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Sisters Beaty, Henrietta, Celia and Lupita representing the Julia Center in partnership with West Town Leadership take part in a demonstation for affordable housing in Chicago.
Julia Center 1520 W. Chicago Avenue
Chicago, Ill.
(312) 421-1545
juliacenter@juno.com
The Julia Center is a neighborhood outreach center located in the West Town area of Chicago. The Center offers programs of education and enrichment primarily for women and girls that enable them to build self-confidence and self-esteem, discover and develop their gifts and learn to take control of their lives. Julia Center is directed by Victory Noll Sisters and is incorporated as a not-for-profit organization, funded solely by private grants and donations.
Program offerings include:
* English as a Second Language (ESL) classes,
* GED and citizenship classes,
* Sewing and Mexican folkdance classes,
* Parentling skills,
* Women’s education and enrichment,
* Spiritual enrichment and Bible reflection.
After the closing of St. Boniface Church in 1989, five Victory Noll Sisters conducted an extensive needs assessment survey in the neighborhood. The idea for the Julia Center came as a result of the needs expressed in this survey. During the past ten years, as we expanded, we moved three times until our final and best move in 1996 to our present location, a functional and pleasant store front on Chicago Avenue.
The Julia Center has a close working relationship with other service agencies in the neighborhood. We collaborate with Mujeres Latinas en Accion; Family Focus; St. Elizabeth Hospital; St. Mary of Nazareth Hospital; Northwestern University Settlement House; Erie Neighborhood House, West Town United; and Holy Innocents and Santa Maria Adolorata Churches. All of us are working to improve the lives of people in this community.
Corrie and Jim Keefe have been committed to the Julia Center from the beginning, and have involved their whole family in a variety of ways, including tutoring, working with the youth and maintenance. Corrie characterizes the relationship in this way: “We are grateful for the opportunity to work with the Sisters and the women of the Julia Center. It is a most joyful relationship in which the return has been much greater than what we have given.”
The biggest fundraiser of the year for the Julia Center, a fantastic Rummage Sale, could not take place without Corrie, Jim and the people of Mary, Seat of Wisdom Parish. The items they contribute, gather and deliver for the sale (by the truckload!), are lovely and sold for very little. The people who live in the West Town Area of Chicago have looked forward to this sale months ahead, for over ten years. Julia Center’s purpose in having the sale is not only to earn money for the Center, but to work together on a common project and to serve the neighborhood. The Sale itself has become a social event, where folks visit, have lunch and enjoy their purchases.
Rummage Sale volunteers including Carol (standing far left) and Tom Ahern (kneeling far left) who provide the truck each year.
Our greatest asset during these years has been the hundreds of women and children who have come through the doors of the Julia Center. These women have not only benefited from the classes and programs, but they have contributed much to the improvement of the Center with their ideas, talents and hard work.
Our Lady of Victory Missonary Sisters is an American Missionary Congregation founded in 1922 — serving the poor and oppressed in a personal, non-institutional way
+ Proclaiming the Gospel + Working for Justice + Empowering the Laity
We want to minister to the culturally diverse Catholic population of this country, proclaiming Jesus Christ through evangelization, education and/or Christian formation. We would like to offer a solid Catholic teaching and ministries that speak to the needs of the faith communities, empowering the Laity, dedicating our prayer and ministry to the proclamation of God's Kingdom.
That is why we have become part of a network of religious communities collaborating to assist home mission dioceses in their efforts to develop lay leadership and ministry. This is an initiative of the Home Missions Leadership Conference and the Congar Institute for Ministry Development. READ MORE
