Community Center: Something Good in Englewood

Little Angels Family Learning Center (LALC) began as a single preschool classroom nearly 25

years ago. We have served thousands of families after growing to a multi-classroom center

for children ages 0-5. We have supported in improving educational outcomes and overall

quality of life while utilizing limited, shared site space, assembling and disassembling

full classrooms every week to free our learning spaces for multi-purpose event and meeting

spaces.

In 2015, Little Angels Family Learning Center received a Proclamation from the Mayor's

Office outlining the points of pride that the center has brought to Englewood and to the

city of Chicago at large.

We are now afforded a momentous opportunity to build our own dedicated center space that

will be a two-level, community center doubling our early learning classrooms and housing

summer youth employment programs and a year-round "Strong Futures" program servicing

justice-involved youth ages 18-24.

As we begin transitioning to a more modern facility with added service capacity to

accommodate the evolving needs of our children, families and surrounding communities, we

must raise 10% of our $1.9 million building grant to jumpstart the blueprint execution in

February 2018.

Earlier this year, a national news source reported that "Englewood remains a community

peppered with signs of decay.... Abandoned homes and vacant lots can be found on many

blocks," but we know that our LALC is proof that Englewood is not abandoned or vacant. It is

very much alive and in need of a visible community center that lets other people know that

as well.

Bringing positive light to the Englewood community and providing safe spaces for growth and

development to the residents is a lifelong mission of our center. LALC's expanded facility

is a community-led initiative to invest deeply in the education and wellness of the

community at all ages and stages of life.