The Worn Doorstep Part Two: 1991-2016

THE WORN DOORSTEP PART TWO: 1991-2016

A continued informal history of Northwestern Settlement

Published 2017 by Northwestern Settlement

Written by Matthew Sudman Edited by Ron Manderschied

Northwestern Settlement 1400 W Augusta Boulevard Chicago, IL 60642

773-278-7471

www.northwesternsettlement.org

Special thanks to the Northwestern University Archives for their research assistance.

Photos of Adventure Stage Chicago are courtesy of Johnny Knight. Photo on page 38 courtesy of Robin Subar. All other photos are courtesy of Northwestern Settlement.

Preface

Hundreds of our neighbors pass through Northwestern Settlement’s doors each day. Even in its earliest years, plentiful foot traffic eroded the steps leading to the front door. “What manner of place has a doorstep like this?” asks an early Settlement publication. Hence, the worn doorstep.

The Worn Doorstep was originally published in late 1991 to commemorate Northwestern Settlement’s Centennial. In 2016, staff and Board members again collaborated to celebrate and honor the organization’s history, and the people who work tirelessly to bring our mission to life.

The original Worn Doorstep is available to read online in the “History” section of the Settlement’s website. We start the initial chapter of this second look at the Settlement’s history directly after the first part left off, providing a full look at our 100th “birthday” and all that followed.

The authors of the first Worn Doorstep ended their preface with: “We leave to future generations the task of completing a review of more contemporary times.” We are grateful to have the honor of fulfilling this responsibility during the Settlement’s 125th anniversary, and look forward ourselves to reading the next generation’s account of neighbors working together.

Matthew Sudman Ron Manderschied

Chapter 1: Approaching a Second Turn of the Century; 1991-1997

Northwestern Settlement used its Centennial anniversary, and the purchase of much-needed extra facilities space at 1012 North Noble Street, as the impetus to propel change throughout the organization. Finally, the Settlement could truly expand and deepen its programming since moving into the Settlement House in 1901. But first: time to celebrate!

The Settlement’s Centennial attracted notice throughout Chicago, the nation, and the globe. President George H.W. Bush, Illinois Governor Jim Edgar, and Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley all sent the Settle- ment letters of congratulations. A letter from Alan Lee Williams, O.B.E., Warden and Chief Executive of Toynbee Hall, the original University Settlement in London, carried special significance.

On June 28, 1991, Northwestern Settlement commemorated its 100 years with a public festival. On the stretch of Noble Street alongside the Settlement House, neighbors enjoyed food, games, and live performances. Volunteers, auxiliary board members, and Settlement employees staffed the game booths. Entertainment reflected the diversity of the neighborhood, with performances by Settlement children, local school groups, a steel drum band, polka band, and Mexican folklore dancers. The event proved so successful that the Settle- ment would hold an annual “Taste of Noble Street” festival over the next few summers.

Board leadership cleaned out the Settlement House’s attic as a part of the Centennial events. Staff had used the entire space for storage since its construction in 1901 but never removed anything. Throughout the decades when the original staff lived in the third floor of the House, their personal effects would be placed into freighter trunks and taken to the attic upon their departure (or their death). By 1991, the attic contained over 100 trunks accumulated over nearly 100 years, ranging from holiday decorations to old family files and photographs. Future Board Chair Patricia Johnson, and fellow Board member Jeanne Lutz, along with staff member Fred Balkcom, spent several months carrying down everything from the attic, and sorting through all of the personal effects. Staff cleaned and preserved photographs and significant records, and placed some furni- ture items back around the Settlement House. Patricia and Jeanne held a giant “attic sale” which drew an- tique buyers, neighbors, and Board members. The Walt Disney Company purchased the remaining trunks for use as props at Walt Disney World in Florida.

Despite the Settlement's vast wealth of archival material, nobody had ever collected this information into a single narrative. Northwestern Settlement leaders, especially Historian Doris Overboe, felt that Harriet Vit- tum’s story and important leadership had been lost to history, overshadowed by other prominent figures such as Jane Addams. Longtime Northwestern University Archivist Patrick Quinn shared this opinion enthusiasti- cally, and noted that despite Harriet Vittum’s enormous impact, she never had the same level of press cover- age that Jane Addams had received. Overboe and the History Committee enlisted the help of freelance writer Mark Wukas to compile the first edition of The Worn Doorstep. Working with over 100 cubic feet of records, Wukas weaved together the stories of our organization, leaders, and neighbors. Committee members collaborated with Wukas in research, proofing, editing, and selecting the best photographs from thousands in the Settlement’s archives.

The Northwestern University Library contributed substantially to this research effort. In 1990, they assumed responsibility for all of Northwestern Settlement’s records, and the Settlement continues to deliver documents and records to the University Archives for preservation. The University Archivist describes the collec- tion as “a great treasure trove of extraordinarily rich documentation for future historians of the settlement house movement.” Academics and historians regularly access the Archives to pore through case records of neighborhood youth, and the true stories of immigrant life at the turn of the 20th century. Northwestern University also secured printing, counseled publishing technicalities, and funded the initial publication of The Worn Doorstep.

The Centennial Steering Committee, comprised of Libby Cummings, Barbara Drake, and Nancy Whiteman, led preparations for the Settlement’s 100th anniversary. They spearheaded the social, publicity, historical, and fundraising efforts that capped the year-long celebration. Each Auxiliary Board found time, in addition to contributing to the general operating needs of the Settlement, to make special contributions to the Centennial Cam- paign. The Evanston Woman’s Board made a leadership gift of $500,000 to purchase an adjacent building, which was recognized through naming the building Evanston Hall not only for their support but to also recall the founding roots of the Settle- ment at Northwestern University. The remainder of the more than $1,500,000 in total contributions enabled the initial stages of renovation and construction to Evanston Hall. Solicitation Committee members also aided in securing a $100,000 grant from the Chicago Community Trust to Northwestern Settle- ment, which at the time was the largest foundation donation in the Settlement’s history.

The leadership of Board President Daniel Vittum, Jr. defined much of these years. He was a distant cousin to Harriet Vit- tum, and in his day job was the Managing Partner at Kirkland and Ellis until his retirement in 2000. Dan graduated first in his class from the University of Michigan Law School, and the Settlement benefitted deeply from his brilliance as a leader and as General Counsel. Evanston Hall

In 2016, Evanston Hall is part and parcel of Northwestern Set- tlement. Integrating the 40,000 square foot building into the Settlement, however, required a monumental effort. The third floor of the building, built as a dance hall, had been boarded up and vacant for many years, and was at the time full of debris and roosting pigeons. Simply finalizing architectural and engineering plans for the building and receiving permits and ap- provals from the City took nearly a year and a half.

Karl Schmidt and Fred Polito

Architects Schmid & Polito arranged for construction to occur in phases in order for project expenses not to exceed available funds, and for Settlement programs to utilize each new floor immediately as space became available. First, workers completed a new roof and infrastructure work to ensure total building stability.

The first piece of the new building was the basement, used by the Matador Boxing Club. The boxing gym included locker rooms with showers, meeting space, and workout areas. Workers constructed one boxing ring for tournament use and another boxing ring for practice.

Tom O’Shea led the Matadors. O’Shea, like many of the Settlement’s neighbors, was an immigrant, coming to America from Ireland. O’Shea was a retired English teacher and had taught at in Chicago Public Schools including Wells Community Academy for 26 years. He had also coached boxing at Wells, but school officials ended the program in 1989 citing insurance risks, and the sport was no longer approved by the Board of Edu- cation. O’Shea relocated across the street to the Settlement, and the Matadors were predominantly current and former Wells students who followed him. Pre-teen participants came from Peabody Elementary School. The club was almost immediately successful at Golden Gloves competitions, both in Illinois and throughout the country.

The Settlement had provided boxing lessons to neighborhood youth decades earlier when the sport was significantly more popular nationwide. The Settlement had stopped offering boxing as it waned in popularity, but Tom O’Shea saw much potential in the sport. The unfortunate circumstances neighborhood youth grew up around caused many to be quick to fight, so the Matadors provided an outlet where fighting came with rules, high expectations, accountability, and discipline. O’Shea wrote that a gang would manipulate a young man’s “adolescent insecurities by offering him safety, power and the status of belonging, [but] it robs him of his individual integrity by indoctrinating him to serve and follow blindly. At an impressionable stage when he should be discovering who he is or who he can be, he relinquishes a large part of himself to a simplistic mud- dle of misplaced loyalties, inverted values, and might-is-right morality called a gang. In boxing, the reverse is true. The very essence of the sport lies in its clear, unambiguous, face-to-face confrontation, an experience totally foreign to the confused gang member.” He also stressed the differences between professional and amateur boxing, noting that amateur boxing had much stricter health and safety requirements.

O’Shea would relocate feuds from the street and transfer them to the boxing gym, along with pads, helmets, and supervision. Not all of the participants would return for formal instruction after they reached exhaus- tion, but many did. Violence is inherent in the sport of boxing, but the Matadors still provided youth an opportunity to leave behind a world with fewer alternatives to success.

Teens participating in the Matadors found that gang members left them alone, so even youth who did not box would seek Matador t-shirts for “protection.” Many Matadors had rocky pasts. Even though most of them chose to box so they could find a better future for themselves, they occasionally got into trouble outside of the ring, sometimes requiring their coaches to bail them out. However, whenever they were at the Settle- ment, they were perfect gentlemen.

The Matador Boxing Club even produced its own Olympic bronze medalist in 1996, Nate Jones. The Heavy- weight boxer grew up near the Settlement in the infamous Cabrini-Green public housing buildings. He had a past full of adversity, one that culminated in a 20-month prison sentence for auto theft. His path to success came via the same supports that the Settlement has believed in for decades - neighborly support, guidance, and mentorship that shows alternative paths and better futures. Jones would win multiple Golden Gloves, eventually participating in Olympic qualifying matches and finally the Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Two other Matadors made the qualifying finals in their weight classes; the only other organization to send more athletes to the boxing finals was the US Army. Jones later became a professional boxer, starting his career at 17-0 before retiring with a record of 18-2-1. He went on to become a trainer himself, assisting boxing super- star Floyd Mayweather Jr.

In November 1993, work concluded on the Settlement’s first floor Office Center. In 2016, the Office Center holds several of the Settlement’s administrative, accounting, and development functions. However, in the early 1990’s the Settlement’s staff was a fraction of its current size, so the Office Center served as a shared co -working space: a common concept today but ahead of the curve for 1993. The Office Center’s tenants included a variety of social service agencies dedicated to working within schools, assisting probationers, and helping immigrants achieve citizenship.

One prominent tenant was Youth Options Unlimited (YOU). YOU united ten area agencies with the Settle- ment to establish a comprehensive service community working to improve the lives of West Town youth ages 12-20. Over 2,000 youth enjoyed access to services including free health and dental care, counseling, tutor- ing, parent classes, entrepreneurship training, and leadership development. A private bus system shuttled children from program to program between agencies, removing barriers causing isolation and ensuring that all participants had safe passage across gang boundaries. The Settlement had to discontinue the program when its funding ceased. The persistence of poverty is not the only recurring theme in the past decades of the Set- tlement’s history. Cyclical and fickle funding, and fluctuating government spending on vital human needs services, sadly prevail throughout the years.

The Children and Family Justice Center was another prominent tenant. Established as a service of the Northwestern University Law School Legal Clinic, the Center advocated for needed reform of the Cook County Juvenile Court. The Center’s six attorneys, three researchers, social worker, director, administrator, and secretary worked with 25 law students and seven graduate social work students each term to serve young people and their parents through legal representation, advocacy, and research. The program was directed by Law School faculty members Bernadine Dorhn and Tom Geraghty. The program focused strongly on youth restorative justice, and Northwestern University eventually relocated it to be closer to Chicago’s juvenile court.

For the second floor of Evanston Hall, a generous gift from Marie Burnside established Burnside Hall. Marie first volunteered at the Settlement in 1942, later serving on auxiliary Burnside Hall in 1999

boards and the main Board of Directors. Her husband Bob served as Chairman of the Board from 1978 to 1983, and hired Ron Manderschied as Executive Director of the Settlement. By May of 1994, the space was completed, including a dining room, conference space, and dressing rooms and spaces for the eventual Vit- tum Theater. New lobbies, a stairway, and elevator were added to Evanston Hall by this time as well.

Completing the third floor theater required extra intensive effort. Under the leadership of Honorary Fund- raising Chairperson Arnold Weber (the immediate past president of Northwestern University) and Dan Vit- tum, Jr., the Settlement executed a $2 million Campaign for Community Arts to supplement the Centennial Campaign. Lynda and Rocky Barber, Valerie and Bill Hall, Patricia Johnson, and Libby Cummings provided invaluable leadership for this effort, which ended up surpassing its fundraising goal by $400,000. This fundraising campaign was then the largest undertaken by the Settlement, and the first time staff would call on every one of its auxiliary board members to participate. Fundraising consultant Brian Saber, along with Ron Manderschied, made personal visits to each board member appealing for their support. This outreach proved very successful. The Vittum Theater would make its public debut as a key piece of the new Settlement campus much later, in September 1998.

The original Settlement House received special recognition in 1993 when the Chicago City Council designated it an official Chicago Landmark. The ordinance stated that the Settlement “exemplifies an innovative form of philanthropy which constitutes a vital part of Chicago’s legacy to the whole reform movement in the United States…. [T]he Northwestern University Settlement House is truly important to Chicago, and deserves to be preserved, protected, enhanced, rehabilitated, and perpetuated.”

