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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
ONWARD NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE - CELEBRATING 8 YEARS OF SERVICE TO NORTHWEST COMMUNITIES
WHEREAS, Onward Neighborhood House was established in 1926 as a community center serving the near northwest neighborhoods of Chicago, by a group of volunteers from the Glencoe Union Church and the Winnetka Congregational Church. It was named after the Onward Presbyterian Church, which served as its first home. Onward House formed clubs for its participants, including special interest and age-group clubs. They sponsored and housed numerous neighborhood activities as its staff helped acclimating residents find interpreters, referrals to city agencies and first aid. As the programs expanded so too did its need for new facilities. In 1928, the Chicago Congregational Union, together with Presbyterian Extension Board, provided the funds for a new building located at 600 N. Leavitt; and
WHEREAS, Prior to the 1920s, the idea of social service often referred to charity or relief, typically in the form of legal aid, immigrant assistance and traveler's aid. Most hardships up to then-both social and economic- had to be met by family and local efforts. The Great Depression (1930-1941), altered the social and physical needs of clients that pushed Onward House to focus on providing food, clothing and fuel as well as stress counseling. At this time, the agency served 130,000 annually through its education, youth and family support programs. On December 7, 1943, Onward Neighborhood House was officially incorporated as a not-for-profit organization "to maintain and conduct an organization to minister to the spiritual, moral, mental and physical needs of the community"; and
WHEREAS, fast forwarding to the early 2000's, Onward House acknowledged the need for proper technology training in a post-industrial economy, implicated by a digital divide in computer fluency among higher income and lower income populations, Onward House established its Community Computer Re...
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