Onward Neighborhood House breaks ground on Belmont Cragin community center

The CARES Community Center will help expand residents' access to health care, improve food security and offer other wraparound services for immigrant and low-income families when it opens this fall.

Mar. 30, 2026 at 11:08pm

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A bold, colorful silkscreen-style illustration of a community center building facade, repeated in a grid pattern with vibrant neon colors and heavy black outlines, conceptually representing the new hub of services and community space opening in Belmont Cragin.The new CARES Community Center in Belmont Cragin will bring vital health, education, and social services to one of Chicago's largest immigrant neighborhoods.Chicago Today

Developers broke ground on a new Belmont Cragin community center that will help close the neighborhood's gap in offering residents access to health and human services. The CARES Community Center, a $7.5 million project, will expand access to health care, improve food security and offer other wraparound services for immigrant and low-income families in the area when it opens before the end of the year.

Why it matters

Belmont Cragin is one of the largest immigrant communities in Chicago, with 79.1% of the population being Hispanic. The neighborhood also faces some of the highest barriers to accessing health care, with 17% of residents uninsured and only 30.4 primary care providers for every 100,000 residents, compared to 107.7 citywide. The new community center aims to address these disparities and provide much-needed services to the local community.

The details

The CARES Community Center will be a 31,000-square-foot facility that will include a co-located health clinic, bilingual mental health services, an expanded food pantry, adult education classrooms, an Illinois Welcoming Center for immigrants and refugees, and open community space. The center has been years in the making, with the building donated by the Reva and David Logan Foundation in 2022. The $7.5 million project has received funding from federal, state, and local sources.

  • Onward Neighborhood House broke ground on the CARES Community Center on Monday, March 30, 2026.
  • The nonprofit hopes to hold a grand opening for the center in September 2026, once construction is complete.

The players

Onward Neighborhood House

A nonprofit organization that aids immigrants and underserved families and provides free access to adult education, food, and child care. Onward Neighborhood House is leading the development of the CARES Community Center.

Mario Garcia

The executive director of Onward Neighborhood House.

Reva and David Logan Foundation

The foundation that donated the building that will house the CARES Community Center in 2022.

Richard Logan

The president of the Reva and David Logan Foundation.

Emilio Araujo

The director of development and communications for Onward Neighborhood House.

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What they’re saying

“This is a project that … will bring access to health, health care, food, education and also, more importantly, especially these times of polarization, is going to have space for communities to come together.”

— Mario Garcia, Executive Director, Onward Neighborhood House

“For years, we've been witnessing the destruction of brick-and-mortar infrastructure that once offered Chicago citizens places of safety, times of need, places where people can be, places where they can access the services they need. With the disappearance of many of these venues in neighborhoods across the city, our communities have become less equitable, more isolated and much less able to provide hope and take care of the most vulnerable around us. … When this building came on the market, we came [to] Onward Neighborhood House, guided by our internal mantra: invest in the jockey and not the horse.”

— Richard Logan, President, Reva and David Logan Foundation

What’s next

Onward Neighborhood House plans to hold a grand opening for the CARES Community Center in September 2026, once construction is complete.

The takeaway

The new CARES Community Center in Belmont Cragin represents a significant investment in addressing the neighborhood's disparities in access to healthcare, food security, and other essential services, particularly for its large immigrant and low-income population. The center's focus on providing wraparound support and community space reflects a holistic approach to improving the well-being of local residents.