Alumni Feature
Many of the people he works with are teenagers.
“I’ve kind of taken on very specifically visiting those guys that I’ve
met over the years at juvenile jail that went on to lengthy sentences
in adult prisons,” Donovan said. “Most of the adult prisons are four,
five, six hours away from Chicago. Most of them get no other visi-
tors, because either their families don’t have a car, or can’t afford
gas or lodging.”
And just what does he do on his visits?
“I’m just working with the kids the best I can,” he said. “I provide
aid and comfort in the moment. The guys whom I work with are
very, very, very appreciative of just having someone who will listen
to their stories. They don’t have that at home. … They don’t have
an adult who isn’t screaming at them. We are there as a ministry
of presence to listen.”
Precious Blood, a privately funded organization run by missionary
priests and sisters of the Precious Blood from Ohio, operates in
the Englewood neighborhoods, one of the worst part of Chicago.
Volunteers reach out to those impacted by violence and conflict,
including victims.
“We work with kids who are released from jail to provide support,”
Donovan said. “They want to change, but it is very hard for them
to make those changes. … It’s like a revolving door; you see the
same kids over and over again.”
Volunteers provide mentoring, job placement, tutoring, carpentry,
recreation, art, theater and other resources “to try to assist them
in staying out of trouble,” Donovan said.
And being a volunteer means many times being put in harm’s way.
“I’ve been subject to an
armed robbery,” Donovan
said. “I’m scared some-
times. There are places
I won’t go to at night.
I’m not the target. Most
of the time it’s one gang
member shooting another
gang member.”
He said he’s tried to pinpoint the crux of the problem, and it all
comes back to one thing.
“So much of the problem is rooted in poverty,” Donovan said.
“Many of the guys I work with are 15 years old and they don’t
make the connection that the reason their lives are so difficult and
screwed up are they had no father in their lives. And (now) they
are a father themselves. In and out of jail. No education. Their
baby is damned to a life of poverty. The cycle of poverty somehow
has to be addressed.”
Donovan is doing his part, and he said Cardinal Blase Cupich and
the Archdiocese of Chicago are “stepping up” as well.
“You do what you can,” said Donovan, who has taken numerous
people into his home over the years. “Cardinal Cupich is really
leading an anti-violence campaign. His mantra is ‘No one can do
everything, but everyone can do something to try to help.’ That’s
what gets me through.”
He said the system must change as well.
“At least in Illinois, we do not have a good reentry system for any-
body coming out of prison,” said Donovan, who accompanies many
youths to court, since many do not have family support. “There
aren’t a lot of programs for them coming out of prison, but yet we
expect them to assimilate back into society. They came from dys-
function, and they are returning to dysfunction.
“The legal system doesn’t help, either,” he continued. “None of the
kids I work with, if they get arrested, they can’t make bail. So they
sit in jail sometimes two or three years while waiting to adjudicate
their case. … And most cases are just settled out or the kid pleads
guilty because there’s no choice. That’s an unfair system problem.
That’s a structural problem that really needs addressing.”
Donovan, who was New York state’s chief tax administrator, super-
vising more than 4,000 IRS employees before his retirement, said
9/11 showed him there is goodness in people, even in the most
challenging of circumstances.
“I was right there and had to lead our employees through that
trauma,” said Donovan, who had approximately 500 employees
working in the World Trade Center buildings on that fateful day.
“It was a horrible event. But you saw the best of people come out.
You saw unions working with management. You saw neighbor help-
ing neighbor. You saw the goodness of people come through all
during those months following 9/11. I actually have more happy
memories from that than I have horrible memories.”
For his post-9/11 leadership efforts, Donovan earned the Commis-
sioner’s Award, the IRS’ highest honor, as well as the first National
Treasury Employees