About Us

With a single act of kindness, The In-Crowd Project was founded in the Spring of 2019 by Rickey
Kendrick, who organized a birthday party to transform the lives of homeless children in the South Shore area of Chicago, IL. Rickey knew the importance of birthdays and he also understood that birthdays matter to children. This inspired him to make it his mission to transform the lives of homeless children into those who would experience what it means to be in the “in-crowd”.

 

The In-Crowd Project (ICP) brings the simple joy of birthday parties to homeless children from babies to teens in shelters in the Chicagoland area and vicinity. It works hard to accomplish this every month, giving them a sense of recognition and value on their special day, while creating a time of togetherness for families. The ICP works to alleviate the pressure on homeless parents who usually don’t have the resources to celebrate this milestone, and it supports these families by bringing all the elements of normalcy and joy that a birthday celebration is able to provide.

 

The ICP team talks with the parents at homeless shelters to plan each birthday party and customize the experience, so that the parents and children get to choose a party theme, whom they invite, the cake and gift. Through parent evaluations, ICP is able to continually monitor how they are doing to make sure they are delivering on their mission – to provide personalized birthday parties that make the children feel special. They want children to know that they matter. And they want them to know that they are valued….No matter what their circumstance.