Construction Begins on CARES Community Center in Belmont Cragin to Expand Health and Social Services Access

Developers officially broke ground Monday on the CARES Community Center at 2644 N. Central Ave. in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood of Chicago. The project, led by nonprofit Onward Neighborhood House and its partners, aims to address gaps in health, food, and social services for local residents. The new facility is expected to open before the end of the year.

According to Onward Neighborhood House Executive Director Mario Garcia, the 31,000-square-foot center will provide a range of services including expanded access to health care, food security initiatives, bilingual mental health resources, and adult education. The center will also house an Illinois Welcoming Center for immigrants and refugees, alongside open community gathering spaces.

The facility will include a co-location health clinic operated by CommunityHealth in collaboration with IWS Family Health. Additional partnerships, such as with Cicero Family Service, will support mental health programming. Neighborhood residents will benefit from an expanded food pantry and educational opportunities aimed at supporting low-income and immigrant families.

The building for the new center was donated in 2022 by the Reva and David Logan Foundation, which purchased the former funeral home for $1.3 million and began collaborating with Onward Neighborhood House in 2021. The initiative received funding from federal, state, and city sources, including a $3 million federal grant awarded in 2024, nearly $1.5 million in state funds, and $500,000 from the city of Chicago. The total project is estimated at $7.5 million.

Belmont Cragin is one of Chicago’s largest immigrant communities, with nearly 80 percent of residents identifying as Hispanic. The neighborhood faces high barriers to health care access, with 17 percent of its residents uninsured—almost double the city average—and significantly fewer primary care providers per capita compared to the rest of the city. Community leaders say the CARES Community Center will help address these inequities by providing much-needed services and safe space for the area.

Construction is now underway, with Onward Neighborhood House planning a grand opening for the community center in September, pending completion of the building’s renovation.