Care Force Chronicle- Chicago, IL

By Georgia Lawrence

Who: T-Mobile and Gad's Hill Community CenterVolunteers: 100
Where: Chicago, Illinois
When: September 13- 16, 2010
TCF: Georgia Lawrence, Florence Capinding
City Year Chicago: Dan Ready, Katie Halloran, Amos Holmes, Andre Spencer, Julian Castro, Kristen Strobbe, Royale Simms, Jeremy Bleier

For this project, Flo, Hugh and I were joined by the eight members of the City Year Chicago Civic Engagement Team. We met bright and early Monday, September 13th, at the Gad’s Hill Community Center in the Pilsen neighborhood in West Chicago. The Gad's Hill Center has been a staple in Pilsen since 1898 when it was started as a settlement house to help recent immigrants adjust to their new country, find housing, and learn English. The Gad’s Hill Center has evolved over the years and now works to increase student achievement in the surrounding neighborhood. One third of the local high school students in Pilsen drop out of high school each year and Gad’s Hill seeks to reverse this statistic by providing after school programs for students starting in kindergarten through to their sophomore year in college.



Before



After



We had a challenging yet rewarding week of prep during which we laid down tape and tarp, transplanted trees to make room for a new outdoor classroom, cut lumber, and sketched wall murals. One hundred T-Mobile volunteers arrived on Thursday, September 16th pumped up and ready to serve! We received a warm welcome from District Alderman Danny Solis, who attended Gad’s Hill as a child. T-Mobile worked on projects throughout the entire building, from the basement to the games room on the fourth floor and outside in the playground area. Their work revitalized Gad’s Hill, adding a lot of bright, colorful murals, planter beds, and an outdoor classroom. In addition, T-Mobile’s signature project, the Huddle Up Zone, created a new space for the Gad’s Hill kids, complete with new laptops, desks, bookcases, couches and television with a Nintendo Wii system.

T-Mobile Volunteers and City Year
Team Huddle Up for a Group Photo

At closing ceremony, Barbara De La Casa, the Director of Youth Services, extended her heartfelt appreciation to the T-Mobile volunteers for all their hard work and contributions to Gad’s Hill. She explained how the transformative work completed that day will continue to inspire the staff and children for years to come. As the day came to an end, we were able to watch the children arrive from school and check out all the new murals, bookshelves, benches, and supplies inside!