Mayor Rahm Emanuel met with representatives of some of the community groups who will benefit from the new initiative called "Youth Working for Success".
The money will go to organizations that provide activities, jobs and learning opportunities for young people who might otherwise be forgotten.
These kinds of programs help reduce the potential for violence in the city, according to Emanuel.
"We know the best effort to fight crime is not only more police on our streets but kids guns and drugs off the streets and that includes after school programs just like here to give our kids the right alternative and the right values," Emanuel said.
The money comes from private funds raised for the NATO summit that were never spent.
