HISTORY OF ASSOCIATION HOUSE

HISTORY OF ASSOCIATION HOUSE

Infinity Lembke

Association House of Chicago was first established in June 1899. Association House was originally created and began recruiting woman for “The Work of the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA).” It has expanded and added more programs since then. They now offer The Association House High School, Community Health, Workforce Development, Behavioral Health, and Child Welfare. Their first location ever was at 2150 West North Ave. This opened in the year of 1905. This was shortly after the organization decided that they needed more space in 1902. Since then, the organization has been at different locations over the years. It is now located on 1116 N Kedzie Ave, Chicago IL, 60651. The organization began with the sense of “neighbor helping neighbor” and since then they have helped so many adults, teens, children, and families.

My first question to V.P. Julie Rodriguez was “when did the adding of the high school occur?” She responded, “Association House had been providing tutoring and GED services since the 1970’s and began the high school programming in the 1980’s.”A similar question got a good response as well. My question was, “What was the process of adding a high school within Association House of Chicago?” She responded that “after many successful years offering GED, Association House recognized the need for a full array of educational experiences and decided to offer high school programming.” The ages of the students at that time were 17 to 21. In the past few years we have been able to expand the school to offer students an opportunity beginning at age 16.” I found this important because if they did it once maybe in the future they will expand to the age some enter CPS high schools which is 15.

Association House also began by offering relief and guidance to immigrants. Today they staff over 200 professionals and the organization has impacted the lives of nearly 20,000 children, individuals, and families. Everyone has something positive to say about Association House. A woman who came to Association House as a young girl in the 1950’s said, “What great times for us young people... just know that I’m 77 years old and I want people that supported our beautiful home away from home to know how grateful we were that you took the time and financial support to help us kids have a great childhood.” I already feel the same, and once I graduate I’ll be speaking just as highly of the school.

Lastly, I asked V.P. Julie Rodriguez, “Where do you see Association House in 5- 10 years?” She replied, “I hope that in 5-10 years the high school will continue to offer classes and extracurricular opportunities to a diverse group of incredible students; encourage academic growth; promote individual development and social responsibility and instill a passion for education that will lead to dynamic futures.” A passion for education is the one thing I lacked in every school before Association House. I would pass every year by barely getting by. Now that I have motivation to go to school and I’m doing it because I want to, I have straight A’s and perfect attendance.The start to getting a good education is wanting it for yourself and being in a positive environment such as Association House that makes you want to learn even more.