Northwestern Settlement
Northwestern Settlement helps low-income families and individuals take personal responsibility, explore opportunities and options, and become or remain self-sufficient by providing a central point around which social and specialized services, education, arts and collaborative programs can be accessed.
Description:
The Settlement equips its neighbors with the tools they need to succeed. Our entire program is based upon the concept of individual and family self-help, and the underlying philosophy that every person deserves to maximize his or her potential to become a productive member of society. Through more than 70 different programs and services, our staff and hundreds of volunteers work with nearly 8,000 neighbors each year through core programming and 38,000 through our theater.
All programs are interwoven to provide a continuum of services and opportunities to the families who live in the community. We focus on providing resources to our neighbors in three key areas: assistance for the immediate short-term crisis; knowledge, opportunities, and support to break out of poverty over the long-term; access to a network of additional programs and services.
The Settlement offers a wide array of programs and services to its neighbors in West Town/Humboldt Park and across the city. The majority of these fall into three main categories: Youth, Arts, and Social Services. Education is woven into all three areas. Current programming includes an elementary school, a school age program, year-round residential camping, a teen program, a pre-school, a food pantry, a scholarship program, an emergency fund, a theatre for young audiences and families, an AmeriCorps program, and a senior citizens club.
Providing alternatives is the central focus of the philosophy of Northwestern Settlement. The needs of hunger and shelter are met with food and assistance with housing expenses. Limited expectations, lack of information, and isolation are countered by new learning experiences that promote self-confidence, motivation, and an increased awareness of opportunities in the world beyond the local community.
This holistic approach to community problem solving incorporates extensive networking with neighborhood schools, area universities, police, neighborhood governments, citywide non-profit organizations, local businesses, and other community-based organizations and service providers.
Last year, 58% of our clients were Hispanic, 28% were Black and 12% were White; 51% were under 18 and 98% were low-income. Over the past 114 years, we have served individuals and families from a wide range of racial and ethnic groups including Poles, Ukrainians, Russians, Germans, Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Cubans, African Americans, and more.
Northwestern Settlement is run by a 21 member Board of Directors and 47 full and part time staff members. The board is responsible for financial oversight and policy setting; the staff is responsible for developing and implementing relevant programming. In keeping with the population we serve, 52% of the staff are minorities and 63% are female.
The Settlement has always been a stable, fiscally sound, conservatively managed institution. Our management philosophy embodies the same spirit of self-sufficiency that our programs seek to encourage in our neighbors. We rely on the generosity of private donors for the majority of support, and limit our dependence on government funding.
History:
Northwestern Settlement was founded in January 1891 by leaders of Northwestern University as a separate and financially independent institution. It formally opened its doors at its current location - two miles northwest of the Loop - in 1901. Northwestern Settlement is the oldest settlement in the city of Chicago to remain in continuous operation, second in age only to Jane Addams Hull-House, and it is one of the few traditional settlement houses remaining in the entire country.
Contact person: Cait Allen, Volunteer Coordinator, (phone), (email)
Office fax number: 773-278-7536
Address:
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1400 W. Augusta BoulevardChicago, IL 60642(See a map) |
Web Site: http://www.nush.org
Directions:
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The Settlement is located at the corner of Augusta Blvd and Noble Street, half a block west of the Augusta/Milwaukee Kennedy exit.
Nearest Metro/Subway Stop: Blue Line / Division stop,
Walk distance (in minutes): 5
Nearest Bus Stop: #56 Milwaukee / Noble Street stop, 1 minute walk |
| Last updated on September 24, 2009 |