Another Chicago institution, Mayor Richard M. Daley, announced his intention in December 1994 to seek re- election as Mayor of Chicago at the Settlement in Burnside Hall. At the time, he was serving only the second of his six terms as Mayor.

Northwestern Settlement’s longstanding successes in providing effective nursery school services culminated in 1991 when, with the assistance of a $192,920 grant from the Chicago Department of Human Services (now the Department of Family and Support Services), the Settlement opened a Head Start preschool site. Staff member Elba Rosario led this new initiative. City funding enabled the Settlement to expand its services from 40 children to 68 children, providing them in addition to an education with general health and dental care, and a hot breakfast and lunch. The Settlement served two groups of preschoolers, one during the morning and another in the afternoon, for three and a half hours apiece during a ten-month school year. Consistent with the Settlement mission of working with whole families, the program also contained robust parent involvement services. Teachers required parents to volunteer in the classroom, help with homework, and attend monthly meetings. Teachers made two annual home visits, with follow-ups by the program’s social worker if necessary. True to the Settlement tradition of emphasizing whole-family partnerships, and to re- move potentially stigmatizing terminology, the Settlement named this staff person a Family Worker. Parents and staff initially collaborated on curriculum plans in order to further emphasize the school-parent partnership; staff would eventually utilize research-based curricula designed specifically to prepare children for Kin- dergarten. Staff member Linda McLaren would later assume the position of Head Start Site Director and continue the program’s development.

The Settlement, as always prioritized partnerships with local schools. The Settlement began a Truancy Prevention Program at Pea- body Elementary School in 1990. A full-time staffer, Ana Yanez, examined the absentee and tardy sheets provided by Peabody teachers each school day, and then called each family to check on the child’s health or ascer- tain another reason for not being present at school. The Settlement would make home visits to discuss the child’s absentee record, and to see if staff could lend a hand if needed. For instance, some children would not go to school because they did not have adequate A preschool student in 2005 clothing, so the Settlement would provide warm clothing or shoes from its thrift shop. With the Settlement’s help, Peabody achieved a daily attendance rate of 95%, one of the highest in the city at the time. Many auxiliary board members would also volunteer weekly providing extra support for children with learning disabilities. Board members would line Peabody’s hallways, working with small groups of children.

Northwestern Settlement partnered for several years with Kraft Foods for a nutrition program teaching children about making healthy food choices. Through the 1990’s, portions of West Town were food deserts without regular access to stores carrying fresh produce; youth and adult obesity remain community concerns today. One of the volunteer chefs was Rick Bayless, who at the time was just beginning to achieve national acclaim. “In this world where children are bombarded with fast food advertisements, it’s very important to me to be able to teach them to make really delicious and healthy foods for themselves,” he told the Chicago Sun-Times about his work at the Settlement in 1996.

The Settlement provided other productive outlets for neighborhood youth. A squad of 20 Settlement teens participated in yearly Mini-Olympics conducted by a local YMCA. The group did exceptionally well, taking consecutive first place honors from 1990-92. Events involved swimming at the Eckhart Park Pool, and field events in Humboldt Park. In conjunction with the North American Hispanic Soccer League and the Chicago Police Department, the Settlement began a teen soccer program that continued through 2016 thanks to the leadership of Director of Group Services Jose Alatorre. The Soccer League provided a coach for the 60 participants, and the police officers provided uniforms. Staff and neighbors volunteered as assistant coaches and referees, fathers of the participants created handmade equipment, including steel frames for the indoor goals. Allison Gymnasium hosted indoor games throughout the spring and fall.

To supplement this programming, Northwestern Settlement initiated a partnership with the Northbrook Park District in the North Shore suburbs known initially as “Diversity Camp” and later as “Camp Norcago,” a combination of the words “Northbrook” and “Chicago.” With 25 participants each from West Town and Northbrook, children ages 10 to 12 spent four weeks together traveling across the city and suburbs. The group learned new cultural experiences, and new ways to relate to each other even though they came from drastically different backgrounds. In Chicago the children would go to sporting events or tour museums, while in Northbrook they would go canoeing or participate in a mock board meeting at the Village Hall. A

culminating banquet at the end of the summer, and a “reunion” party in the winter allowed entire families to get to know each other better. Sadly, when the North- brook Park District was unable to keep funding the program, Camp Norcago ceased altogether by 2003.

Providing special emergency services for neighbors in crisis continued under the careful watch of Pat Jazska until 2004. Beyond the day-to-day operations of the food pantry, each week seemed to uncover more horri- fying situations or circumstances in the neighborhood, Camp Norcago participants sometimes with families and other times with elderly neighbors confined within their homes. Jazska took a personal investment in neighbors’ lives. A 1993 article in the Chicago Tribune describes a ten year old boy who authorities had brought to her. He had been living with his mother and “27 dogs in a run-down apartment that was littered with dog feces.” Jazska immediately found a foster home for the boy, and took him to the hospital. While in the waiting room, he began scratch- ing himself, grinding his teeth, and even growling. “His face was filled with terror, and there were tears in his eyes,” the Tribune reports Jazska as saying. “It broke my heart just to look at him. I stayed at his side and rubbed his back until it was over. I’d never seen a child in such pain.”

The Settlement at times took significant risks when staff felt that children were in immediate danger. Staff would take children to House In The Wood to protect them from in-home or community violence until there was resolution for the issue back in Chicago.

West Town’s housing stock included many old homes with extremely flammable wood frames. Significant building fires in the neighborhood occurred nearly weekly, and Settlement staff would go to each one, deliver- ing blankets and offering neighbors assistance in re-establishing their lives. Northwestern Settlement rose to an enormous challenge when on January 17, 1992, a series of gas explosions ripped through West Town, just a few blocks southeast from the Settlement. An underground low-pressure gas regulator had malfunctioned, forcing high-pressure gas into homes and businesses. Dousing the blazes took the effort of 225 firefight- ers. To make matters worse, some residents fleeing the fires suffered frostbite when they bolted from their homes outside into the dead of winter. The Settlement, which served as a disaster service site, cared for many of the afflicted. The first explosion occurred at approximately 4:00 PM, and by 4:45 PM the Settlement had been contacted by authorities. All staff stayed past closing time late into the night as the phones rang continuously and volunteers poured in to assist. Guild Hall became a rest area and warming center, the kitchens provided hot food and drink, and Allison Gymnasium was set up with beds as a temporary shelter. Ultimate- ly, 4 people died as a result of the explosions and over 38 families were displaced or suffered severe damage to their homes. A total of 20 residential buildings and 15 commercial buildings were damaged or destroyed. During the following weeks and months, Settlement staff continued to care for impacted neighbors: finding new housing, receiving financial assistance, replacing personal documents, providing food and clothing, and facilitating group therapy sessions.

Meanwhile during this time period, the North Shore Junior Board changed its name to the North Shore Board. Each year at the Drake Hotel and later the Four Seasons Hotel, to benefit House In The Wood camper scholarships, the Board held its “Guess Who’s Cooking the Dinner” event where over 400 guests enjoyed specially-prepared meals cooked by notable ce- lebrity chefs from across Chicago.

Many of the Settlement’s holiday traditions began during this time. Neighbors walked around West Town singing Christmas carols, in a procession modeled after traditional Mexican posa- das. Carolers stopped in front of homes, schools, and fire sta- tions to serenade the community, with neighbors dressed as Mary and Joseph leading the way alongside a live burro and llama. An annual Thanksgiving dinner, held the Tuesday before the holiday, annually drew hundreds of neighbors seeking a hot dinner of turkey, ham, and all the trimmings. Dozens of Board members would pitch in each year to Neighborhood caroling in 2002 serve the food. Holiday toy drives and the Adopt A Family program began as well. Many schools in Chicago’s North Shore mobilized students to donate toys and gifts to benefit children their age whose parents could not afford to give presents. The Middlefork School of the Sunset Ridge school district and New Trier High School have participated in these programs since the early 1990’s.

During the week before Christmas each year, staff would recruit someone to wear a Santa outfit, and then would go door to door to all Thanksgiving Dinner in 2014 of the “back houses” along the alleys, and walk-ups above businesses, seeking families who could use assistance and boost in holiday spirit but never asked for help because of personal pride. “Santa” carried a bag of toys and Settlement staff dressed as elves carried bags of groceries. This neighborly outreach found many families in great need, and staff would follow-up later for intake into programs. One Christmas, a woman who opened the door to see Settlement staff carrying bags of gifts for her family immediately burst into tears, feel to her knees, and said in Spanish, “God has answered my prayers.” She was alone in her house, caring for several sick children with no Students deliver Adopt A Family gifts to the Settlement in 2002

resources. She did not know how she was going to provide presents for her children or even leave her house to obtain food for the holidays, and had been praying for help. She truly believed that God had answered her prayers and sent the Settlement to find her.

Tony Perlstein and Chicago Health Insurance Underwriters spent over two decades funding trips to the circus, museum excursions, and parties for Settlement children every year leading up to Christmas. Tony remains involved with the Settlement today by sponsoring the Leaders In Training teen program A Settlement Santa with preschool children in 2008 each summer at House In The Wood.

John Par grew up in West Town across the street from the Settlement, and was a fixture at its programs as a young boy. Mike Rach- waslki, then the Settlement Head Resident, was also a midwife, and delivered John into life. John was a feisty young boy who said he sold hubcaps to “raise a little money.” But the Settlement stood by John, and he learned the importance of hard work and devoting time to education. John remembers attending a picnic at a Board member’s house as a boy and admiring the massive estate. The Board John and Carole Par give out holiday treats to children in 2006 member said that if John worked hard, he could have a house like that when he grew up. John believed her. These lessons would pay off decades later, when he co-founded a wholesale distribution and training center for welding consumables. John never forgot his roots and channeled his personal successes into giving back to the Settlement and West Town. Along with his wife Carole, he sponsored yearly Christ- mas parties for neighborhood children for over thirty years. Forty neighborhood children would enjoy an afternoon of Christmas cookies, singing, and games such as musical chairs and bingo. He and his wife established the Park Ridge Board, with Carole serving as President for many years. The couple also took a leadership role in equipping the waterfront and boating areas at House In The Wood, even though as a child John was not permitted to go to camp because he was “too naughty.”

Northwestern University continued providing support at multiple levels of the Settlement. University Presi- dent Arnold Weber joined the Honorary Board of Directors in 1991. Students on campus developed a Big Brother and Big Sister program, volunteering one-on-one with Settlement children and having at least weekly contact. The Big Brothers and Sisters took their mentees to field trips, sports events, and dinners for pizza and conversation. During vacations, they would stay in touch through phone calls and postcards. Dorms, fraternities, and sororities sponsored holiday parties and special events for the children. Staff members Jose

Alatorre and Teresa Roman made annual trips around campus conducting “fireside” chats to both recruit and inform Northwestern students.

The Northwestern Wildcats football team also made a special commitment during these years. In 1992, ten Settlement children received scholarships to attend a five-day football training summer camp in Evans- ton. Football players in turn visited the Settlement to discuss with children the importance of education and how it had changed their lives. Anne Brattan, wife of assistant coach Thomas Brattan, gathered together the wives of the other coaches to form the Wildcat Wives in 1992. Mary Barnett, wife of head coach Gary Bar- nett, took a leadership role as well. The group supported the Settlement’s food pantry through jewelry sales and food drives. A homecoming game food drive in 1995 netted 3,000 cans for the Food Pantry. Mary Bar- nett joined the Evanston Woman’s Board, and soon after, Tammy Walker, wife of successor head coach Randy Walker, carried on the tradition of the head football coach’s wife participating on the Evanston Board. Mary Barnett developed the Evanston Hall Office Center hallways into an art gallery and started the tradition of the Evanston Board maintaining the courtyard garden in front of the Settlement.

Looking back at the final pages of the first edition of The Worn Doorstep, one reads how Ron Manderschied “believed that the greatest challenges for the West Town community would be the availability of affordable housing in the neighborhood in the face of rising unemployment, under-employment, and rapidly rising land values.” Gentrification proved to be extremely challenging for the Settlement over the coming years.

The Chicago Reader identifies the start of gentrification in Wicker Park, the most prominent neighborhood within the greater West Town community, in 1985. The neighborhood started to gain a reputation as a hot- bed for live music by new local groups including Liz Phair and Smashing Pumpkins. Artists soon populated the neighborhood, and the neighborhood’s trendy reputation grew only further. In August 1993, Billboard ran a cover story dubbing Chicago “Cutting Edge’s New Capital” and highlighted Wicker Park; in March 1994, the New York Times referenced it as “the Latest Next Seattle.” The Times described the neighborhood’s “determined glitzlessness” and “pleasantly dilapidated” buildings that attracted so many “bohemians.”

Census data indicates that between 1990 and 2000, West Town gained over 10,000 Caucasian residents and lost over 14,000 Black and Hispanic residents. Developers rapidly converted apartments to condos, and va- cancy rates plummeted. The median home value skyrocketed by $177,464 during this time. The number of residents over the age of 25 lacking a high school degree dropped by approximately 10,000 people, while 14,000 new residents had a college or advanced degree.

West Town, however, would not feel significant effects of gentrification for many more years. The neighborhood remained a difficult and dangerous place to live for many residents, especially young children. Again, from the first edition of The Worn Doorstep: “In addition to rising rents and unemployment, Settlement staff believed that public education, healthcare and gang violence would become more serious in the coming years.” The words about gang violence could not have been more prescient.

Chicago suffered a terrible crime wave during most of the 1990s. The city recorded over 900 homicides in 1991, 1992, and 1994, and three times as many robberies in 1991 as it would record in 2011. Troubling statis- tics about neighborhood crime still failed to capture a true record of West Town’s challenges. Undocument- ed residents would avoid Census representatives, and did not report crimes to the authorities for risk of attracting attention from immigration officers.

