Your Chicago: Crushers Club
(CBS) – An Englewood club is teaching boys to box and teenagers to turn their lives around.
CBS 2's Kate Sullivan pays a visit to the Crushers Club.
Sally Hazelgrove is tough and tender. She brings the boys of Englewood into the boxing ring in hopes of keeping them out of trouble.
She teaches them the basics of boxing and building skills for a lifetime.
Gabriel Johnson has come a long way, thanks to sally. He is now a paid staff member at the Crushers Club.
"She was coming to my court dates, helping me out, telling me I'm a good boy, and that's the only reason I'm back out," he says.
Terance Smith says it was the boxing that got him here, but it was Sally's ability to really listen that kept him here.
"Most people wouldn't do what she's done -- she sees people beyond their looks, image and see what's in them," Smith says.
Sally says even young people who make bad decisions can still be good kids.
"I was that kid," she says.
Of the young people who come to Crushers Club, she says: "They're my family, too. They're all so important to my life."
Sally wants to take Crushers Club a step further and create a sit-down restaurant where the kids would learn to cook, create and share with the community.
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