HISTORY

GADS HILL CENTER HISTORY

Gads Hill Social Settlement opened its doors in a former saloon in Pilsen in 1898, and soon became a settlement house dedicated to improving the entire community. The Lower West Side was populated by recent immigrants, as it is today. Many immigrants have passed through its doors, including Poles, Czechs, Italians, Germans, and Mexican Americans. All have journeyed thousands of miles to make a new and better life.

Gads Hill Center offered a place where families could be safe and unified, children could grow healthy and strong, and parents could build for the future. Gads Hill Center offered kindergarten, singing groups, cooking classes, a savings bank with 350 depositors, sewing clubs, and activities for school-age boys and girls.

Over the following years, Gads Hill Center grew from its humble beginnings to four sites on Chicago's underserved west and southwest sides, creating innovative programs and services that have received local and national awards and recognition.

INNOVATION

2014-2015: Creates a mental health program in response to the needs of children and families facing increasingly limited access to accessible, effective services within their communities
2014: Partners with the University of Chicago on a Pilot Early Childhood Reading Program, which demonstrates that parents with resources including an iPad read to their children twice as much as parents without such resources
2013: Joins the Chicago Benchmarking Collaborative, which is an alliance of seven social service agencies, sharing program metrics and evaluation data to identify best practices and opportunities for improvement within programs
2011: Opens a satellite location in Brighton Park, the community of greatest need for early childhood services in the State of Illinois
2001: Spins off domestic violence prevention program created in 1989 to sister agency, Mujeres Latinas En Accion
1986: Spins off early employment services program created in 1978 to Spanish Coalition for Jobs
1980: Inaugurates Home-based Head Start Program focusing on service to Latino immigrant families and their children
1940: Establishes a memorial endowment to ensure financial security for Gads Hill Center
1919: Establishes a library at Gads Hill Center with 25 children's books. In 1928, this library is made a sub-branch and staffed by the Chicago Public Library; by 1941 it circulated 54,000+ books
1916: Designs and builds an eco-friendly, state-of-the art building. The building is featured in architectural literature for its environmental qualities and is currently the home of Gads Hill Center
1912: Opens first playground in the district
1908: Opens first nursery school in the district
1905: Opens first free tuberculosis camp in Illinois in cooperation with the Visiting Nurses Association
1898: Opens Gads Hill Social Settlement as a neighborhood center with a mission focused on providing educational and recreational opportunities for families

PROGRAMS

2015-2016: Implements restorative justice program through school partnerships – demonstrating healthy interpersonal conflict resolution skills, helping youth realize leadership potential, and transforming overall school environments
2015: Founds Healthy Minds, Healthy Schools, a comprehensive school-based mental health program based on the successful model of the anti-truancy initiative in Chicago Public Schools (CPS), which provides quality services to children and families to promote transformational growth and social-emotional wellbeing
2014: Creates mental health program in partnership with Chicago Public Schools. Initial study demonstrates a 6% truancy reduction among 160 students over six months
2012: Develops formal STEM components to enhance curricula across continuum of youth programs
2011: Earns accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
2010: Chosen by Chicago Public Schools to mentor 100 high-risk youth in Brighton Park as part of the Mayor's citywide anti-violence effort, Culture of Calm
2008: Launches New Horizons, a mentoring program serving middle-schoolers at Orozco Academy in Pilsen
2007: Implements Prevention Initiative providing home visiting services for more than 50 children from birth to three years of age, pregnant mothers and families using evidence-based Parents as Teachers model
2004: Collaborates with the Chicago Botanical Gardens on urban environmental science camp for 7th – 9th graders
2003: Partners with Center for Neighborhood Technology in Wireless Fidelity pilot program providing wireless internet signal and computers to 10 families
2002: Opens Teen Connection Computer Lab to provide teens with access to computer technology, the internet and tutorials to prepare them for college
2002: Opens Gads Hill Child Care Center in collaboration with Sinai Community Institute offering Head Start, childcare and after school programs
1995: Creates Educational Support Services Department offering computer literacy classes and a computer lab, basic education, and tutoring and mentoring programs for elementary school students through adults
1984: Adopts Salazar Bilingual School through City's Adopt-a-School program; special recreational and social services provided to families of the school's 375 children

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

2014: United Way of Metropolitan Chicago's Education Impact Award for excellence in early childhood programming
2014: Governor Quinn announces $2.5 million investment for construction of a new early childhood center in Brighton Park
2010: Cited by Chicago Public Schools as one of the top three programs of the Culture of Calm Initiative
2009: Chosen by the Wallace Foundation as one of 14 organizations to participate in a four-year national pilot project to strengthen the financial capabilities of high-performing out-of-school providers
2006: United Way's Venture Grant $150,000 Award for Club Learn In the Schools
2005: The Alford-Axelson Award for Nonprofit Managerial Excellence
2005: The Chicago Department of Children and Youth Services names Club Learn, Gads Hill Center's out-of-school time enrichment program for school-age children, the best of 38 programs in the city's Region 3 YouthNet
2004: The United States Institute for Museum and Library Services National Award for its urban environmental science camp for 7th – 9th graders
2002: National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies Community Award
2001: Prestigious BP Leader Award for its collaboration with the Chicago Department of Environment
2000: Japanese Chamber of Commerce Award for Excellence for Club Learn
1999: Good Samaritan Award from CBS, WBBM TV for Club Learn