Leo, who at the time was a neighborhood teen and member of the Matadors, remembers regularly ducking for cover at the Settlement when hearing gunfire outside. He attended Wells High School, and recalls how different gangs controlled each floor of the building and an armed guard patrolled the cafeteria. The Settle- ment was Leo’s safe haven. After gang members beat Leo in the Wells hallways one day on his way to class for being unaffiliated with any gang, he knew he had to escape West Town. His family moved him to Califor- nia, but most children had no choice but to stay in the neighborhood.

In eighteen days during the late fall (a time of the year when violent crime rates are generally lower) of 1993, residents reported the following accounts of gunfire to the Settlement:

● November 23, 2:00 PM: Bullets from small caliber gun fired at Greenview and Augusta

● November 23, 5:30 PM: Shots fired at corner of Augusta and Noble as neighbors entered the Settle- ment for the annual Thanksgiving Dinner

● November 23, 7:30 PM: Five shots fired at Cortez and Noble Street

● November 25, 8:30 PM: Shots fired in alley behind Settlement

● November 27, 3:00 AM: Gunfire from sidewalk at 1447 Cortez Street

● November 30, 5:30 PM: Automatic weapon fire in front of Settlement; an 18 year old is wounded in the shoulder and foot

● December 1, 10:30 PM: Shots fired in front of 1454 Cortez Street

● December 1, 5:45 PM: Shots fired on Augusta Boulevard

● December 3, 9:30 AM: Shots fired in front of 1447 Cortez Street

● December 3, 10:30 AM: Shots fired at 1455 Cortez Street

● December 3, 10:00 PM: Shots fired in front of 1513 Chestnut Street

● December 6, 7:00 PM: Shots fired in front of Settlement at 1400 Augusta Boulevard

● December 9, 3:00 PM: Shots fired in front of 1545 Augusta Boulevard

● December 10, 3:00 AM: Shots fired in front of 1445 Cortez Street

All of this activity, within a two block radius of the Settlement during a few short weeks.

The seemingly ceaseless violence created an oppressive environment. Violence consumed neighbors’ attention spans. One teen involved in Settlement programs wrote a poem about how he was failing out of several classes, but studying history was inconsequential to surviving his present: “Why do I have to remember/ all those people? Who will remember me? Who will remember that/ I never had to steal or kill? I remember that on September 29th/ I was jumped.” House In The Wood increasingly served the purpose of keeping children safe from neighborhood violence. “They’ll fight you over any little thing,” said a summer camper named Jessica about local gangs. After a girl from her neighborhood was attacked by a female gang member, “that’s when I really wanted to be their friend ‘cause I didn’t want that to happen to me.” Camp, however, showed Jessica better role models. “It helped me get away from my neighborhood, get away from all the bad things… [camp is] like education, but not school.”

In the summer of 1992, House In The Wood campers described their feelings for the camp’s newsletter:

 “I just can’t understand why people would single people out just because of either color, lack of money, or neighborhood…. I would never, ever be a person who excludes people because of color or any other stupid reasons like that.”

 “We should also keep the world clean instead of dirty. I wish that there were no drug dealers or guns.”

 “We have racism within a lot of people. We have people perpetuating fraud. The homeless are being skipped right over. We really have no peace within the world.”

These children’s concerns could easily be repeated in 2016. The Settlement continues to have a duty to inspire our young neighbors, providing them with caring support and nurturing role models, and showing them the possibility of a better future.

Community families were fed up with the negative influences in their neighborhood. A woman named Den- ise Alvarado decided to unite them. She had lived on Cortez Street, across the alley from the Settlement, since the mid-1970s, and with her husband raised two children in West Town. “We just wish to live normal- ly,” she said, referring to neighborhood dan- gers. “We don’t want to be locked up in our own homes.” With the Settlement providing staff support and acting as fiscal agent, she and other neighbors created United Neighbors for Action (UNA). Their methods were simple at first, such as a monthly newsletter dis- tributed throughout West Town alerting residents to problems, and where they could go seek help. UNA passed out flyers to local businesses encouraging the owners to support community pride by ridding their buildings of graffiti and gang symbols. Eventually, UNA would organize its own “paintouts,” using paint and cleaning materials donated by the United Neighbors for Action

City and local businesses to cover graffiti. A phone tree began with 10 neighbors and soon grew to 40, alerting police to problems such as abandoned or stolen cars, prostitution, vandalism, and drug dealings on street corners. These efforts prompted the Chicago Police Department to label the neighborhood a “special attention area” which warranted additional patrols and greater supervision of Eckhart Park. Police officers even conducted neighborhood surveillance from the roof of Evanston Hall. UNA members who called 911 received prompt attention to their concerns. UNA convened weekly at the Settlement House as a group to discuss in detail community concerns with staff and police officers.

UNA members, Settlement staff, and police officers would organize nighttime peace marches through West Town, especially along Cortez Street. Neighbors carried signs with the words “guns” and “gangs” stamped out. Marches would even stop in front of houses known to house drug dealers or gang members, and neighbors would chant “Get out of our neighborhood! We do not want you here!” despite the personal risk to their safety they faced.

Being a sterling example of a neighbor wishing to improve her community put Denise Alvarado at heightened personal risk. Drug dealers and gang leaders retaliated against UNA, and against Alvarado personally. Her porch was set on fire, a rock was thrown through her window, her car was burned, and a bomb was found underneath her daughter’s car. Many neighborhood residents wanted to report crimes but were afraid of re- crimination, so UNA developed a reporting method that would keep their names out of official police records. UNA members provided report sheets that neighbors would fill out and leave anonymously at the Set- tlement. Staff then provided these sheets to the police in sealed envelopes. Police officers could not use this information to make arrests, but were alerted to offenders and kept a close watch on their future activities.

UNA’s continued advocacy and coordination with the police resulted in personal attacks subsiding, and gangs stopped bothering local residents as often. Problems did not disappear entirely, but whenever drug dealers cut the wires on local street lights to give their activities more cover, UNA’s phone tree members sprang into action and city workers quickly restored power. Settlement staff began to approach violence prevention holis- tically, communicating directly with gang members and their leadership, or through their families, in order to mitigate shootings and retaliations. Staff also ensured that families of known gang members had younger children enrolled in Settlement programs and that parents received food support. The Settlement became neutral ground and was never directly targeted directly by gunfire, though on a few perilous occasions stray gunshots pierced windows.

The Settlement’s youth programs focused significantly on showing children the destruction and negative outcomes of affiliating with gangs. Staff organized tours of jails with pre-teens, and set up an adult-size coffin in Guild Hall filled with gang paraphernalia. Local beat cops visited the Settlement almost every day to speak with children and address gang issues. The Settlement House forbade neighbors to wear any gang colors or hats on the premises.

These strategies to create peace sometimes failed, and all too often, the Settlement’s Emergency Services Pro- gram assisted multiple families with funeral costs for their children. For many months, the Emergency Ser- vice Program’s expenses on funerals were larger than expenses on food.

Alvarado did not let the threats and attacks dissuade her. Rather, she joined the 13th District Police Auxiliary where she received training on how to talk on a police radio, make accident reports, and provide staff assistance at the precinct. Alvarado said being more involved with the police was her way of giving back to the officers who had helped her and UNA make West Town a better place to live - a true example of being a good neighbor.

As UNA grew in numbers, it utilized its newfound size and greater Settlement resources (with significant assistance from Jose Alatorre) to increase its community impact. Chicago Commons Taylor House, an umbrel- la organization of Chicago settlements (today known as Chicago Commons), joined UNA in arranging for local children to participate in a “Say No to Drugs, Yes to School” parade. Over 700 children, parents, and staff participated. UNA contacted the US Department of Housing and Urban Development regarding its concerns about the “Scattered Site Housing Plan” developed with the Chicago Housing Authority. The Fed- eral program would be building low-income housing at sites throughout Chicago, and UNA wanted assuranc- es that existing West Town residents would have priority in obtaining any housing built in their community.

UNA’s crowning achievement was constructing a cul-de-sac at the intersection of Cortez and Milwaukee in October 1993. Residents and city leaders believed that neighborhood streets with only one exit would deter criminal activity and make offenders easier to capture. UNA gathered far more than the necessary two-thirds of registered voters in the block to sign a petition requesting a cul-de-sac. Cortez was a highly-disputed gang territory with regular drive-by shootings on the corner. Once again, Alvarado led the way, going door-to- door for signatures.

As a result of these efforts to improve the lives of neighbors, the Mexican American Police Association named Ron Manderschied their Man of the Year in 2000, although he would be the first to point out that the honor truly belonged to Denise Alvarado, Jose Alatorre, and the Settlement staff as a whole.

UNA impacted Northwestern Settlement beyond its improvements to West Town. Empowering residents to advocate for their needs was not new to the Settlement. Staff members consistently encouraged neighbors to participate in local school council elections, helping them fill out application forms, and develop cam- paigns. With encouragement from the Settlement, neighbors began serving on the local school councils of Peabody and Wells. By working in conjunction with neighbors and the City, the Settlement leaders realized that they could achieve widespread community change. Positive outcomes existed not only in reduced illegal activities, but also in the empowerment of everyday citizens. More than ever, neighbors were true partners with the Settlement. The Settlement would develop this mindset further in the future with the establishment of Noble Street College Prep and Rowe Elementary School, using public-private partnerships to partner with entire families and create better life outcomes.

Chapter 2: An Era of Expansion; 1998-2008

In a 2011 speech, President Barack Obama referred to education and education equality as the “civil rights issue of our time.” Education reformers around the nation agree, and that belief is why Northwestern Settle- ment has been a leader in the charter school movement since 1998.

Coincidentally, the first charter school in the nation was authorized in the Settlement’s Centennial year. In 1991, Minnesota approved a former private Montessori school to operate with a contract, or charter, from its local school district, and receive public funding. This measure gave the school considerably more autonomy than a traditional public school. While the school still had to meet stringent standards, it could control curriculum, the hiring and firing of teachers and staff, and budgeting.

This concept had long intrigued Minnesota native Ron Manderschied. The Settlement prided itself on strong partnerships with local schools. But even after years of working in conjunction with teachers and principals, students were only making gradual gains in achievement. Improving outcomes for large numbers of children enrolled in neighborhood schools would require systematic change.

In 1992, the Settlement joined a partnership led by Northeastern Illinois University and its Chicago Teachers Center to create a “school within a school” at Wells. One of its goals was to provide cultural enrichment for teens through the venues of dramatic arts and creative writing. A full-time Settlement staff member worked with the Wells staff in a drama program for the high schoolers and also provided art enrichment for 7th and 8th graders from Peabody Elementary School. This element of the partnership not only formed the roots of the Settlement’s eventual foray into charter schools, but it would also inspire the Settlement’s Integrated Arts AmeriCorps group. The program also provided a support network for 120 pre-selected students who were at risk of dropping out. Settlement staff worked with teachers and conducted role playing and individual counseling sessions with students about problems they experienced at home, school, or work.

In 1996, Illinois authorized the creation of 45 charter schools, including 15 within the City of Chicago. Ron Manderschied took notice, but he was not the only person with aspirations of creating major change for Chi- cago’s students.

Mike Milkie taught math at Wells and frequently took the extra steps needed to help students achieve. In 1996 he created a program at Wells that met after school and on Saturdays to give select students extra time with advanced math concepts. They would also fill out applications and fundraise so they could spend their summers at college campuses throughout the country. Despite the many success stories coming from this group, he could only work with 26 students at a time. Meanwhile, the entire Wells school was on academic probation for extremely low test scores - only 17.9% of the student body could meet or exceed national norms on a standardized math test.

As a member of Chicago Teachers Center and a teacher at Harper High School, Tonya Hernandez (Mike’s future wife) also knew the unmet needs of West Town’s students. Two of the couple’s friends and fellow teachers founded one of Chicago’s first charter schools, and the concept caught hold with Tonya and Mike.

In the fall of 1997, Mike Milkie approached Ron Manderschied to talk about his desire to create a new charter school. The two agreed to form a partnership, and the first inklings took shape for Noble Street Charter School. For the next six months, the Settlement went through the process of applying for a charter, which was turned down twice by the Chicago Board of Education. Thankfully, the Settlement had a broad base of community supporters that continuously advocated on its behalf. Arnold Weber in particular personally ap- pealed to the Chicago Board of Education to reconsider. These efforts paid off, and the Chicago Board of Education finally approved a charter to the Settlement in April 1998, for the 1998-99 school year. The Settlement had a quick turnaround to hire staff and accommodate a full class of freshmen students.

Northwestern Settlement’s Board, after very careful study, agreed that they would take the significant financial and reputational risk in developing a new charter high school. The Board mortgaged all Settlement property, and authorized a significant spend-down of the endowment. At the time, very few people in Chicago had ever heard of a charter school, The Noble Board of Directors in 2006 and fewer people had invested the significant time and finances to create one.

Once again, Dan Vittum, Jr.’s leadership proved invaluable. He served as Noble’s inaugural President, in a new not-for-profit established to run the school as a subsidiary of the Settlement. He even coached the mock trial team.

Students and parents in Noble’s first class put an enormous amount of faith in a school that did not exist yet. The school’s application did not mince words about what it expected of its first class: “a strong code of conduct, a strong dress code and a large amount of homework.” Many applicants were unfazed. “I can understand why there is a strong dress code,” wrote Dan Vittum (far right) with the Noble Mock Trial team

one prospective student in an application essay. “This is to discourage people who are not willing to abide by this rule because these are the students that are not fully interested in succeeding in their education.” Anoth- er applicant wrote “as for the large amount of homework I would be better prepared for college in the long run. I’m ready and willing to do the homework that will prepare me for the future.”

