Some Chicago Public School students are getting the extra help and encouragement they need to succeed and reach their full potential thanks to a free after-school program in the Chinatown neighborhood.

“I think my experience at Project: VISION has been overwhelmingly positive,” said Marlina Wu, who is a junior at Walter Payton College Prep. “It’s truly amazing here.”

Wu told NBC Chicago she joined the program when she was in middle school.

“A lot of people see it just as another tutoring or homework center, but I really disagree with that,” she said.

The non-profit organization serves Chinese American students in middle and high school in the heart of Chicago’s Chinatown and Bridgeport neighborhoods helping them to learn, serve, lead, and thrive.

“They not only help me with my academics, but they also help me in other aspects of life,” said Yvonne Liang, who is a sophomore at Jones College Prep.

Liang said she’s receiving help with her schoolwork and learning how to navigate the growing pressures at home.

“The pressure of being a first generation—I feel like I need to succeed or the efforts they (parents) put into getting me and my siblings here would have gone to waste,” she said.

“Over 85% of our students are from lower income first generation immigrant families—most of those kids would also be the first in their families to attend college,” said Karen Chiu, executive director of Project: VISION.

Chiu and four others founded the program more than 20 years ago.

“This was something I wished I would have had too, like a space to connect with my peers, my community in a special way,” she said. “I think this is something that’s highly needed.”

Chiu said some of their students return to give back as volunteers or work as staff for the after-school tutoring programs, college workshops, service, and leadership training. Irene Wong is one of the program coordinators and works with 25 seniors to help them prepare for college.

“I feel like I can kinda see myself through a lot of these students again and it’s a huge privilege,” said Wong. “I feel like they walked me through each and every step which is the privilege I get to have now as I’m walking with students through each of those steps to get to the college that they want to go too.”

The program opened a second location on 23^rd Street during the COVID pandemic and is already looking to find a new space and to fund more programs.

“Right now as we look at funding there’s a lot of question marks on what our funding looks like on top of their potential restrictions in funding,” said Eric Liu, who is on the board of directors.

The organization, like many others, relies on government grants and donations to operate.

“Sometimes fundraising in this community is a little bit challenging just because when we think about cultural differences of understanding philanthropy may not resonate in many Asian American communities, but we’re really trying to change that narrative,” explained Trang Truong-Hill, Project: VISION Board Chair.

As the need continues to grow, Chiu knows their work is making a difference.

“We started really very humbly as like an entire volunteer staff,” said Chiu. “I’d never really imagine that would become like such a resource to so many families in the community.”

As of now there’s a waitlist of 50 to 100 students trying to get into the after-school tutoring program.

The group is looking to raise money to expand their programs and services. Their next fundraiser is The Chinatown 5K on July 19^th. The race is back for the first time since the pandemic.