Chicago’s “Rooftop Pastor,” the Rev. Corey Brooks, is set to embark on another yearlong cross-country journey on foot to raise funds for a community center.
Brooks, founder and pastor of New Beginnings Church of Chicago in Woodlawn, on Monday will begin his “Walk Across America” voyage in New York City and end it in Los Angeles next year.
Brooks said he is fundraising $25 million in private donations by walking 12.5 miles Monday through Friday and dedicating Saturdays and Sundays to worship and event days in other cities.
The pastor wants to take Project H.O.O.D., his nonprofit organization aimed at helping troubled youth, across the country.
“Our organization is so important because we are showing that when you give people opportunities, they take advantage of those opportunities and they begin to take advantage of living great lives,” Brooks said Sunday.
Brooks said part of the $25 million will go toward completing a 90,000-square-foot leadership and economic opportunity center in Woodlawn. He also has an ambitious goal of opening a tuition-free private school for boys and starting an endowment to run the institution.
Brooks said this mission is important to Chicago because of the solutions that are needed every day. Last week, an 18-year-old man was charged with murder for the August 2024 shooting death of Brooks’ 21-year-old godson, Christion Tucker.
“We have young people who are committing serious crimes,” Brooks said. “We have young people who need mentors, we have young people who need to be educated, and to be given the opportunity to live better lives.”
The walk also comes as President Donald Trump has threatened to deploy National Guard troops to Chicago. Brooks last week called on Trump to send the National Guard to lower crime in an interview with Fox News. That’s despite reports that crime in Chicago dropped in the first half of the year. Chicago has seen fewer than 200 homicides in the first six months of the year, the fewest it’s had in over a decade.
“We would need to invite President Trump in, we invite the National Guard in,” Brooks said on the program.
Brooks gained recognition back in 2012 when he slept on a motel rooftop to raise awareness of city violence and to fundraise to buy the motel, which was used as a hub for drugs and prostitution.
This is not the first time Brooks has walked across America. In 2012, he used a similar walk to fundraise for a community center. He planned to raise $15 million, but only received $500,000.
Robert Marshall, assistant pastor at New Beginnings Church of Chicago, has been alongside Brooks since the late 2000s when Brooks adopted him.
Marshall said being with Brooks all this time and seeing him progress has been “a blessing.”
Marshall recalled seeing Brooks being held at gunpoint and another instance when people went up to Brooks’ car with his children inside, because they didn’t like what he was doing to their business.
Tracy Stingley, executive pastor, has also been with Brooks since 2007, he said. He’s seen Brooks’ success in bringing awareness to Chicago.
“To see all that God has done through him and the pillar he’s been to the community, how much the community trusts him and means to him, it’s amazing to see,” Stingley said.
Stingley and Marshall will take over operations at the church while Brooks is away.
From sleeping on rooftops to walking across the country, his advocacy hasn’t been easy and requires a lot of hard work, Brooks said.
“It requires a lot of tenacity, a lot of courage in the face of adversity, but I’m really thankful and grateful for where we are, but I’m even more grateful and thankful for where I know we’re going to go,” Brooks said.
Brooks is set to finish the walk by Sept. 19, 2026, at Santa Monica Pier in California.
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