170 students applied for 110 slots in the initial freshman class at Noble, necessitating a lottery. The final class number ended up at 124 students.

Noble Street Charter School celebrated its first day of school on August 16, 1999. Classes took place on the second and third floors of Evanston Hall because workers were completing the first stage of the school building on top of the Allison Gym. The second phase occurred on the site of the original gym along the alley, which at that time housed the wood shop as well as a clothing thrift shop run by neighborhood volunteers. This phase was constructed during the school year while Settlement staff fundraised for the resources to pay for it.

To achieve the ambitious goal of preparing all of its students for college, teachers had to make an immediate impact upon student achievement. According to standardized testing, only 22% of incoming freshmen were at or above grade level in reading and only 36% were at or above grade level in math. The main entrance to Noble in 2005 As Northwestern Settlement was experiencing some growing pains with the addition of No- ble Street Charter School, its inaugural Class of 2003 was experiencing adjustments to the rigorous curriculum. “My most memorable thing that happened… during my first year was that we had all this homework. I’ve never had this much homework before,” remarked Andy Martinez. “In the beginning, a lot of us slacked off and probably didn’t do to the best of our ability,” added Marlen Camacho. “When we received our first progress reports, many of us cried. When we got our report cards, we were shocked.” One partial expla- nation for initial poor testing was that many of A Noble student learning chemistry

the students had undiagnosed vision issues, or could not afford eyeglasses (92% of the students in Noble’s inaugural class came from low-income families). Once all students took mandatory vision tests, Noble realized that 33 students required corrective lenses or updated prescriptions. The Settlement’s Emergency Ser- vices Program assisted in providing exams and glasses to students.

Of course, the Noble experience meant more than just academic challenges. In the 2003 yearbook, Dalena Torres reminisces about “finding out what cool teachers I have. When I would talk to my friends about teachers, they would complain about theirs. I love to talk about my teachers; they are really my friends.”

More than 85% of the inaugural Noble graduating class pursued higher education. Noble’s inaugural valedic- torian, Vanessa Madrigal, matriculated to Northwestern University where she studied engineering. “If there’s one thing Mr. and Mrs. Milkie have taught me well, it is that you can never dream too big,” she wrote about her experience at Noble in 2006. “They constantly invited me to attend college visits with them during spring break or on the weekends.” Mike Milkie’s special summer program for his math students, exposing them to colleges throughout the nation, turned into the Summer of a Lifetime program. In the summer of 2015, 800 students participated.

Noble’s opening attracted a local news crew when the school first opened in 1999. Two years later, the school made national news. CNN visited Noble in January 2001 as part of a report on charter schools. A live audience watched as Mike Milkie and students showed camera crews around Noble’s halls and discussed why it was so successful. Noble’s profile continued to grow, and soon it was the subject of articles in the Chi- cago Tribune and New York Times.

As news of Noble’s successes spread, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation approached Ron Manderschied, encouraging leadership to “replicate” more campuses in Chicago. The Noble and Settlement Boards agreed, and decided that when Noble reached seven campuses, Noble would split off entirely as a separate organization from the Settlement, and Ron Manderschied would step down as Noble’s CEO to concentrate solely on Northwestern Settlement.

With the addition of more campuses, Noble Street Charter School became Noble Street College Prep, a member of the Noble Network of Charter Schools. Fundraising demands grew as well. Ron Manderschied still remembers the time he made his first ask for a million dollar donation - it was to Bruce Rauner, currently Governor of Illinois. The pitch worked, and Rauner College Prep opened a few blocks south of the Settle- ment House in 2006. Pritzker College Prep, a few miles west of the Settlement in the Hermosa community, opened the same year. New campus after new campus would continue to follow. The Settlement’s development team raised over $30 million to propel these initial new campuses, and also completed of one of the first tax exempt bond issues for charter schools in the city of Chicago.

Since becoming its own organization, the Noble Network of Charter Schools has achieved consistent success. As of 2016, it operates 18 Chicago campuses serving over 11,000 students and actively seeks to open more locations. The Noble Network now has a central office in Chicago’s Loop, but Mike and Tonya Milkie still

occupy the same office they did at Noble Street College Prep as when the school first opened in 1999. Noble received the 2015 Broad Prize for Public Charter Schools by The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, a covet- ed national award. Noble schools consistently rank among Chicago’s highest-performing open-enrollment public schools, as determined by ACT score. More than 90% of Noble graduates matriculate to college. Northwestern Settlement is proud of its role in the beginning of this life-changing organization, and realizing its original goal of making a lasting impact upon public education in Chicago.

The development of Noble spurred many technological changes within the Settlement. A new technology hub established in the basement of Evanston Hall propelled all data for the Noble Network and Northwest- ern Settlement. In 2007, the Settlement ceased creating a print version of its regular newsletter, The Neigh- bor. A new email newsletter, the “e-Neighbor” replaced it. The ease of electronic communications meant that the Settlement could communicate with its stakeholders at least monthly, instead of only three times a year as it had in the early 2000’s.

Nearly concurrently with the development of Noble Street College Prep was the development of another new program that would impact thousands of lives.

In 1993, President Bill Clinton established the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), merging earlier programs established by the administrations of Lyndon Johnson and George H.W. Bush. AmeriCorps, a CNCS initiative, is the nation’s domestic Peace Corps, helping connect citizens with opportunities to give a year of service to communities in need. AmeriCorps evokes the University Settlement philoso- phy itself, with its focus on embedding service-minded recent college graduates within urban communities.

With the strong tradition of arts in the Settlement Movement, and full usage of the Vittum Theater still years off, the Settlement made several efforts in the early 1990’s to integrate arts into its programs. For the 1994- 95 school year, the Settlement received funding from the Chicago Community Trust to partner with the Sher- wood Conservatory of Music (now the Sherwood Community Music School at Columbia College Chicago) and establish the West Town Arts Partnership. To integrate quality arts education into local public schools, the Settlement partnered with Wells and Peabody, as well as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Mordine Dance Theatre, the Marwen Foundation, Partners in Mime, the Goodman Theatre, and the Chicago Commu- nity TV network. The Settlement even hosted legendary mime Marcel Marceau in 1997 as part of this work. His performance enthralled the Settlement’s preschoolers.

A few years later, in 1997, Northwestern Settlement obtained its first AmeriCorps grant. The Integrated Arts, Integrating Education program embedded artists within Peabody, Otis Elementary, and Wells to teach core subjects such as math, reading, and science with an artistic focus. The first group of 24 AmeriCorps members consisted of 10 Northwestern alumni with degrees in theatre or music. One of the members was Sarah Ruhl, who would later become an accomplished playwright.

Integrated Arts, Integrating Education operated on a three-year contract with a planned end in 2000. The program succeeded greatly. In those three years, 77 AmeriCorps members provided over 80,000 hours of

service to West Town, partnering with 80 teachers to assist over 3,000 children in their educational development. For its next Ameri- Corps grant application, the Settlement decided to think even broader.

Led by Yasmin Rodriguez, Project YES! (Youth, Education, and Service) places Ameri- Corps members in local public schools to provide direct student and classroom assistance. Members aid teachers, assist with after-school programming, tutor students, and help high school seniors with college applications. Project YES! leads a community clean-up day in 2007

Project YES! members also create large-scale volunteer projects, encouraging neighbors to take a personal role in improving their communities. These projects have included community clean-up days, an annual liter- acy fair held each Martin Luther King Day, a youth field day with multiple sports, and community gardening in Humboldt Park. Every November, members spend countless hours in the Burnside Hall kitchen preparing the hundreds of pounds of food necessary for the Settlement’s annual Thanksgiving feast.

Each summer, Project YES! welcomes high school and college students as part of its Junior AmeriCorps program. By volunteering their summer to help out children in Summer Adventure Camp and other programs, members receive a small stipend as well as an education award that can be used towards college tuition. Stu- dents from Noble Street College Prep and other Noble campuses frequently participate in the program.

By 2016, over 40 Project YES! alumni had found full-time employment with the Settlement or Noble after their year of service concluded. Derek Young taught preschool at the Settlement when his service ended in 2001, before moving to Rowe in its first year of operation. Currently, he works with Rowe’s special education scholars. The Settlement’s sense of community had a profound impact upon him: “staff and neighbors of the Settlement shared a vision that was not only influential, but also guided me into adulthood with their consistency and their presence.” Melissa Jones served at Rowe Elementary during the 2010-11 school year, and was proud to see the scholars she worked with graduate in 2016. She credits her experiences there as invaluable to her work as a group leader for the After School Program. Liz Immer was a Project YES! member at the Settlement during Rowe’s first year, and now teaches science at the school. She wanted “to stay in the family” when her year of service concluded.

Northwestern Settlement had shifted focus significantly with its AmeriCorps program, but engaging neighbors in the arts remained a primary goal for Ron Manderschied. Children’s theatre, teaching artists, and even improvised theatre all had their roots in the Settlement Movement, but the Settlement had not engaged in formal theatre programming for decades. Upon completion of the Campaign for Community Arts, the Vit- tum Theater was finally ready to make its debut.

The Vittum Theater officially opened on Sep- tember 23, 1998, in an event chaired by Kathy Bette, Paula Danoff, and Claire Fischer. At- tendees enjoyed dinner, and a toast led by Honorary Chair of the Campaign for Commu- nity Arts Arnold Weber. Performances included a rendition of “Getting to Know You” from The King & I featuring Northwestern student and then-Miss America Kate Shindle leading a group of Settlement children, and the Otis School Band. The band, started by Integrated Arts, Integrating Education members, was Otis Elementary’s first. The Vittum Theater

With 299 fixed seats, professional lighting and sound, and a spacious thrust stage, the Vittum Theater had no trouble attracting tenants. Within its first months of availability, groups including the Chicago Children’s Choir, Shakespeare Repertory Theatre, and Sones de Mexico performed for local audiences. Noble students learned technical skills as well as performing onstage. The theater also hosted an aldermanic debate, the Chi- cago Bar Association’s annual revue, and a touring performance by Northwestern University theatre students.

Ron Manderschied saw the success his former employer in Minneapolis, Pillsbury House, was having with its fully-functioning theatre program that focused on community teenagers. At the time, Chicago had few options for family-friendly theatre, and the productions that did exist nearly exclusively were staged at expensive downtown theaters. To this day, the Settlement operates one of the few nonprofit theatres on Chicago’s entire west side, as well as one of only a few focusing on youth and family.

Colby Bessara led the program in its initial years, before Tom Arvetis assumed leadership as Producing Artis- tic Director. Both Colby and Tom studied theater at Northwestern University.

By 2003, Vittum Theater’s focus had pivoted from presenting shows by outside groups to producing its own. Tom Arvetis explained, “it dawned on us… how hard it was to maintain a high caliber experience if we were not directly involved in the creation of the performances…. We want to help teachers make direct links from Vittum to their curriculum. Managing all of these different philosophies and communicating them all in a way that made sense to the audience was not possible without producing our own shows.”

Vittum Theater’s earliest shows were adaptations of popular children’s books. In Tom Arvetis’ words, “children respond differently to stories in which they can imagine themselves. We also want to empower and encourage critical thinking, so the stories, themselves, have to be sophisticated and respect the imagination of our audience.” Productions would eventually include adaptations of popular folktales and myths, as well as plays tackling historical topics ranging from Sojourner Truth to the Holocaust to Hurricane Katrina. The theatre and its staff would go on to accumulate an impressive amount of accolades: the American Alliance for Theatre and Education’s (AATE) Zeta Phi Eta Winifred Ward Award for Outstanding New Children’s Thea-

tre Company; the 2012 Illinois Theatre Asso- ciation Award of Excellence in Theatre for Young Audiences. Tom Arvetis received consecutive AATE awards in 2013 and 2014 for his direction of Six Stories Tall and his adapta- tion of Sharon Creech’s Walk Two Moons, re- spectively. In 2008, the theatre’s world premiere of Katrina: The Girl Who Wanted Her Name Back received inclusion in the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ New Visions/New Voices festival in Washington DC.

Adventure Stage Chicago’s 2009 production of Holes, adapted from the Vittum Theater also decided to focus on an un- popular Louis Sachar book. derserved niche in the field of theatre for young audiences: middle schoolers. Most theatres staging productions for youth produced work for very young audiences or teenagers. The Settlement’s artists felt that youth navi- gating the delicate bridge between childhood and adolescence deserved to see work that spoke to them. In 2016, the Settlement’s theatre program remains the only one in Chicago, and the Midwest, devoted solely to middle school audiences.

Northwestern Settlement’s programmatic growth with the additions of Noble, Project Settlement staff in the early 2000’s YES!, and the Vittum Theater propelled growth throughout the rest of the organization. The first Noble classrooms were built above Allison gymnasium, with later classrooms constructed behind the gymnasium and Settlement House. A bridge connecting the school to the second floor of Evanston Hall was built in 2000. The Settlement added 26,000 square feet of space to accommodate the new school. Even House In The Wood added a new multi-purpose space, the Vittum Lodge, to account for increased year-round use. Technology upgrades included a new computer network, electronic databases for financial systems and tracking neighbors, and new websites. The Business Of- fice doubled in size, a Technology Director and Volunteer Coordinator joined the staff, and teachers from around the country applied to teach at Noble. For once in his career, Ron Manderschied could no longer manage the full daily operations of the Settlement by himself. He delegated many of these responsibilities to a newly-created Chief of Staff position filled by longtime Settlement staff member Tony Feliciano, so he could focus more on developing financial resources and building both private and public relationships.

