501(c)(3) Non-Profit Organization Based in The Will County DuPage Township. All gifts are tax-deductible.
Written by: Dawn Royster
Last Sunday, Black and Brown youth from around Bolingbrook and Romeoville gathered to learn
about Hospital Careers from physicians, nurses, and lab technicians at UChicago Medicine
Advent Health Hospital. Creating opportunities like these for lower-income, at-risk youth was the
dream of Founder Willie Pole.
Pole launched the non-profit Focus On Critically Using Our Skills, or FOCUOS in 2019. After
being incarcerated himself, POLE wanted to create programs that expose local students, young
adults, and reentering citizens to their career options and life skills. The program is divided into
three groups FOCUOS: On the Horizon- ages 9-15, FOCUOS: On the Future- ages 16-24, and
the Adult Re-entry Program.
Pole said this is an effort to divert youth from sharing his same fate. Most participants have
single mothers and family members who have already gone through incarceration.
“I’m working to save people other people from what I experience,” said Pole.
“They see me as a father figure, mentor, or uncle. That is what matters.”
The program reaches 300 people per year, despite lacking a physical location. Supported by a
team of local parents and volunteers, Pole runs FOCUOS out of his basement and relies on
donations and the $500 a month he contributes personally, to keep the organization afloat. The
group sometimes uses New Life Lutheran Church. Pole does this outside of his job as a
paralegal and entrepreneur. He originally operated FOCUOS with friend Damon Neal who
passed away earlier this summer.
Financial support has remained a major obstacle for the group. With such a small budget
FOCUOS will have to start using a waitlist for their programs, due to high demansPole was
denied the $1.5 million grant he requested from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding
Will County received. They recently approved him for $15,000.
“We need help,” he said. “We need funding and we need it fast. We’re losing kids.”
FOCUOS provides participants with mentorship, weekly tutoring, life skills workshops, field trips,
multicultural meals, and career education. Last week, FOCUOS also sent 30 kids to learn about
the state government in Springfield. Students toured lawmakers offices and learned about the
legislative process.
In the past 2 years, FOCUOS has had other monthly activities including getting CPR certified
with Bolingbrook Fire Rescue, taking Jiu-Jitsu Classes, going fishing, trying filmmaking,
attending STEAM camp, or learning to network.
Local resident Annette Clarke said this gives her nephews a chance to see things she never
saw as a child.
Bolingbrook Fire Department Figher Fighter and Paramedic Tara Moser, has worked with the
group for two years. She’s taught FOCUOS student first aid and fire safety and her union has
made donations to the organization.
“I didn’t want children to be excluded due to the affordability,” said Moser.
During the summer, Bolingbrook High School student Jamiya Rent was able to use these skills
when her uncle collapsed on a hot day. She checked his pulse, rolled, him to his side, and
completed chest compressions.
The organization grew quickly after its founding simply from word of mouth, said Board Member
Ivy Douglas.“We want to show kids that you don’t have limited options,” she said. ”We try to
prepare them for society.”
Parent Kerinthia Huff said, “We don’t have as much support as the inner city.” This program
closes the gap and builds her son's aspirations. Huff credits Pole with creating a “comfortable
environment” where her son can express curiosity.
“Willie is doing it all from the heart,” she said. “FOCUOS is a big family,”
Pole aims to show kids that they already harbor all the skills they need to succeed. He just
introduces them to ways to be independent and use their skills to give back to the community.
One of FOCUOS’ latest campaigns was sending local student Trent Rodgers to New York with
his band program. Rodgers is an Honor Roll student who plays percussion and hopes to be an
Engineer. After learning Rodgers has never left the state, the group came together to try to raise
the $2,400 cost. They fundraised $2,100 through candy sales over the past few months but
were still $300 short. Laboratory Manager Christopher Kirt, a speaker for Sunday's event,
decided to donate the remaining cost to send Trent on the trip.
These connections drive the success and importance of FOCUOS. Pole hopes to continue to
grow FOCUOS and reach as many kids as possible
Support FOCUOS and donate at: https://www.focuos.org/aragraph