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2801 S. Ridgeway
Chicago, IL 60623
773-277-1800
School-Year Hours: Monday-Friday, 2:30-8:00 p.m.
Club Director: Angel Rivera
Our Story
The Little Village Club is the oldest of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Chicago, founded in 1918, and originally named the William H. Jones Club in memory of the Vice-President of International Harvester. The Little Village Club serves the heart of the South Lawndale community, also known as Little Village. The community includes a large population of Mexican descent. The injection of Latino culture gives the Little Village neighborhood its vibrant and distinct character today. Little Village is the retail, residential and cultural capital of the Mexican community in the Midwest.
Over the past 30 years, Little Village has become a major port of entry for Mexican immigrants, and the community has been strengthened by the economic power, traditions, determination and hope that they bring. While solid housing stock and thriving commercial districts have been key to the community's prosperity, the neighborhood is challenged to invest in its human resources—in particular the youth in the community. Half of the residents are under the age of 25, creating a demand for better support for education, recreation programs and other social services. The Little Village Club offers a comprehensive array of programs and services to young people of all ages in the community. In addition, the Club partners with local community organizations to enhance programs for young people.
About the neighborhood
Little Village ("La Villita") is a growing community of mostly Mexican and Mexican-Americans who migrated west from Pilsen, and has become the main port-of-entry for Mexican immigrants. The stretch of 26th Street from California to Cicero Ave. brings in the most revenue of any commercial area in Chicago, second only to Michigan Avenue. This community rests on the west side of Chicago between California on the east, Cicero on the west, Ogden on the north, and I-55 on the south. It is accessible by the CTA Pink Line and several buses. The youth in Chicago’s Little Village community face multiple risks to reaching a productive adulthood – increasing gang violence, poor academic achievement, drug and alcohol abuse, one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the city, poverty, little or no adult supervision, and linguistic and cultural barriers to accessing healthcare and social services.