Other new programs had a more modest, but still consequential, impact. A thrift shop provided donated goods to neighbors at prices affordable to low-income families. The Chicago Community Trust art gallery provided an opportunity for neighborhood artists to exhibit their works, especially Hispanic artists. The gallery reflected not only West Town’s burgeoning visual art scene, but also the traditions of the neighborhood’s traditional Latin American heritage. West Town Tile was a vocational program by which neighborhood

women created, marketed, and sold custom hand-painted ceramic tiles that they designed themselves. Busi- nesses and hospitals commissioned tiles from the group, which paid its members and also taught business skills such as inventory keeping and basic accounting.

As the Settlement worked tirelessly to produce today’s leaders, the Settlement’s Board of Directors and auxiliary boards worked tirelessly to propel the organization to new heights.

2005 saw the creation of the Chicago Board, for young professionals living across the city. Many members had parents or grandparents who served on the Settlement’s other auxiliary boards.

Patricia Johnson chaired the Board of Directors from 2000 to 2004, continuing the Settlement's tradition of women in leadership roles that began with Harriet Vittum. Patricia became an all-star volunteer with the North Shore Board, serving as Board President, Bene- fit Chair (twice), House In The Wood liaison, and Treasurer. On the main Board, her efforts included serving as Treasurer, chairing the Fund Raising Com- mittee, and creating and operating the Annual Appeal in the days before the Settlement had a full-time director of development.

Glenn Dalhart joined the Board of Directors in 1997 and served as Board President from 2005 to 2010. His mother-in-law, Virginia Winter, had been an Ev- anston Woman’s Board member since 1976, and his Patricia Johnson wife Ann served first on the North Shore Board and then on the Winnetka Board. Glenn’s daughters Emily and Abby joined the Chicago Board shortly after it was formed, and Emily would eventually join her mother on the Winnetka Board. The Dalhart family is just one example of families with multi-generational commitments throughout both the Board and auxiliary boards. Glenn was Board Chairman during the spinoff of Noble and the subsequent creation of Rowe Elementary. His leadership helped solidify formal education as one of the main focus areas of the Settlement.

The story of LeShonne Segura especially mirrors that of the Settlement’s past 25 years, and demonstrates the fulfilment of the Settlement’s pledge to disrupt generational poverty. Her family moved frequently around West Town and Humboldt Park, but her mother always made sure she was involved with the local youth services. At the Settlement, this meant summers with Teen Adventure Camp and at House In The Wood; going to camp was the first time LeShonne had left Chicago. When her family needed an extra helping hand to make ends meet, they went to the Settlement's food pantry. After attending Otis Elementary, she became part of the first freshman classes at Noble Street - and although they did not know each other at the time, her future husband was a sophomore. LeShonne exceeded at Noble, participating in the tech club for the Vittum Theater and graduating at the top of her class. She received a full scholarship to Amherst College. To help

support herself and her family during one summer break, she worked for the Project YES! Junior Ameri- Corps group.

LeShonne says that the Settlement helped her see “the world as a much bigger place than I had grown up in.” Sometimes this perspective meant more than just being outside the city or visiting a college campus. Her life in West Town had been relatively homogenous. When at Brown or Amherst, or even in Northbrook for Camp Norcago, she saw a different kind of homogenous environment. Her childhood friends could have succeeded, thrived, and soared in these environments, but never had the opportunity more affluent children had. She did not know what the term “privilege” meant when she was a young adult, but she certainly under- stood the concept, and it fostered an activist spirit within her - one that would take her to City Year and Teach For America (other AmeriCorps programs), and back to Noble’s campuses as a teacher and counselor. In, 2016 LeShonne joined the staff of the Settlement’s Rowe Elementary School to create and operate Parent Academy, a new program designed to work with parents of scholars so that they could be equal partners in the education process of their children.

Ron Manderschied’s leadership also continued. In honor of his commitment, on October 27, 2002, the City of Chicago bestowed upon the stretch of Noble Street between Augusta and Milwaukee the honorary name of Ronald R. Manderschied Street.

As the Settlement continued growing, West Town continued gentrifying. By 2010, West Town had poverty rates lower than the Chicago average, although because of its large population, thousands of households remained below the poverty line. Over 12,000 more residents had college or advanced degrees than in 2000. West Town had been majority-minority in the 1990’s; now Caucasians comprised nearly 75% of residents. MTV’s popular reality show The Real World filmed in Wicker Park in 2001, seeking “the hippest neighborhood” as the Chicago Reader implied, also noting that MTV’s presence in the neighborhood was “a symptom of gentrification, not a cause.” Residents and independent businesses protested the filming, and the corporate influences they saw invading the neighborhood. Not even ten years earlier, and just a mile away, the Set- tlement's neighbors had protested drug dealers and gangs in West Town. Times were indeed changing.

Chapter 3: An Era of Integration, 2009-2016

Noble Street College Prep had always empowered students to study hard, push themselves academically, graduate from high school, and attend college. But Noble’s freshmen continued to score below average on standardized assessments in their first few months as students. Settlement leadership knew that a high- performing elementary school could positively impact youth from an earlier age, and would be a natural fit for the children graduating from the Head Start preschool program. Ron Manderschied had always felt that education reformers needed to focus on improving elementary school performance, so high schools could reach their full potential. Years before establishing Noble, the Settlement had unsuccessfully attempted to develop a boarding school for West Town children at House In The Wood through a city contract. However, the costs proved too great and charter schools were not yet an option in Illinois.

John Rowe, the now-retired CEO of Exelon, was familiar with Northwestern Settlement from his experience with the Noble Network. The Rowe family had made a naming gift to establish Rowe-Clark Math and Science Academy. His wife Jeanne enjoyed taking an active role mentoring students at Rowe- Clark, and John taught leadership and honors history classes at the school. When Ron Manderschied left Noble he stated his intentions to develop an elementary school, and John told him to let him know if that happened, as the Rowe family might be interested in supporting it. When Northwestern Settlement decided to move forward with the school, the Rowes agreed to make a naming gift and become partners in its development and operations.

The Settlement received over $3 million in pro-bono consult- ing support from Bain & Company to develop the new elementary school. Ted Rouse, a senior leader at Bain, and his wife Barbara, a Board member of the Settlement, facilitated an introduction to the company. Julie Coffman, a John and Jeanne Rowe Bain partner and eventual member of the Set- tlement’s Board of Directors, coordinated these efforts and today chairs the Board’s Rowe Committee. Bain consultants researched high- performing charter schools nationally to gather best practices for both academics and social- emotional learning. Bain employees continue to volunteer regularly in classrooms or help with gardening and other projects around the school.

Rowe Elementary School’s Cleaver Street building

Bain consultants and school leaders designed Rowe to have a college-prep focus starting in Kindergarten. Teachers refer to students as “scholars,” grade levels are demarcated by college graduation year (ie, the inaugural class of 8th grade graduates was the class of 2024), and all classrooms are named after colleges and universities. Each classroom develops its own cheer that incorporates school pride and the desire to go to college.

After a national search, the Settlement chose Ana Martinez to serve as Founding Principal of Rowe Elementary. Ana’s parents had Founding Principal Ana Martinez with Rowe scholars come to the United States from El Salvador, and she was the first member of her extended family to attend and graduate from college. She came to the Settlement after several years participating in Teach For America as first a teacher and then a staff member. Her life story embodies the Settlement’s belief that our neighbors can and will succeed in life through education. Ana’s commitment to Rowe started before the school even opened, during a “Principal Intern” year where she divided her time between planning for Rowe’s opening and participating in a learning residency at a Noble Network campus. Her Tony Sutton opens Rowe’s middle school building in 2015 hands-on role at Rowe included holding regular parent coffees, and assisting with daily drop-off and dismissal. She immersed Rowe in the Settlement’s culture, and facilitated the initial integration of the Settlement’s programs into the school. Ana departed Rowe in 2015 to take a leadership role with a national principal leadership development organization. Her successor, Tony Sutton, is a Chicago native and a fellow Teach For America participant who retunred to his hometown after a leadership role at the highest-performing charter school in Washington, DC.

Many Rowe faculty and staff feel deep personal Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel visits Rowe Elementary in 2013 connections to the Settlement’s mission and purpose. Operations Manager John Lopez says, “I grew up in the same circumstances as a lot of our scholars. My father came to the US when he was 13 and worked 10 hours a day.... My mother worked 60 hours a week

and went to school at night when we were growing up. They always told us it never bothered them because they wanted us to have better lives than they did. Because of my parents, I was the first person in my family to graduate from college. It is a major accomplishment that I hope all of our scholars and parents will achieve one day."

“I grew up without the guidance I should’ve had,” says classroom assistant Eric Pena. “I just don't want other scholars to go through the same things I had to go through. Helping one scholar is just not enough for me, I need to help as many scholars as I possibly can, so they can become the best person they possibly can be.”

Rowe opened in September 2009 with 150 scholars in Kinder- garten through 2nd grade. Rowe would expand by four classrooms in each grade level annually, until reaching full K-8 status. At its planned full enrollment in the 2017-18 school year, Rowe will serve 1,035 scholars.

With space still at a premium for the Settlement, Rowe did not even have its own campus in its first year of operation. Mike Milkie allowed Rowe to set up six classrooms and share the dining space in nearby Golder College Prep, a Noble school, for its first year of operation. When nearby Lozano Elementary Glenn Dalhart closed one of its two buildings due to under-enrollment, John Rowe was able to advocate and enable the Settlement to obtain Lozano’s old original facilities. Rowe Elementary had the good fortune to begin growing just a few blocks north of the Settle- ment main building.

Rowe Elementary has already received numerous recognitions for its successes. The US Department of Education awarded $200,000 in competitive grant funding to Rowe to assist with start-up costs. In 2014, Rowe received one of ten National Community Partnership Awards from Mutual of America, due to its strong public-private partnerships.

As Board Chairman, Glenn Dalhart helped the Settlement transition from operating Noble to creating Rowe Elementary. His successor Robert Best proved instrumental in shepherding Rowe into existence. Robert had assisted Northwestern Settle-

Robert Best

ment in many capacities since 1991, when he represented the Settlement in the acquisition of Evanston Hall. He later served as general counsel, and as a Board member.

Shifting demographics and citywide declines in enrollment led Chicago Public Schools to close 49 elementary schools in 2013, its largest mass closure of schools in its history. Peabody Elementary closed its doors after 100 years as one of Northwestern Settlement’s closest partners. The loss of Peabody proved bitter- sweet, as the Settlement was able to obtain the Rowe’s middle school facility expansion, completed in 2016 directly adjacent annex facility that Peabody operated and renovate it into Rowe’s middle school, allowing Rowe to serve more scholars. In late 2016 the Settle- ment began a capital fundraising effort to build a new two-story addition tying the annex to the Settlement House and immediately creating more space for the middle school and potential additional preschool classrooms, along with office space for the Settlement’s youth programs at a later date. John and Jeanne Rowe again demonstrated their commitment to Chicago’s children by making an additional $2 million commitment, which with New Market Tax Credits and bank financing, would make the building possible.

Northwestern Settlement rebranded its resident Vittum Theater company as Adventure Stage Chicago in 2007 to make theatrical productions distinct from the theater space, and to appeal better to its young audience. The Vittum Theater stage would continue to host other touring companies, and a wide variety of community events. Adventure Stage Chicago continued its success with critics, audiences, and schools. A partnership with the Children’s Theatre Company of Minneapolis, as part of a dissemination program sponsored by the Department of Education, allowed Adventure Stage Chicago to transform its school residencies into the research-based Neighborhood Bridges program. Yet, Ron Manderschied and Tom Arvetis still felt opportunity for improvement existed so that the program would even more closely align with the Settlement mission and vision. They both felt that the program needed to partner more directly with the Settlement’s neighbors and other programs so that Adventure Stage Chicago could broaden its audience, elevate community voices, and focus on civic engagement.

Adventure Stage Chicago approached EmcArts, a national organization, for participation in its Innovation Lab for the Performing Arts. The application succeeded, and in 2010 staff from across the Settlement traveled to Virginia to participate in an immersive, collaborative process to imagine how Adventure Stage Chica- go could seamlessly integrate social services, education, and theatre across Northwestern Settlement. Most notably, Adventure Stage Chicago sought to create art with the Settlement’s neighbors, instead of creating art for them. Through this process, and multi-year grant support from the Doris Duke Charitable Fund, Adven- ture Stage Chicago created several groundbreaking innovations.

Through these workshops grew Adventure Stage Chicago’s “Story Circles.” Story Circles is an innovative combination of storytelling, interviews, and focus groups. Adventure Stage Chicago's artists gather commu-

nity members together including neighborhood families, participants of Settlement programs, and classrooms of Chicago Public Schools students. A facilitator leads a process to engage these neighbors in discussion around a common topic, often by recounting a popular fairy tale or myth. In the earliest Story Circles, artists found that entering a room of strangers and asking them to begin talking about sensitive issues often led to strained discussions. However, asking the same group to find common themes between a story and their lives creates highly productive discussions, sometimes about very personal matters. A playwright is present for these sessions, and uses the group discussions to create inspiration for a world premiere script that runs for several weeks for an audience of thousands of Chicago Public Schools students. Going forward, all new original shows would feature a young central character making he- roic decisions in response to challenges.

