Stepping Out In Faith / IAA

Organizer / Director

Helendora Samuels, the Founder of SOIF, grew up in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood. She knows firsthand the needs of the people there. She also knows how much work it will take to fulfill those needs, and it is her passion to roll up her sleeves and begin that work. Her love for the people of this neighborhood is boundless, her desire to help, unrivaled. Her hope for their welfare has persevered through the bad reputation of violence and gang-related problems, and the consequential lack of help they have been given by the system. It is often debated if Austin is “Chicago’s deadliest neighborhood” because of the attention it receives from the media regarding the crime there. Austin is one of Chicago’s largest neighborhoods, and although statistics are often biased and skewed, the status of this neighborhood is an insight to the status of Chicago as a whole. Hope for a new future for Austin is the driving force for the foundation of SOIF.