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HISTORY

SINCE 1898, WE CREATE OPPORTUNITIES
FOR CHILDREN AND THEIR FAMILIES

GADS HILL CENTER
HISTORY

Gads Hill Social Settlement opened its doors in a former saloon in Pilsen in 1898, and soon became a settlement house dedicated to improving the entire community. The Lower West Side was populated by recent immigrants, as it is today. Many immigrants have passed through its doors, including Poles, Czechs, Italians, Germans, and Mexican Americans. All have journeyed thousands of miles to make a new and better life.

Gads Hill Center offered a place where families could be safe and unified, children could grow healthy and strong, and parents could build for the future. Gads Hill Center offered kindergarten, singing groups, cooking classes, a savings bank with 350 depositors, sewing clubs, and activities for school-age boys and girls.

Over the following years, Gads Hill Center grew from its humble beginnings to four sites on Chicago's underserved west and southwest sides, creating innovative programs and services that have received local and national awards and recognition.