Plays created through Story Circles approached neighbors’ stories both literally and figuratively. The first Story Circles production, Augusta and Noble, took its name from the Settlement’s The 2013 production of Augusta and Noble address. The protagonist was a composite of multiple neighborhood youth, a young girl researching her family tree and discovering that her family had entered the United States illegally. Chicago-based playwright Carlos Murillo interwove themes of Mexican folklore and magical realism into this true to life story. Other plays were more fantastical. Tom Arvetis created a series of plays taking place in a future dystopia, imagining societies where outsider communities encountered friends and foes in powerful, privileged communities. The productions also dealt with the violence Settlement families encountered far too often. Dani Bryant’s Worthy examined princess culture and gender roles in the age of social media, putting a contemporary spin on the traditional fairy tale.

After his classroom viewed Tom Arvetis’ Spark, a CPS teacher wrote to the Settlement that “our kids’ faces lit up with excitement and they whispered to each other when it was obvious that one of their ideas had made it into the script and onto the stage.”

Adventure Stage Chicago also sought ways to incorporate the voices of neighbors more directly into the artistic process. As part of the Innovation Lab work, this focus initially took the form of intergenerational interviews between youth and senior citizens. However, young participants quickly developed an eagerness to tell their own stories. Adventure Stage Chicago convened a group of these children, ages 9-15, as the Trailblaz- ers, the company’s first youth ensemble. The program matched these youth one-on-one with artist mentors from Adventure Stage Chicago’s team of ensemble members and teaching artists. Each session culminated in a production at the Vittum Theater, based on the participants’ experiences. As the program evolved, youth aspired for greater voice and responsibility. Mentors began to primarily provide guidance rather than direct mentorship as youth worked increasingly together as peers, and with more responsibility from older members. Culminating plays were initially written by a playwright based on Trailblazers’ life experiences, but soon the situations and dialogue came entirely from the participants with gentle assistance from their mentors.

As Trailblazers’ ambitions grew, so did the program. The first ensemble involved 15 youth. By the end of the 2016-17 school year, the ensemble will consist of approximately 60 youth, with 40 Rowe Elementary students and 20 youth from across Chicago’s neighborhoods.

From inception, the Trailblazers program aspired to more than simply teaching youth theater skills. Teaching artists placed equal importance on creating a safe space for building personal assets. For their culminating productions, Trailblazers would intentionally choose to explore challenging themes that were hard to express to others: bullying, loss, racism, violence. They also enjoyed using theatre to explore characters who were completely unlike themselves. In one post-show discussion, one Trailblazers participant enthused about playing a character who was fed up with traditional gender labels as part of a search for her own identity. The young actress described herself as “girly” but was eager to inhabit a role that was her polar opposite. She used the acting process to build empathy for someone who was completely different from her, and her sensitive performance encouraged her peers in the audience to do the same.

One participant in Trailblazers recounted in their original performance On Air how he was frequently bullied at a different summer camp. After using his experience at Trailblazers’ summer session to help process his emotions, his mother said “This summer has been life- altering for Sam. Every other camp experience he's had, he's come home stating firmly, ‘I will never go there again.’ Today, after we got everything into the car, as he was telling me a story about Trailblazers, he casually said, ‘when I go back there next year....’ He's had such a rough time every summer, until now. I can't tell you what it's like to see him happy.” The Trailblazers and their mentors in 2015

House In The Wood also saw program growth, largely thanks to the integration of Rowe Elementary School programming. Ron Manderschied had believed since assuming leadership of the Settlement that the camp was an underutilized resource. Students at Noble Street College Prep had attended House In The Wood for peer bonding and team building but Ron felt that more opportunities existed. The bucolic outdoor setting was a natural fit for hands-on field studies in environmental education. Camp, he believed, would provide an opportunity for Rowe scholars to develop academic skills, as well as form stronger bonds with their peers and their Rowe scholars receive outdoor education lessons at House In The Wood teachers. Each spring and fall, three grade levels

of scholars in 3rd grade and above travel to House In The Wood with their teachers for a full week of outdoor education field studies. Scholars participate in water studies, birdwatching, live astronomy lessons, and more. By 2016, over 300 Rowe scholars would attend yearly. As part of the Settlement's mission to provide life-changing programs to all public school students, House In The Wood also offers residencies to any interested school groups in Chicago, Illinois, and Wisconsin. Participation from these outside groups has also blossomed to over 200 students annually, taking part in one-to-three night stays.

Multiple studies have shown the benefits of the outdoors upon children. Camp staff have seen this impact first-hand at environmental education residencies. During one of Rowe’s morning environmental lessons, a staff member named Alex got a call on the walkie-talkie from one of the trail leaders. A scholar was not getting along with the other children in his group. This was the second incident involving this scholar, so our staff decided that he needed a break from the group. Alex mentioned that he needed some help with a special project. The logs that students use for benches were all starting to tilt to the point where they were unusable. The scholar helped lift the first log off its base but almost dropped his end when he saw all the centipedes and spiders scuttling to find new shelter. Alex immediately identified this teachable moment and started talking about insects and spiders, lifting up logs and describing the different kind of insects, their habitats, and their features. The scholar eventually rejoined his group and told them about all the bugs he found. Rather than boasting or making his peers feel jealous, the scholar included them in the conversation and shared with them his discoveries. What helped him overcome his problems with the group was not just the gentle involvement of a teacher but also pure, fascinating nature.

Transforming House In The Wood into a true year-round facility would require extensive effort. In recognition of this need, and other organization-wide projects, the Settlement established a committee in 2014 to conduct the only major capital fundraising since the completion of the Campaign for Community Arts in 1998. The committee was chaired by Kathy and Michael Elliott, and Jeanne and John Rowe. Other members of the committee included Anna Atkinson, Robert Best, Carol Golder, William Hall, Mimi Harris, Amy Stewart O’Donnell, and Marc Peters. Campaign consultant Brian Saber spearheaded the effort together with the Settlement’s External Affairs staff, led by Katie Taylor. Like the Centennial Campaign, campaign staff met with each Board and auxiliary board member to solicit their support. The committee set a goal of $13 million to complete the operational startup of Rowe Elementary School, update current buildings and add several new facilities at House In The Wood, and complete needed renovations to the original Settlement House. This campaign was the largest fundraising ever undertaken by the Settlement, and each member of the Cam- paign Committee made a leadership gift.

Major improvements to camp as part of the campaign included the purchase of Elliott House, a new home for the camp director. An expanded dining hall, re-named Elliott Lodge, allows full grade levels at Rowe or entire sessions of summer campers to dine together. Designed to accommodate both students and summer campers, the Valerie Hall House In The Wood and the expanded Elliott Lodge dining hall

Outdoor Education Center features office space, live animal exhibits, a classroom, astronomy software, and other scientific equipment. Hurricane shutters across all glass windows allow the lower level to double as a storm shelter. Rouse Cottage expanded camp and rental capacity to 120 people.

One particularly special gift to camp came from Sue Freitag, daughter of former Emer- gency Services Director Pat Jaszka. She made a gift from her family’s company, Royal Die & Stamping Co., to renovate the camp offices into a new facility named the Pat Jaszka Meet- ing Center. Campers will use the center to Valerie Hall Outdoor Education Center work with mentors, learn life skills, and just relax. Pat registered thousands of campers during her decades at the Settlement, many of whom credited her with keeping them from joining gangs.

Northwestern Settlement’s business partners occasionally increase their partnership to become full stakeholders in the organization’s mission. The Deschner family has constructed nearly every building at House In The Rouse Cottage Wood. John Sr. worked as a young man at the camp when it was a summer orphanage prior to the Settlement purchasing the property. He met his future wife at the orphanage and later developed Deschner Construction Company. After the Settlement obtained the property in 1951, John continued doing all the construction work. Upon John’s death, his son Ron assumed construction and caretaking of the facilities. Finally, Ron's younger brother John became an employee in 2015 with the overall maintenance of camp as his focus. The Deschners frequently donated their labor to House In The Wood because it was the Pat Jaszka (bottom left) and family at camp “family business.” Other longtime Settlement partners include David Moreno Construction, who built out all of Evanston Hall and then for the next 30 years did repairs and improvements throughout the organization.

A typical day at camp in the early 1990’s would start with cabin cleanup, followed by raising the American flag, swimming, boating, arts and crafts, sports, quiet time, hiking, and other traditional camp activities. Days would conclude with campfires, movie nights, and talent shows. Of course, all campers receive delicious meals and snacks. A typical day at camp in 2016 includes all of these activities and more. Today, campers can take archery, tree-climbing, and team building exercises. Outdoor lessons follow a curriculum that aligns with national, research-based learning standards. The first week of the summer con- House In The Wood campers tains special camp sessions with emphasis on theatre (led by Adventure Stage Chicago’s teaching artists) and horseback riding.

House In The Wood’s impact upon its young campers remains transformational, especially for Leaders In Training who are learning skills necessary to not only better their own lives but also be role models for younger children. Each year, their testimonials speak deeply to camp’s impact.

Phillip says: “I’ve seen a lot in my thirteen years. I’ve had friends die of violence, I’ve struggled with anxiety and depression, and my family has had financial instabilities. I’ve been forced to grow up faster than any kid should. When I’m at camp, I can be a kid again. I do things I can’t do anywhere else and meet people I can’t meet anywhere else. Camp gives you a chance to do things that are impossible in the city. It’s safe enough to go outside and swim every day. I’ve met people from places like Australia and Estonia. I didn’t even know Estonia was a country. When I first came to camp I didn’t feel so great about myself. I’d been to three different schools in one year. My grades had started to slip and I was closing myself off. A friend from school told me about camp and told me I needed to get here right away. After I got off the bus from Chicago and stepped into camp, I felt like I was home. The Leaders In Training helped me open myself up and try new things. I started to try professionally acting after my first year at camp, and I’m having a great time at school.”

Da’mond says: “I believe that if I wasn’t at camp I’d probably be in a graveyard somewhere. Recently my father passed away so I’ve been getting into a lot of trouble lately. I try to come to camp to get away from all that, so I can build myself back up. Here you wake up in the morning and you don’t have to be scared of nothing. I don’t have to be scared to walk out the door and wonder what’s going to happen to me. The Leaders In Training program really teaches me how to be more responsible, how to have more maturity so I can be an adult. Last week, my brother was shot a couple times, and was in the hospital. I’ve been going through a lot of things, I’ve been ticked off easily. But I know that my father and my brother wouldn’t want me to be mad. I think camp really saved my life, because if I was in Chicago that night it could’ve been me instead of my brother. Camp didn’t just save my life, it saved my soul too.”

In 2016, West Town continued its march towards full gentrification. Yet as in the decades before, while new- comers to the neighborhood enjoyed growing benefits, longtime residents and less prosperous families continued to struggle.

In the winter of 2013, the Chicago Bulls paired with the Settlement for the annual Adopt A Family program, a partnership that has grown to include other players and front office staff. This particular year had a big twist: in addition to Bulls’ staff members sponsoring families, star forward Taj Gibson would personally pick gifts for a Settlement family. His generosity did not stop there, as he and other Bulls employees donated new kitchen supplies, a laptop and printer for homework, and even the family’s first Christ- mas tree. The parents worked multiple mini- mum wage jobs and the three children were stu- Chicago Bulls player Taj Gibson (back row) supporting a neighborhood dents at the Settlement’s preschool and at Rowe family for the holidays Elementary. The family kept their small first floor apartment tidy and clean, but the building was sorely in need of upkeep. The landlord did not care about the condition of the building. The exposed water heater sat next to the living room, and the gas line was not con- nected to the stove or oven. Across the street loomed newly constructed condos, and former three-flat buildings converted into million-dollar single family homes. But need remained, and continues to remain. It is still the responsibility of the Settlement to provide assistance to families who would otherwise suffer invisibly.

Changes were impacting the Settlement community elsewhere across the city, and across the nation. The Marcy-Newberry Association, with roots in the Marcy Center settlement house founded in 1896 on Chicago’s west side, closed in 2013. The National Federation of Settlements, founded in 1911 by leaders such as Jane Addams and Graham Taylor, had already changed its name to the National Federation of Settlements and Neighborhood Centers in 1957, and then to United Neighborhood Centers of America (UNCA) in 1979. In 2014, UNCA officially merged into the Alliance for Children and Families, a national association of community-based organizations. Soon, the Alliance for Children and Families would itself be renamed to the Alli- ance for Strong Families and Communities. Ron Manderschied served as UNCA’s Board Chair in 2011 and helped lead the merger with the Alliance. On the Alliance Board he became Treasurer, a position he still held as of 2016.

In the fall of 2014, Onward House relocated out of West Town, moving west to the Belmont Cragin community. The agency had been a West Town presence since 1868, but recognizing that immigrants were moving outside of the neighborhood, it followed suit. Onward House’s leaders knew that it was not leaving anyone behind, however, thanks to the continued presence of Northwestern Settlement. Many former customers of the Onward House food pantry came to Augusta Boulevard to continue receiving assistance, and the Settle- ment's Food Pantry received a notable spike in usage following Onward House’s relocation.

On January 19, 2012, the venerable Jane Addams Hull House Association announced that it would file for bankruptcy and close its doors by March, a timeline that was later accelerated to the following week. The announcement stunned the nationwide nonprofit community; the organization’s closure made national news. The Hull House Association was a direct descendent of the original Hull House, one of Chicago’s first Settlement Houses and certainly the most famous. Unlike Northwestern Settlement, which chose to focus its attention on West Town and never physically branched out beyond a few blocks even as services expanded, Hull House provided social services at various centers throughout the city. With this growth came a corre- sponding reliance upon public funding restricted to specific contracts. Like many nonprofits, the stresses of the economic recession and cutbacks in government support, coupled with the lack of flexible operating support, put too large of a strain on Hull House’s budget. Northwestern Settlement became Chicago’s oldest continuously-operating Settlement House.

