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Gads Hill Center is a non-profit youth education and family resource center on Chicago's South Side, USA, established in 1898. With its headquarters in Chicago, Gads Hill Center serves families in the Chicago neighborhoods of Lower West Side (Pilsen), North Lawndale and South Lawndale (Little Village) with programming that provides learning support and educational enrichment, early childhood development, and out-of-school care for children.〔(GADS HILL CENTER – About Us )〕 ==History== In the spring of 1898, Gads Hill Social Settlement opened its doors in a former saloon in Pilsen near what is now Damen Avenue and 22nd Street. Leila Martin, a founder and the first director, was a recent widow at age 26. She had experienced hardship but also had a vision of a better world.〔Ladd, J.T. (1905). "Gads Hill Center". In George W. Moss, Christian, pp. 261-295 in Ch. VIX. Chicago: R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co.〕 Gads Hill soon became a settlement house dedicated to improving the entire community.〔(GADS HILL CENTER - History )〕 As the 20th century began, Gads Hill’s Lower West Side community was populated, as it is now, by immigrants. Then they were Poles, Czechs, Italians, Germans and other ethnic groups, who packed up meager belongings and journeyed thousands of miles to make a new life.〔 Once in Chicago, they faced lives of hardship and deprivation. Their backbreaking labor in factories, stockyards, and construction sites fueled the city’s growth, its grand buildings and successful companies. But they came home to dark, crowded tenements. Their children went without food, without education, spending many hours in the gritty streets.〔 Gads Hill offered a place where families could be safe and unified, children could grow healthy and strong, and parents could build for the future.〔 Soon after opening its doors, Gads Hill offered kindergarten, singing groups, cooking classes, a savings bank with 350 depositors, sewing clubs, and activities for school-age boys and girls.〔Gads Hill Center. (2005). A Century of Greatness - Significant Dates in Gads Hill Center History. Retrieved 08-26-2010.()〕 Over the years, the Lower West Side community continued to evolve as new groups came seeking opportunity. The Lower West Side, particularly the Pilsen neighborhood, is now a center of Latino culture in Chicago. More than 87% of residents are of Latin American origin, predominantly Mexican.〔2000 U.S. Census, Record Information Services〕 As the community changed, Gads Hill Center stood firm in its commitment to serve children and families in greatest need. At the turn of the 21st century, Gads Hill Center expanded services to other communities in need. In 2002, the Gads Hill Child Care Center opened its doors to serve the families of Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Gads Hill Center」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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