Taking the challenges of Chicago’s youth from the streets to the mat

Taki Miller has always believed in the transformative power of wrestling. As collegiate wrestler, he’s seen how the discipline, the perseverance, and the mental toughness required to succeed on the mat mirrored the challenges in life. There’s no doubt that it has contributed to the successes he’s had, including his two bright daughters and his career at Charles Schwab as an onboarding and training specialist serving independent financial advisors. 

When his eldest daughter started at a Chicago public elementary school where most families were below the federal poverty line, Taki saw an opportunity to give kids who may need it a lifeline, while giving back to the sport that helped shape him. After running into roadblocks starting his own organization, Taki joined up with Beat the Streets Chicago (BTSC), a member of the Beat the Streets National Coalition, focused on youth wrestling and development in underserved communities. 

BTSC gave Taki the infrastructure and resources he needed. Right away he got a wrestling mat and started operating out of his daughter’s school. He got to know the teachers and administrators, and anyone that was causing a little trouble at school got sent his way. By word of mouth, he started building a team and got to work.

“Wrestling is a one-on-one sport where you have no one to blame but yourself, and you have to own up to that personal responsibility,” explains Taki. “But at the same time you are part of team, and you get all the benefits of being part of a team and having them there to lift you up.” 

He describes the program as slow and steady progress, but Taki has seen how BTSC changes lives. He has watched shy, uncertain kids, blossom into confident disciplined young adults. He remembers one timid sixth grader who was almost scared to set foot on the mat when she arrived. That anxious little girl turned into the Illinois state wrestling champion and went on to become a scholarship college athlete. And, she has two younger siblings in the program. Life at home isn’t easy for them, but because of the example their sister set, they have their eyes set on college too. 

“Beat the Streets was able to raise the bar from ‘I’m trying to survive tomorrow’ to ‘I have a future ahead of me,’ for that family,” says Taki. 

But sometimes situations are hard. Taki recounts when one wrestler, whom BTSC knew came from a family with little money, started showing up in expensive new clothes. It wasn’t adding up, and they suspected he was running with the wrong crowd. So BTSC made sure that the boy’s family had food on the table every night, allowing him to focus on school and wrestling and not worry about the rest. It got him on the right path, but Taki has another boy who continues to struggle with making the right decisions.  BTSC coaches and school administrators are working at changing his life’s trajectory. Like wrestling, sometimes life is a challenge, and you have to get the points where you can. 

“This is a safe place for these kids to be,” says Taki. “They know that we’ll have their back. And they like the discipline. Any sport can give that but wrestling delivers that at an 11.”

“Outside of raising my own children, watching these kids grow is the most rewarding part of my life,” says Taki. “Watching their confidence and seeing them being able to do something they couldn’t do before…seeing them smiling and happy and excited to be at practices. Their excitement is what makes me happy.” 

So when Taki saw that Schwab was offering grants to non-profits that employees cared about, he immediately nominated BTSC. Unique to the grant program was that Chicago employees would then vote on the nominated non-profits to decide where the grant money would be awarded.

“I went into the office and twisted everyone’s arm,” jokes Taki, which is an intimidating thought if you’ve laid eyes on his wrestler’s biceps.

But really, Taki spread the word about BTSC and the kind of impact he’s seen it have. He shared the stories of the kids that have affected him, and asked people that if they don’t have a non-profit that they are passionate about, why not vote for this one? He also has a fellow wrestling buddy who works on the retail trade desk who sometimes helps him keep score at wrestling matches. This friend helped spread the word about BTSC and rally some more votes. 

And it paid off, employees chose BTSC to receive a $10,000 grant from the Charles Schwab Foundation.

“$10,000 lets them buy wrestling shoes for 200 kids. It pays for bus trips to wrestling matches. I’m a volunteer, but it pays for the coaches who get a stipend, which means we can help more kids,” says Taki.

For Taki, it feels like kind of a full circle moment. His work life and his family life and his volunteer life have combined in a way, where each one is supporting the other. “It’s like a nice little hug,” he says.