Changing times and demographics required that the Settlement change its responsiveness to the community. Neighbors still required assistance from the Food Pantry, a preschool education to help children learn how to socialize with others, and other mainstays of the Settlement tradition. Since the Settlement formed Noble Street College Prep and Adventure Stage Chicago, people were coming from across Chicago to access the Settlement’s services. House In the Wood strengthened its relationship with the American Camp Associa- tion’s Illinois branch and drew campers from throughout Chicago’s west and south sides.

The definition of “neighbor” had always included any Settlement stakeholder, including Board members and financial supporters, but more than ever the term represented affinity rather than geography. The Settle- ment’s auxiliary boards remain some of its most devoted neighbors.

The Evanston Woman’s Board celebrated its centennial in 2009, with celebrations including a tour of Chicago entirely on the ‘L’ trains, led by Northwestern University professor Henry Binford. The Board makes a point to fund projects that might lack flash but are sorely needed and valued - replacing the custom windows on the Settlement’s exterior in 2010, and funding tuckpointing for the brickwork in 2014. The Evanston Woman’s Board also has a close relationship with the Settlement’s preschool. Each year, Board members and preschool parents gather for a luncheon, with Board members providing desserts and par- Preschool mothers’ knitting group ents providing homemade hot dishes. Board member Peggy Barr began teaching mothers in the preschool program how to knit in 2013. Eventually, this informal knitting circle became so successful that Peggy’s students began teaching other mothers how to knit, and fellow Board members joined in as well. The knitting group was not only a way for parents to pick up a new hobby, but also a way for them to get to know their neighbors better. Parents would often talk amongst themselves about personal concerns, or issues facing the community as a whole which they considered important. The knitting group’s projects eventually expanded beyond simple scarves to elaborate hats and even ponchos. In 2015, they began selling their handcrafted products during the holidays.

The North Shore Board’s annual black tie event brings in hundreds of thousands of dollars for House In The Wood as the foundational support for summer camper scholarships. Traditionally held at the Four Seasons in downtown Chicago, the “Glitter Ball” dazzled year after year. For years, ABC 7’s Ron Magers emceed the event and served as auctioneer. Each year, guests at the benefit would learn more about the transformational impact camp House In The Wood has upon children. One year, a group of campers wrote and performed in a dramatic sketch about their life-changing experiences at camp. The next year, a video showing the camp experience featured an original song written and performed by campers on the soundtrack. The 2014 Glitter Ball was the most successful in the North Shore Board’s history, raising a record $373,305 for camp. In 2016, the event changed its name to Camp Night and took place at the Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chica- go. Seeking to keep former members of the group involved in the Settlement, a group of North Shore Board alumna created a new alumnae group that annually hosts a fundraiser luncheon, and maintains friendships they developed when working together for so many years.

The Winnetka Board’s members quickly became frequent volunteers at Rowe Elementary School. The Style Under the Stars fashion event grew to not only include fashion items, but also home décor. The Board used to host its event on a lawn in Winnetka with over 500 guests under a tent. After the patron sold her home and the Board could not find another sizeable yard, subsequent fashion shows have been held at the Michigan Shores Club in Wilmette and the Glen View Club in Golf.

The Park Ridge Board continued fostering good cheer during the holidays with their Cherub Brunch, which since 2014 has been a bingo event. This uniquely family-friendly event continues to support the Settlement’s Food Pantry.

The Chicago Board created an annual “Spring for the Settlement” fundraiser, which has ranged from live bands in the Settlement’s Burnside Hall, to a dinner cruise around Navy Pier, to cocktails and dancing in Chi- cago’s trendy Randolph Street district. The Board is also dedicated to volunteering at House In The Wood, maintaining cabins and clearing nature trails.

Upon joining the Adventure Stage Chicago staff in 2014, Managing Director Mary Kate Barley-Jenkins realized that although the theater had many community allies, they would inevitably stop their support once their children aged out of its programs. With assistance from longtime Settlement supporter John Conneely (a Noble teacher for several years after retiring from a corporate career), she established the Adventure Stage Chicago Auxiliary Board in 2014. The Board quickly grew to include not only neighborhood parents, but also professionals from a variety of fields with a passion for the arts. The Board became fond of instituting challenge matches, offering to contribute donations to the theatre if the community could provide matching support. By 2016, these matching gifts grew to $25,000 annually.

Northwestern Settlement proudly emphasizes the “University” component of the University Settlement mod- el, even if students no longer do residency field work at settlements. Social Work students from the Universi- ty of Ottawa regularly visit the Settlement. A Lafayette College group led by a Noble Street College Prep alumna spent an entire week volunteering at the Settlement in January of 2014, while Alternative Spring Break groups from the University of Tennessee and Hendrix College have visited recently to contribute a day of

their time. Northwestern University students remain vital to the Settlement’s success, though today as volunteers and interns. Students doing practicum work in Northwestern’s School of Education and So- cial Policy, or devoting a summer to service through its Center for Civic Engagement, learn first-hand the inner workings of a social service agency. Former interns have entered careers in education and philanthropy, continuing the tradition of service.

Technology has enabled the Settlement to comprehensively assess its effectiveness. The Northwestern student volunteers from the Freshman Urban Program IT Department installed a new, organization- participate yearly in Settlement programs before they start their classes wide constituent management system planning to track neighbors across programs, measuring and mapping each contact point from the theater to the school to the food pantry. Consultants and new staff members provided added capacity to create new assessments and analyze data. In the coming years, Settlement staff hope to be able to track the long-term impacts of its preschool program compared to Rowe scholars who attended a separate preschool or none at all. The Summer Adventure Camp will be able to measure how successfully it prevents the “Summer Slide” of academic learning loss between school years. Beyond providing a fun, safe summer, House In The Wood will be able to gauge how summer camp can lead youth to make improved choices about their goals and futures, and improve their test scores through participation in outdoor education programs.

Since 2010, Northwestern Settlement has developed two new websites and established social media presences on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. Technology has enabled the Settlement’s neighbors to keep in touch throughout the country. Photos of House In The Wood’s campers and staff from decades past prompted former participants to warmly share their recollections of summer fun, and inquire about “Miss Val,” the affectionate name for camp’s Executive Director Val Wright. When longtime and dearly beloved staff members passed away, the Settlement would share the sorrowful news online and neighbors past and present would offer their condolences and memories.

Even with advances in technology and more sophisticated measurements of the Settlement’s impact, the personal connections made with neighbors remain the most important. In 2013, an old man visited the Settle- ment with an equally old violin. He told the receptionist that the violin had belonged to Harriet Vittum - who at this point had been dead for several decades - and that she let him borrow it as long as he returned it to the Settlement when he was finished with it. The receptionist tried to notify Ron Manderschied about the visitor, but when she returned to the front desk, the stranger had disappeared and only the violin remained. Personal relationships and commitments were the foundation of Settlement work in 1891, and remain central in 2016.

2016 was a banner year for Northwestern Settlement, as befitting the momentous 125th anniversary. On May 14 at the Glen View Club in Golf, IL, the Settlement officially celebrated its anniversary year. Guests heard

remarks from Ron Manderschied, enjoyed wonderful conversation, and ate delicious food representing the diverse cultures and traditions of our neighbors: Mexican, Polish, German, and the American Southeast. A DJ played popular hits spanning decades, and dancing and conversation carried on late into the night.

The string of Settlement successes began in January 2016, when Val Wright accepted on behalf of House In The Wood the American Camp Association's Eleanor P. Eels award. This national award recognizes program excellence in organizations that continue to make a positive difference in young lives through the unique summer camp experience. A few months later, the Settlement’s preschool received the news that it had won the Governor’s Award of Excellence for Family and Community Engagement. Further good news arrived when Adventure Stage Chicago received a three year grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to participate in its National Playwright Resi- dency program. Grant funding allowed playwright Carlos Murillo to return to Adventure Stage Chicago in July, this time on staff as Playwright In Residence, providing extra capacity to revise and refine the Story Circles process and create another world premiere in conjunction with our neighbors. Adventure Stage Chicago is the first theatre for young audiences recognized by the Mellon Founda- tion through this program.

Adventure Stage Chicago would continue to honor the Settlement’s history and neighbors Adventure Stage Chicago’s Reprise throughout 2016 with a world premiere production in September. Reprise adapted the story of Harriet Vittum’s violin to explore the meaning of “home” and the role of music in uniting diverse communities. Ensemble member Sarah Rose Graber wrote the script after several hours of devising situations and dialogue with neighbors. A few weeks later in October, Reprise traveled to Glasgow as part of a creative exchange with the National Theatre of Scot- land’s “Home Away” festival. Adventure Stage Chicago was one of ten theater companies participating, and the only one from the United States. The response from the international audience was extremely enthusiastic. One artist said “When I go back to Jamaica, I’m going to try to make my friends do something just like this.”

At the Settlement’s Annual Meeting in April, Robert Best for- mally passed the Chairman’s gavel to Anthony Perry. Antho- ny, homebuilder and owner of A. Perry Homes, was on the Board for three years and has proved to be one of its most vocal and devoted supporters. Tony had first approached the Anthony Perry

development office about arranging donations for the Settlement during his business’ annual Winterfest party for friends and clients. Tony originally intended to rotate beneficiaries yearly, but after learning more about the Settlement, he instead increased his involvement. Tony’s background and talents as an architect have also proven highly useful as the Settlement builds and expands facilities at Rowe Elementary School and House In The Wood.

One of the Settlement’s proudest achieve- ments of 2016 was the inaugural graduation of Rowe Elementary School scholars. These 25 young men and women began several new traditions during the school’s first 8th grade year. In March, they assembled onstage at the school auditorium to proudly announce where they would attend high school. They then exchanged the traditional blue tie for a new gold tie. Many scholars in this first class would matriculate to Noble Network schools including Noble Street College Prep. Other scholars received acceptance into prestigious The inaugural graduating class of Rowe 8th grade scholars selective enrollment schools Lane Tech and Jones College Prep. Rowe’s 8th grade also spearheaded the school’s first science fair, where they gave presentations on how to make the new middle school expansion as energy efficient as possible.

After a week of festivities including lunch with John and Jeanne Rowe, a boat tour around Navy Pier, and one final, tear-filled retreat to House In The Wood, Rowe’s scholars officially bid farewell to their alma ma- ter on June 25 in the Vittum Theater for graduation. Nervous energy filled the building beforehand as the scholars prepared for the next big step in their lives, but the teachers offered guidance and even a bit of levi- ty as Principal Tony Sutton engaged in a good natured rap battle with a scholar. With only 25 graduates, teachers and faculty members personalized messages of support and goodwill to each scholar. Summer Willarson made school history as Rowe’s first student commencement speaker. Families later gathered in Burnside Hall for a reception thrown by Bain & Co. Hugs were abundant, and so were the selfies.

In July, the Settlement introduced new logos and branding, giving the organization a unified look emphasizing each individual program’s relationship to the Settlement as a whole. International marketing firm Cos- sette, which had just opened up its first office in the United States, provided countless hours of pro-bono work for the Settlement.

In early October, the Settlement and Northwestern University joined together again to recreate that fateful dinner from December 1891 that formed the Settlement House. Only this time, instead of an intimate dinner among colleagues, Settlement stakeholders gathered at the house of Northwestern University President Morton Schapiro. Shortly afterwards that month, the Bright Promises Foundation honored Ron Man- derschied with a lifetime achievement award in honor of his contributions to Chicago’s children.

Generous support from Board members allowed the Capital Campaign to realize great success. By the con- clusion of 2016, the Settlement had raised $12 million towards its $13 million goal. The Campaign Commit- tee had complete confidence that they would meet if not surpass their original goal, though it would take more time to fully realize it.

In its Centennial year, roughly 10,000 individuals benefitted from Northwestern Settlement. The annual operating budget was $795,310, approximately $1.4 million in 2016 dollars.

Northwestern Settlement built upon these successes, refined its methods, and introduced new ways of opening doors of opportunity to neighbors over the next 25 years. Overall, nearly 40,000 individuals benefitted from Northwestern Settlement in 2016. The annual operating budget was over $14.8 million.

Despite this growth, the Settlement still maintains a close-knit feeling among all of its neighbors. A common saying among staff is that people give their lives to Northwestern Settlement. This figure of speech is, in fact, strikingly close to the truth. By the end of 2016, twelve staff members had given at least twenty years of service to the Settlement. These long-serving employees, past and present, have included the following individuals:

 Jose Alatorre began a well-deserved retirement from his role as Director of Group Services in 2016. For 34 years he spent countless hours each day ensuring that the Settlement’s government contracts for youth programs were fully funded, and always took a hands-on role with the community families he served. He was often the last staff member to leave at night, and regularly came to the Settlement on weekends as well.

 Fred Balkom has been a part of the maintenance staff since 1990. He is especially devoted to Jose Alatorre Fred Balkom stocking the Food Pantry shelves each day.

 Martha Castillo began at Northwestern Settle- ment in 1994. After spending years working with children in the After School Program, she assumed leadership of the program in 2016. Her son Mario works on the maintenance staff.

 Susie Diaz retired from the Settlement in 2016 after serving 35 years in various capacities, initially as a switchboard operator and eventually as Executive Secretary to Ron Manderschied. Susie was born just a few blocks west of the Settlement Martha Castillo Susie Diaz and grew up participating in Settlement programs as a child.

 Tony Feliciano has served multiple roles for the Settlement since 1982. Currently the Chief of Facilities, he oversees the upkeep of all Settle- ment properties, from camp to the Settlement House to both of the Rowe buildings.

