The St. Vincent de Paul Center provides year-round day care for 400 children ranging from 4 months to 12 years.
More than twice that number are on the waiting list.
So when the state threatened to decrease the number of children the center could serve, based on space requirements, the center’s staff, parents and supporters took action.
In February they launched a $30 million fundraising campaign for a new building. “Building with Hope” is the theme of the campaign, which will run until summer 2002.
“One of the many reasons that we need to build a new facility is that, systematically, the state has cut our numbers, saying that we don’t have adequate space,” said Sister Catherine Mary Norris, the center’s administrator.”When you have 800 kids on the waiting list, the last thing you want to see is spots being eliminated.”
The major fundraising event was the Fleur de Lis Ball, an annual dinner dance that takes place at the end of February or beginning of March. This year, 800 people attended and $350,000 was raised.
Along with individual donations and parental contributions, this type of community support is what makes the new building possible, Norris said.
“Everybody is getting into the act–from the smallest to the largest contribution, everything is needed,” said Norris, who has worked at the center, 2145 N. Halsted St., for 15 years.
Construction is being done in stages and is expected to be complete in February 2002. So far, the gym in the center and the playground adjacent to the center have been demolished–this is where the new center is being built. When the remainder of the old building is torn down, a new playground will be built.
The center will be three stories and contain 144,000 square feet; all parking will be underground. The facility will have more classrooms, office space and meeting rooms for the approximately 120-person staff.
With these changes, the day-care program will be able to accept 75 more children, and the staff will not have to share offices, making private meetings with parents and individual sessions with children easier.
“The children who are coming to us are coming with a host of challenges,” Norris said. “So, we have increased our social service staff and are finding that we need to do more individual and small-group work with kids. Now, we will have the space to do that.”
During construction, children 5 to 12 are cared for at the former Mulligan Elementary School, 1855 N. Sheffield Ave. Younger children and infants are in the old building until the new facility is complete.
“We are bursting at the seams,” said Patty Davis, the manager of the center’s Nearly New Thrift Store and a center parent. “We are blessed with a small maintenance staff who are constantly repairing and people who pitch in and help by donating new roofs or air conditioners in the thrift store.
“But things can’t be patched anymore. If we didn’t get the new building, the center would have to close and it would be a great loss to many people.”
Davis knew even before she had her children, Franco and Joey, that she wanted them to go to the center.
“It was 1976, and I had to pick up my girlfriend’s daughter from St. Vincent’s,” she recalled. “I don’t know what happened–I was so enamored with the whole set-up that day. When I had my first child in 1987, I knew I wanted him to go to St. Vincent’s.”
At Norris’ request, Davis began volunteering in the thrift store in 1997. She became an employee almost four years ago. Her family is one of many who consider the center to be a special place and an important part of child development.
“My kids are awesome,” Davis said. “They have great social skills and a certain confidence that has a lot to do with them being St. Vincent’s kids. The day cares that cost more money don’t get any better than our kids get here.”
About 85 percent of the families who have children in the day-care program come from Evanston to just north of the Loop, Norris said. The children live in the Rogers Park, Humboldt Park and Wicker Park neighborhoods, among others, as well as in the Cabrini-Green public housing development. Parents pay according to their means on a sliding scale.
The center, which has an annual budget of $4.9 million, also helps the elderly and the homeless. The Senior Services Program assists those who want to remain in their homes and live independently for as long as possible. Whatever the seniors need will be provided: Volunteers visit and clean, for example, and if the seniors no longer can cook, Meals on Wheels will be set up.
There also is an intergenerational congregate-living program where 16 elders and five young adults live together at Laboure House, 3938 N. Leavitt St. Instead of paying room and board, the young adults, mostly college students, get service time. The students assist the seniors by doing laundry or spending time with them, watching television or just talking.
“The kids provide a sense of community,” Norris said. “It gives the elderly something else to think about besides their health issues and the kids something else to think about besides when their next paper is due. Everybody benefits from the arrangement.”
The Homeless Outreach Program provides individual service to about 70 men and women each year. St. Vincent’s staff helps clients find jobs so they can afford housing. The center receives a grant from the Owens Foundation that helps with security deposits; however, the clients must have secured income to pay their monthly rent.
In addition, there are foster grandparent and senior companion programs. The center also has a food pantry and resale shop.
Approximately 40 volunteers help with the center’s programs.
The new building will enable all programs and staff to be in one location. St. Vincent de Paul has been on Halsted since 1915.
“The nice thing about St. Vincent’s is that we start the children so young and keep them until they are so old,” Norris said. “They get to grow up here, and we get to see them grow.”
The fact the day-care classes are full and the waiting list is so long is enough to keep the tradition going. It is not the amount of money parents pay but the quality of care their children receive that makes a spot in day care so highly regarded, Davis said.
“A lot of people don’t make the best money they could in life,” Davis said. “A lot of people have been here for 10, 15 and 20 years. There is a certain respect between people. They are genuinely nice. I think that’s what the attraction is.
“It’s just the kind of place where you want your kids to go.”
