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on the cover

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Knock Out!

Downtown Boxing Gym champions academic success for inner-city kids.

SHARON LUCKERMAN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
ROBIN SCHWARTZ PHOTOGRAPHY

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ABOVE: Downtown Boxing Gym Executive
Director Jessica Hauser poses with a few
students. TOP: Young students do a little
boxing workout before studying.

ore than four years ago, Jessica
Hauser, 35, of Birmingham
didn’t even have a title at the
Downtown Boxing Gym (DBG). She
was simply helping a coach and his
little-known Detroit nonprofit with a big
dream that included 64 elementary and
high school students, most from lower-
economic households.
The founder of the program, Coach
Carlo “Khali” Sweeney, 47, of Detroit
believed in each of his students, many
forgotten by society, and created a pro-
gram that had astounding results. In a
community that graduated 21 percent
of its high school students, 100 percent
of his students graduated and, since the
inception of the program in 2007, 98 per-
cent went on to college.
Surrounded by industrial and aban-
doned land, the 4,000-square-foot gym
was housed in a former car wash. The
coach squeezed his kids in afterschool to
work out and study. Everyone knew his
priorities: books before boxing.
As Jessica spread the gym’s story,
people around the city and the country
wanted to know more. Chelsea Clinton
flew out twice to feature the gym on
Brian Williams’ nightly news show,
Making A Difference; Madonna provided

funding to help secure the gym’s new
building. Rachael Ray donated $50,000
toward a new kitchen where the students
learn about nutrition and cooking, and
where a parent prepares hot meals daily.
The coach’s dream of a larger, safer
space became a reality in early 2015.
Everything, however, was not perfect
once the students moved into the
27,000-square-foot facility.
While the Kresge Foundation and
donations had helped bring the build-
ing up to code, the roof leaked and pipes
burst this winter, destroying computers,
desks and books. The plumbing and elec-
trical systems are outdated and the gym
needs an energy-efficient plan. As impor-
tant, the coach wants to build additional
classrooms to add more students.
In response, this month Jessica started
a $2.3 million “Why Wouldn’t We” fund-
raising project with a $100,000 matching
grant from an anonymous donor.
“These kids deserve a decent space,”
says Jessica, now executive director of
the gym and a former member with her
family of Temple Emanu-El in Oak Park.
“We’re not asking for marble floors, but a
place that shows our kids what’s possible,
that they’re worth a safe, comfortable,
beautiful space.”

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June 1 • 2017

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