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Volunteer: Stories of Philanthropy The Urban Art Retreat
On this edition of our series on volunteerism, reporter Christoper Johnson takes us on a day trip to the Urban Art Retreat in North Lawndale. It's a community center, art space, and refuge for women who've suffered abuse. Dianna Long is this volunteer-run organization's director. She guides art programs for kids in the neighborhood, programs she wishes she'd had access to during her own traumatic childhood. Long says the kids "need to know we care about them, and if they really need us, there's a place to go."
Tommy Johnson (left) and Maleena Torres (right) work through their paintings of famous and successful black Americans. 
Urban Art Retreat Executive Director Dianna Long helps Austin Torres mix colors. 
Long says the kids "need to know we care about them, and if they really need us, there’s a place to go.” 
Children at the Urban Art Retreat paint small wood panels like these that will hang in vacant lots around North Lawndale.
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