Gads Hill Center

Gads Hill Center is a non-profit youth education and family resource center on Chicago's South Side, United States, established in 1898. With its headquarters in Chicago, Gads Hill Center serves families in the Chicago neighborhoods of Lower West Side (Pilsen), North Lawndale and South Lawndale (Little Village) with programming that provides learning support and educational enrichment, early childhood development, and out-of-school care for children.

History

In the spring of 1898, Gads Hill Social Settlement opened its doors in a former saloon in Pilsen near what is now Damen Avenue and 22nd Street. Leila Martin, a founder and the first director, was a recent widow at age 23. She had experienced hardship but also had a vision of a better world.Ladd, J.T. (1905). "Gads Hill Center". In George W. Moss, Christian, pp. 261-295 in Ch. VIX. Chicago: R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co. Gads Hill soon became a settlement house dedicated to improving the entire community.GADS HILL CENTER - History

As the 20th century began, Gads Hill's Lower West Side community was mostly populated by immigrants. Then they were Poles, Czechs, Italians, Germans and other ethnic groups. Once in Chicago, they faced lives of hardship and deprivation. Their backbreaking labor in factories, stockyards, and construction sites fueled the city's growth, its grand buildings and successful companies. But they came home to dark, crowded tenements. Their children went without food, without education, spending many hours in the gritty streets.

Gads Hill offered a place where families could be safe and unified, children could grow healthy and strong, and parents could build for the future. Soon after opening its doors, Gads Hill offered kindergarten, singing groups, cooking classes, a savings bank with 350 depositors, sewing clubs, and activities for school-age boys and girls.Gads Hill Center. (2005). A Century of Greatness - Significant Dates in Gads Hill Center History. Retrieved 08-26-201

Over the years, the Lower West Side community continued to evolve as new groups came seeking opportunity. The Lower West Side, particularly the Pilsen neighborhood, is now a center of Hispanic and Latino Americans, Latino culture in Chicago. More than 87% of residents are of Latin American origin, predominantly Mexican. As the community changed, Gads Hill Center stood firm in its commitment to serve children and families in greatest need.

At the turn of the 21st century, Gads Hill Center expanded services to other communities in need. In 2002, the Gads Hill Child Care Center opened its doors to serve the families of Chicago's North Lawndale neighborhood.

Programs

More than 50 percent of the adults in the neighborhoods served by Gads Hill Center have not completed high school; a third of local school students drop out; and students are failing to meet state achievement test standards. Gads Hill Center is dedicated to the issue of educational support and enrichment.

Children's services

In 2002, Gads Hill Center opened the Child Development Center. It is situated in North Lawndale at the Center for Families and Neighbors of the Sinai Community Institute. The center provides pre-kindergarten services, Head Start, and child care services for 3-to 5-year-olds. Also at the Child Development Center is Club Learn, Gads Hill Center's after-school educational program for children in kindergarten through eighth grade. They provide family support service for participants and support parents in their role as their children's first teacher.

Teen Connection

Beginning in 2002, Teen Connection was created in order to fill the need for educational services for the Lower West Side and South Lawndale communities. With a primarily Hispanic and Latino Americans, Latino population, most are Mexican immigrants, living in low-income

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