Albany Park Community Center

MissionThe mission of Albany Park Community Center is to serve, support and educate diverse and multicultural community members as they determine their own path of growth and development.

VisionWe envision a vibrant community where members respect and celebrate diversity, use their skills and talents to help themselves and others live in safety and harmony, access good quality education, health care, shopping, transportation, recreation and affordable housing, and realize their hopes for a better life.

ValuesWe are committed to respecting individual dignity, honoring diversity and self-determination, while providing the highest level of services with integrity and compassion.

HistoryThe Albany Park Community Center, Inc. (APCC), is a not-for-profit, community-based organization located in the multi-ethnic Chicago neighborhood of Albany Park. The Center operates a wide range of programs and services in and around the community we serve and since its inception, has been the largest social service agency exclusively serving Albany Park. Our executive offices are located at 1945 West Wilson Avenue, Suite 3000, Chicago, Illinois 60640. The Center's largest program facility is locatedat 5101 North Kimball Avenue and we also operate child care programs in another facility located at 3401 West Ainslie Avenue.

APCC was incorporated on September 24, 1975 and is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors operating under a Charter from the State of Illinois and the Board's By-Laws. We are also a United Way member agency. The Board of Directors applied for membership in the United Way of Metropolitan Chicago in 1976 and was accepted as a two-year provisional member in 1977. Based on the agency's excellent first year performance, the United Way waived the second year of provisional membership and accepted the Center as a regular and full member in 1978.

Albany Park has been the site of dramatic community transition over the years. Predominantly upper-working class Jewish residents lived in the area until the early 1960's. Over the past forty years, the population profile has changed to include a high percentage of poverty-level and low-income working class residents from a variety of backgrounds. Although the majority of its foreign-born residents are from Latin America, substantial numbers are from the Philippines, India, Korea, Cambodia, Somalia, theFormer Yugoslavia, Romania, Pakistan and the Middle East. Over 40 different languages are spoken in its public schools and Albany Park is now recognized as one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the entire United States.