On Tuesday, on Chicago's South Side, Angela Hongo tried to turn unbearable loss into something that might keep other young dancers from slipping through the cracks. She launched the Boaz Flemister Foundation in honor of her son, 17-year-old Boaz "Bo" Flemister, to support the dance crews who have been grieving him ever since a fatal freeway crash took his life.
The new nonprofit is designed to keep dancers close to one another and to their art while they process that grief. It will offer grief counseling, group therapy, and help with competition costs so crews can stay on the floor together instead of drifting away. The effort grew out of a single-vehicle rollover on the Bishop Ford Freeway on Feb. 19, 2026, a crash that cut short Flemister's life and shook the South Side dance community.
According to the Chicago Tribune reporting, the Boaz Flemister Foundation will initially partner with local crews Empiire, Ultimate Threat, and Final Phaze, and organizers hope to raise about $10,000 by August to seed counseling services and event costs. Hongo told the paper that the goal is to make sure dancers do not have to choose between their mental health and their dance family. Grief, she said, can feel paralyzing: "it's like you're really in this jar, you're not gonna walk through the door," she explained. The Tribune reported that benefit events and competitions are already in the works to help fund the mission.
Crash details and victims
The crash that spurred all of this unfolded on Feb. 19 on the I-94 northbound ramp at 111th Street. Authorities said the single SUV rolled over, killing two passengers at the scene and sending three others to area hospitals with injuries. ABC7 Chicago reported that the victims included Boaz "Bo" Flemister, 17, and dance director Lazarus "Hollywood" Gonzalez. Family members and coaches said the group had been heading home from dance practice when the SUV crashed on the Bishop Ford.
Community response
Local leaders and broadcasters have described the Empiire Dance Institute as a tight-knit crew where dancers often feel more like family than teammates, which has made the loss especially raw. CBS Chicago reported that coaches and parents have organized vigils and public gatherings and have been adamant that the team will keep performing in Flemister's and Gonzalez's memory. Organizers say the new foundation is meant to channel that outpouring of support into lasting mental health resources instead of one-night memorials.
Funding and next steps
Chicago Tribune reporting notes that Hongo has already spent heavily in the wake of her son's death, covering roughly $25,000 in funeral costs and about $500 for a balloon release in his honor. Those expenses helped convince her that families and dancers needed more structured support, not just one-off fundraisers. The foundation plans to host benefit competitions and community events to hit its initial fundraising target and to underwrite group counseling for dance teams across the South Side.