 Gloria Holmes joined the staff in 1996 and currently serves as the receptionist for the original Settlement House building.

 Pat Jaszka retired from the Settlement in 2004 Tony Feliciano Gloria Holmes after an astounding 46 year career. Pat and her sister Susie Diaz were part of a fantastic Settle- ment legacy. Pat and Susie’s mother Rosalie had also worked at the Settlement for 35 years.

 Linda McLaren started as a teacher in the preschool program in 1998, growing her under- standing of neighborhood families as Family Worker, and eventually becoming Site Director in 2009. In 2016 she became Director of Youth Services, overseeing all preschool and after-school programming. Pat Jaszka Linda McLaren  Angel Pachecho began working in the Settle- ment’s maintenance staff in 1996, eventually becoming head of maintenance for the Settle- ment House and Evanston Hall buildings.

 Belna Reyes started her career at the Settlement in 1991 in the Head Start program first as a teacher and then as Family Worker. Her desire to help more families led her to pursue a degree in social services, and eventually attain the position of Director of Emergency Services, succeeding Pat Jaszka. Angel Pachecho Belna Reyes

 Teresa Roman worked with thousands of children at Northwestern Settlement as part of the After School Program from 1991 until her death in 2016.

 Ana Santiago has been the housekeeper for the Settlement House building since 1988. In her younger years, she would cook delicious family meals for staff members and neighbors. Today, staff keep this tradition alive by gathering for a communal meal of Puerto Rican and Cuban food Teresa Roman Ana Santiago the week before Christmas.

 Edison Urena began working in the Settlement’s Business Office in 1996 and became Business Director in 1999, including overseeing Noble’s finances when it was managed by the Settlement.

 John Welke retired in 2006 after 50 devoted years of heading the Settlement’s woodshop. He grew up in a house across the alley from the Set- tlement, and continued to live there until he passed away in 2015. In accordance with his will, his ashes were buried in the Settlement's Edison Urena John Welke front courtyard garden.

 Val Wright continues to shepherd young lives at House In The Wood as its Executive Director. Since 1984 she has advocated continuously for outdoor experiences for children who far too often spend all of their time inside.

 Ana Yanez has worked with thousands of young children at the Settlement since 1987, initially working with the truancy program at Peabody and then working with the Settlement’s preschool students. Val Wright Ana Yanez

In addition, eight members of the Board of Directors had given fifteen or more years of service to steward- ing the organization.

With such devotion from staff, it is no wonder that so many employees refer to their colleagues as their Set- tlement family. Baby showers and birthdays attract gifts and well wishes from across programs. Staff always make sure Ron Manderschied receives a cookie or piece of cake as well - everyone knows about his sweet tooth. Gift exchanges, gingerbread house decorating competitions, and group meals mark the winter holidays. How can people who share a mission of service not share good food and company?

The final pages of the first edition of The Worn Doorstep ponder what challenges the Settlement and its neighbors will encounter in the coming years. A list of the challenges today’s neighbors will encounter must begin with racism and community violence, urgent concerns with complex root causes. The Millennial generation has taken a significant interest in community involvement and engagement but has yet to develop into a significant donor class. Government support for social programs remains precarious and fluctuates year-to-year. Many Chicagoans have become disillusioned with traditional institutions such as political parties and law enforcement.

As a place-based institution where residents naturally gather, the Settlement has an opportunity to address these issues and lead a revitalization in community-informed work. The Settlement’s staff provides daily, respectful, caring support to hundreds of neighbors. If ordinary citizens find traditional institutions out of touch with their needs, these institutions could do well to find opportunities for face-to-face engagement.

In light of these seemingly insurmountable obstacles, the Settlement will continue striving to nurture, educate, and inspire children. Neighbors will always be able to come to the Settlement to develop solutions to their problems, this year and the next and for 125 more years to follow.

Settlement President Ron Manderschied hands a diploma to a preschool graduate in 2016

Northwestern Settlement leadership in 2017

Back row (L-R): Rowe Elementary School Principal Tony Sutton, House In The Wood Executive Director Valerie Wright, Director of Youth Services Linda McLaren, Adventure Stage Chicago Producing Artistic Director Tom Arvetis, Director of Development Katie Taylor, Chief of Facilities Tony Feliciano Middle Row (L-R): Rowe Elementary School Director of Operations Allie Friedeman, AmeriCorps Project YES! Site Director Yasmin Rodriguez, Director of Board Relations and Innovation Jessica Flores, Director of Information Technology Allen Ramsier, Adventure Stage Chicago Managing Director Mary Kate Barley-Jenkins Front Row (L-R): President Ron Manderschied, Business Director Edison Urena, Director of Emergency Services Belna Reyes, Chief Operating Officer Dan Alexander

DISRUPTING GENERATIONAL POVERTY Each succeeding generation should be better educated, more financially se- cure, and empowered to set and reach aspirational goals. Since 1891, this purpose has been our foundation. Our mission has always remained the same: to nurture, educate and inspire children and families in need, so they can take personal responsibility and attain self-sufficiency.

Organizational Commitments: Our commitments are a blueprint for ensuring that we achieve impact through dedication and high standards.

Our Theory of Change: Opening doors of opportunity one family at a time by combating generational poverty

Northwestern Settlement 2016 Board of Directors

Anthony Perry, Chairman Robert Best, Vice-Chairman Kurt Mueller, Treasurer William Welnhofer, Assistant Treasurer: Finance Carol Golder, Assistant Treasurer: Fundraising Connie Magnuson, Secretary Anna Atkinson, Assistant Secretary Amy O’Donnell, Assistant Secretary

Margaret J. Barr Alderman Walter Burnett, Jr. Ginny Burnstine Julie W. Coffman Glenn A. Dalhart Paula B. Danoff Kathy Elliott Rodolfo Gaytan Dania Leemputte Michael Martinez Marc E. Peters John Relias John W. Rowe Holly Sunshine Dennis Van Mieghem Nancy G. Whiteman

Auxiliary Board Presidents Zoe Barron, Evanston Woman’s Board John Conneely, Adventure Stage Chicago Board Alexandra Considine, Chicago Young Professionals Board Margaret Herrmann, Winnetka Board Francis Horvath, Park Ridge Board Amy O’Donnell, North Shore Board

Northwestern Settlement 2016 Auxiliary Board Rosters

Adventure Stage Chicago Board Elizabeth David John Conneely Judy DeStefano Richard Fromm Megan DeZara Lambrina Kless Sheila Driscoll Naja Maltezos Sally Dumas Mariaelena Morales Mary Erickson Jeanne Rattenbury Mary Ellen Fellman Lydia Scekic Suzanne Franklin Khari Shelton Lori Goodman Derek Tucker Christine Grove Mary Ann Grumman Chicago Young Margaret Guira Professionals Board Lisa Harries Lauren Ahern Terri Hummel Alexandra Considine Sally Kiper Lisa Drake Carolyn Krulee David Huseman Meg Krulee Janet Kiefer Nancy Lagousakos Allie Leemputte Carie Lassman Lucia Lorenz Dorothy Laudati Sarah MacCallum Kathy Lifton Mariana Mack Leslie Luning Ashley May Elif Martinez Micaela Moran Aneela Masood Maddy Perseghin Eileen McGowan Mal Regan Christine McQuinn Karen Rogulja Nancy Morr Jessie Rooth Cary O'Malley Grace Rutz Lucille Prudden Kelly Scheltens Carol Rahimi Ashley Sprowl Gwyn Rahr Jennifer Stamer Moira Stein Madeline Unger Holly Sunshine Alyssa Wilson Mary Jane Twohey Marina Yarnoff Jean W. Yale

Evanston Woman’s Board North Shore Board Anna Atkinson Active Members Margaret Barr Alyson Aron Zoe Barron Lisa Bandolik Mary Paula Baumann Michelle Bardas Elizabeth Beck Tina Barr Leigh Buchanan Bienen Katie Bramblet Petey Butler Ginny Burnstine Jennifer G. Cline Melissa Corley Carol Cyrus Sarah Cunningham

Jill Dillingham Kathy Carbonell Teresa Dube Joan Carter Laura Elsaden Libby Cummings Carolyn Fortin Ann Dalhart Michele Giczewski Patty Felker Christy Hannafan Liza Ferguson Kate Huff Mary Fields Vicki Kastory Cristen Carter Forrester Elizabeth Lane Patty Gahlon Kim Mancini Anne Gezon Jennifer Martay Elza Garnett Amy O’Donnell Lindsay Gorman Linda O’Toole Mary Lois Hakewill Diana Peterson Colette Hays Eileen Richards Tracy Heilman Karin Rigg Sue Heimlich Julie Rocap Judy Howser Kimberly Romic Dania Leemputte Liz Soehn Jane Litin Senior Active Carol Lorenz Cassie Buccellato Erminia Mack Carol Cawley Debbie Madlener Kathy Haft Connie Magnuson Beth Brauen Kamphuis Julie Mokdessi Theresa Malin Julie Montgomery Francine Purcell Anne Mueller Alice Schaff Lucy Myers Cinnie Siragusa Midge Powell Jennifer Stricklin Donna Proskine Maureen Sullivan Willie Ramsey Erin Wilson MaryAnn Rasmussen Jeni Roderick Park Ridge Board Joan Schniedwind Joan Corbett Joan Gately Shapiro Warren Foxwell Anne Simcox Sue Freitag Lisa Snabes Donna and Francis Horvath Sally Sprowl Patricia Jaszka Emily Tzur Mary Lou Jelke Janet Van Zuiden Carole and John Par Diane Welnhofer Adrienne Schlake Jane Whitesides Judy and Roland Szkwarek Dennis Van Meighem Maureen and Tim Van Meighem

Winnetka Board Cindy Bonds Margot Buehler Mary Kay Burke Carrie Callegari

Northwestern Settlement 2016 Staff

Administration House In The Wood Ron Manderschied Valerie Wright President Executive Director Dan Alexander Lynne Biebel Chief Operating Officer John Deschner Jessica Flores Donna Johnson Director of Board Relations and Tami Kasken Innovation Neal Prokop Allen Ramsier Nathan Puckett Director of IT Sherry Rhodes Hari Bozhinov Heidi Jo Zupan Hines Gloria Holmes Facilities Adventure Stage Chicago Antonio Feliciano Tom Arvetis Chief of Facilities Producing Artistic Director Fred Balkcom Mary Kate Barley-Jenkins Mario Class Managing Director Michelle Collins Ford Altenbern Maria Mercedes Delarosa Laura Kollar Gaylon Figueroa Anne McNamee-Keels Angel Pacheco Mariaelena Morales Ana Santiago Carlos Murillo Luis Urena

AmeriCorps Project YES! Rowe Elementary School Yasmin Rodriguez Tony Sutton Program Director Principal Megan Bott Lauren Ahern Julie Alt Business Office Ramiro Arroyo Edison Urena Brittany Baran Business Director Jenna Behrmann Silvia Diaz Camille Boden Monica Falcon Tori Bohannon Laudry Acevedo Megan Borowski Janel Sivels Colleen Canniff Jennifer Chiappetta Development Edith Clark Katie Taylor Alyssa Colletti Director of Development Shannon Conroy Maggie Arden Ashley Cooper Adel Johnson Derek DeHaan Matthew Sudman Ronald Delarmente Juan Carlos Delarosa Food Pantry and Family Collin Eckburg Services Amber Ellis Belna Reyes Courtney Fallon Director of Emergency Services Julie Feldman Alexandra Friedeman Alicia Fuller Kate Gaffey

Molly Heidtke Haley Siegel Thea Heiman Yulia Sorokina Claire Hellige Kerilyn Stawicki Christian Hernandez Courtney Stewart O'Brien Brian Hofacker Samantha Stillwell Rachel Horn Anne Strassel Nicholas Humilier Lisa VanderVoort Jamie Hutchinson Roselia Velasco Elizabeth Immer Amanda Voigts Elizabeth Key Michelle Walker Colette Kinsella Sara Watkins Kaily Kraft Brenda Watrach Mary Lindsay Krebs Brian Williams Eric Krolikiewicz Eric Williams Lisa Kulpa Alyssa Wilson Jessica Lake Derek Young Brittany Lavoie Alison Leonard Youth Programs Andrew Lopez Linda McLaren John Lopez Director of Youth Services Emily Lubkert Christopher Adams Madison Magad-Weiss Isamar Alcantara Katiuska Maldonado Sandy Alvarez Diana Malik Hermelinda Arias Orehemetse Marang Alicia Avila Kristina Marinelli Martha Castillo Amanda Max Eneida Ceron Kelli Max Antonia Flores Ashley May Irais Galvan Christine McCracken Carmen Garay Allison McHenry Richard Hughes Kara Melchi Mireya Jaime William Methling Melissa Jones Elizabeth Mohs Maria Guadalupe Juarez Pelaez Ian Molitor Wanda Kaczmarczyk Diana Morquecho Cecilia Maldonado Sarah Neiman Nicole Ortiz Brittany Orth Perla Brenda Ramos Contreras Eric Pena Irma Rodriguez Geoffrey Perlman Zoraida Santiago Elizabeth Rich Rekha Singh Abby Rodgers Roselyn Ocasio Joshua Rodgers Marlen Rodriguez Michael Rodrigo Gabrielle Warren Jessie Rooth Arit Vazquez Lauren Ross Norma Iris Vazquez Alicia Ruiz Samantha Velez Amanda Russi Ana Yanez Grace Rutz Steven Santoyo Steven Santoyo Courtney Segretto LeShonne Segura Jessica Sharp