD.”
So, why does the path to change begin on the wrestling mat? Powell says the sport, which he has referred to as the “world’s greatest vehicle for self-improvement,” naturally teaches a commitment to excellence, discipline, and respect.
Resilience, grit, and hard work are byproducts of giving yourself over to a sport that requires your very best. And eventually, it bears the fruit of trust, love, and truth, the chosen trilogy of BTS.
“You get these transformational stories,” Powell said. “Countless kids, their families are going to be changed for generations. It’s pretty profound. The [BTS] community is creating this series of options to kids, who desire to belong to a community, who haven’t had it, who want high expectations, who want structure.
They want discipline. They’re longing for something to belong to that’s going to push them to be better humans and create a better path for them.”
Powell points to the parallel stories of DJ and Arkail Griffin, cousins who first came to BTS out of one of the most challenged neighborhoods in Chicago. They lived in a cramped two-bedroom apartment with 10 others, facing daily challenge “beyond pretty much anything you could possibly imagine.”
Now, both are heralded state champion wrestlers, accomplished students, and valued centerpieces of a flourishing community.
Arkail, who is on track for a Division I wrestling scholarship, has been dubbed the “Mayor of Beat the Streets.” DJ, who hid in the bathroom for hours on her first day and didn’t smile for six months, is thriving in every possible metric.
Transformations like DJ and Arkail’s are possible because of a commitment that stretches far beyond the doors to the gym. 90% of the “real work” is done off the mat at odd times when a young student needs support in crisis, a shoulder to bury their head in, or simply someone to help them process.
These are “360 wrestlers,” students who are engaged with BTS Chicago at the deepest level. They receive education support, mental health resources, career guidance, college prep, and an array of other enrichment opportunities, all designed to brighten both their present and their future.
Over the last five years, 100% of 360 wrestlers have gone on to college, military, or trade school after graduating high school.
It’s clear that the approach works, with deep impacts carrying over to the other three levels of engagement. Kids that many would have labeled a lost cause are stacking a growing mountain of state championships, academic accolades, and diplomas.
BTS Chicago wrestlers are winning on the mat. And, most importantly, they’re being set up to win for the rest of their lives.
“Our kids are amazing. They are resilient. They’re powerful in ways that they couldn’t imagine. They just want to belong, longing to be with people, to have community. It’s almost offensive, this stereotype that people put on these kids. Their work ethic is unparalleled compared to your average youth,” Powell said.
“These remarkable, resilient, overtly positive human beings are just doing incredible things.”
Learn more about Beat the Streets Chicago’s work by reading their most recent impact report, or by visiting the BTS Chicago website.