Onward Neighborhood House

Government AdministrationIllinois, United States11-50 Employees

Onward Neighborhood House (ONH) opens doors to improve lives and uplift communities through educational, economic and support services. ONH serves as a community hub where residents of Belmont Cragin, a sprawling community on Chicago’s Northwest side, can access the programs and services they need to build a better life for themselves and their families. Our bilingual, multicultural, attentive, and dedicated staff provide educational, recreational, and social service programs year-round to impact approximately 5,500 individuals of all ages and abilities from Belmont Cragin and the surrounding neighborhoods of Austin, Hermosa, Hanson Park, Portage Park, and Logan Square. 

Founded in 1893 in the West Town neighborhood, ONH originally served as a Presbyterian church and then as a settlement house: a school, refuge, and community center where thousands of impoverished working immigrants could access vital social services as they worked to integrate into all facets of life in Chicago, their new home. During the Great Depression, ONH served thousands of people annually through education, youth, and family support programs. In 1943, Onward Neighborhood House was incorporated as a nonprofit organization. Decades later, in Fall 2014, ONH successfully relocated 100% of our services to Belmont Cragin, where we’d had a center since 2008. 
 
ONH has successfully evolved over more than a century by developing programs that meet the emerging needs of our neighbors. Our enduring strength has been our ability to adapt to societal changes, decade after decade, and provide services to disadvantaged families of all backgrounds. In the early 20th century, people in the West Town community needed food, clothing and shelter, and ONH responded. Today, adult education and affordable childcare rank among the community’s greatest needs; ONH is one of the only comprehensive adult education providers in Belmont Cragin and one of the major providers of early childhood education.

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