Table Of Content
Erie House begins providing daycare in response to growing demand during World War II as the American workforce evolves. By equipping you with the right tools and resources, we can help you thrive in the face of adversity. With greater access to well-being comes the chance to build proud, powerful communities together. By providing your family with quality education and holistic support, we can help shape a brighter future.
Rafa Ravelo becomes executive director
Cristina De La Rosa became Erie House's 10th executive director after serving as Senior Director of Programs. Before coming to Erie House in 2011, she worked for 7 years at the Chicago Federation of Labor as a program coordinator and case manager. Leslie Okamura directs a finance department that manages a $9 million annual budget comprised of private and public revenue streams. She came to Erie House in 2013, having worked previously at Casa Central Social Services in the world of corporate finance. Melissa Flores oversees all 12 programs at Erie House and works alongside program leadership on strategic planning, identifying and achieving outcomes and managing grant funding. She previously served as Dean of Adult Education at Richard J. Daley College, one of the 7 City Colleges of Chicago (CCC).
Rafael Ravelo
As the city and community have changed over the last century and a half, so have we. What began as a church evolved to become the now oldest operating settlement house in the city. Through these programs, we empower the people we work alongside to build powerful communities. Since 1870, Erie Neighborhood House has provided the most comprehensive support immigrant and low-income families in Chicago need to thrive and has constantly evolved to meet their needs.
& Youth
Florence Towne arrived at Erie as the kindergarten teacher and head girls resident in 1914 and went on to spend 25 years in the role of director of Erie Chapel Institute. The Carmella Jacob Clinic (which will later be renamed as Erie Family Health), staffed by Northwestern University medical students, is established to serve low-income families. Browse photos from our archives and explore the timeline below to journey through our over 150-year-long history.
Superior St., a move that move enabled the agency to greatly increase its early childhood education program capacity from 40 children to 180 children. Erie House administrative offices were also moved to this location. Erie Family Health Center renewed ties with Erie House to co-purchase the building, formerly a cardboard box factory, and moved their headquarters and clinic services to occupy the third and fourth floors. We work with young people from infancy through high school graduation to equip them with tools and resources to build a bright future, including educational programs and activities, mentoring, and family support. We’ve been an incubator for other community-based organizations, including Erie Family Health, which began as a clinic operated by Northwestern University medical students at Erie House in 1957.
Volunteer with us
A home with no borders, impacting lives to create powerful communities. Check out our list of volunteer positions with our programs — including virtual opportunities to get involved. We empower the people we work alongside to build powerful communities. Eventually, the Erie Chapel Institute became Erie Neighborhood House, adopting this as its name in 1936, when the current structure at 1347 W. Since the time of Holland Presbyterian, it responded to five generations of immigrants that passed through its doors at the same address for 150 years, giving it a unique perspective on this port-of-entry neighborhood called West Town. As a deep admirer of Jane Addams, and aware of the many books written by and about her, I felt it was time for the story of a place that was influenced by her, and has actually surpassed Hull House in its longevity.
We equip our community with the tools and information needed to thrive in the face of adversity, including “Know Your Rights” trainings and direct outreach. We make a healthy lifestyle more accessible with workshops, support groups, and counseling, all through a trauma-informed and culturally-sensitive lens. Crain's Chicago Business named Kirstin to its 40 Under 40 list in 2018 and she was a Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow, Class of 2019.
Our Proyecto Cuídate community wellness and safety program expands its footprint in providing critical mental health services to our community, ultimately becoming a standalone department within Erie House. Erie House believes in the importance of diversity, equity, access and inclusion. We stand in solidarity with those fighting against injustice, oppression, and systemic racism in all its forms. Our mission is to empower our community — Latinx immigrants and individuals and families of all backgrounds. AAnn Grecek directs a NAEYC-accredited child care program that provides care and instruction to 175 children and their families. She came to Erie House in 2019, having invested two decades working within Early Head Start and Head Start programs throughout Chicagoland.
She also spent 14 years teaching in the Early Childhood Education department at Morton College. Cheryl Philip oversees development and communications and is responsible for sustaining and increasing private, institutional and public funding to support the agency's objectives. Her background is in individual giving, specifically mid-level and major gifts.
One such story, a Chicago story, that has always grabbed my attention, pertains to the birth and growth of the settlement house movement before, during, and after Hull House and Jane Addams. My view is that it was a faith-based movement – not necessarily church-based, although churches were involved. Nor was it religious, but rather, as Eleanor Stebner describes it in her book, The Women of Hull House, “a study in spirituality, vocation and friendship.” It is a gospel story about being a good neighbor. We are a diverse community of passionate individuals, bound together by a shared commitment to building proud, powerful communities across the city.
As the city and its immigrant populations changed over the years, so did Erie House. While founded in the settlement house tradition, today, we are a modern social services nonprofit providing the most comprehensive support immigrant and low-income families need to thrive. And finally, we’ve continued to grow and evolve to provide what our community needed the most. In 1996, we opened a community technology center to provide new education and professional development opportunities for our participants in a rapidly changing world. In recent years, we’ve responded to our immigrant community’s concerns by providing “Know Your Rights” trainings and expanding our Legal Services department.
Kirstin has served as a tireless advocate for the mission of Erie House and brings with her a strong background in nonprofit administration and strategic fundraising. She also has extensive experience working with the agency's strategic partners both across the city of Chicago and at the national level. Through each wave of immigration, the leadership of Erie had become aware of Jane Addams’ work, recognized its value, and incorporated its methodologies into its support of the community. But the foundation of “the House” had been laid years earlier by the Presbyterian church on the corner. This work was started by a small mission church, called Holland Presbyterian, in 1870, when Ulysses Grant was still President and Chicago was only thirty-three years old.
Since 1870, Erie Neighborhood House has provided the most comprehensive support immigrant and low-income communities need to thrive. We’ve constantly evolved over the last 150 years to meet our community where they are and provide the support they need the most. Erie House responds to the coronavirus pandemic with expanded virtual programming, a safe return for children and youth, and a Community Relief Fund to provide direct financial assistance to participants.
To empower our community—Latinx immigrants alongside individuals and families of all backgrounds—through education, access to critical services and advocacy, working together to create a just and inclusive society. Through foundational academic and professional programs like ESL, civics education, workforce development, and more, we provide the tools adults need for long-term success. Michelle Peyton oversees human resources functions for all 150 employees at Erie House. She specializes in employee relations and labor relations, and her HR career spans more than 2 decades in union and non-union settings.
He returned to Chicago as an adult and settled himself and his wife in West Town, the successor neighborhood to Lincoln Park for Chicago’s Puerto Rican community. The Gutierrez family was a good example of what Gina Perez has called the “va y ven”/ “go & come” pattern of Puerto Rican migration, in her book The Near Northwest Side Story. Sixteen years later, in 1886, the congregation moved a half block east to 1347 W. In 1893, it was selected as one of 20 founding members of Chicago's Free Kindergarten Association. Erie Chapel expanded facilities at its new location two years later to accommodate its growing youth programs, choirs for children and adults, and industrial classes. Equipping children and youth with tools and resources to support a bright future.
During the past 150 years, change has been constant for Erie House, Executive Director Kirstin Chernawsky said in a press release. She became executive director at age 24 and was the first Spanish-speaking director of the agency. Erie House's Legal Services program grows into its own department, expanding its mission of keeping families together and allowing them to achieve a greater sense of security in the U.S. Superior St., sharing a renovated factory building with Erie Family Health Center. This new space allows Erie House to expand early childhood education programming and serve more of the West Town community.
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