Neighborhood House

In 1945, Father Reinhart Gutman established an Episcopal City Mission that would "operate as a Social Center for neighborhood children, because there happened to be a very real need for such a center on the West Side of the city." 

Further, that "such facilities (as Neighborhood House) would enable young people and children to satisfy the recreational needs which the school could never take care of, and thus set them on the road towards responsible and constructive citizenship." The City Mission, which became Neighborhood House in 1950, grew rapidly during the early years adding a nursery school (now an accredited early education center), an older adult program, and Family Life Education Services.

Neighborhood House moved to its current location at 2819 W. Richardson Place in 1967. Another 14,000 square feet of space was added to the original building in 1994 to accommodate expansion to pre-school aged children.

In 1993, Neighborhood House incorporated the Indochinese Learning Center to its programs. As a result Neighborhood House now provides literacy services to hundreds of recent refugees, primarily Southeast Asian and African families. In 2007, the name was changed to the International Learning Center to reflect its broadening diversity.

Thanks to the early leadership of Father Gutmann, and our second Executive Director, Mr. Ray Richardson, Neighborhood House today is a leading neighborhood center/settlement house providing a number of social, educational, and recreational activities/programs. These programs and activities are all designed to support and empower, children, youth, families, and individuals.