1900’s      At the turn of the century, the area was a residential Mecca for the middle class because of its lakefront location and excellent public transit linkages.

Between Broadway and Sheridan Rd multiple-unit apartment buildings were built to house the burgeoning middle class of clerical workers and single people.

1920’s      “Café society flocked to the Aragon Ballroom, the Uptown Theatre, 5100 Club, and Mann’s Rainbo Gardens Magnificent”.

1930’s       Lakeshore Drive was extended to Foster Avenue. It was considered “a blow to the Uptown commercial sector.”  Once cars could bypass this congested business area, it paved the way for the expansion of Evanston as a fashionable shopping center. Uptown’s commercial sector never recovered from the Great Depression.

1940’s       Large homes west of Broadway were chopped up into as many as forty rooms with shared bathrooms and cooking facilities.

1950’s       The post-war era saw white flight to the Northwest side suburbs, urged on by federal policies giving veterans low-interest loans and the development of the interstate system.

The Appalachian migration began, followed by Cubans, East Asians, Koreans and Arabs.

1960’s       Between 1965 and 70, 3,406 southerners moved to Uptown, more than any other Chicago community received.  In this same period, 12,043 total individuals moved in to Uptown from outside Chicago, making it Chicago’s number one neighborhood in terms of in-migration.

State de-institutionalization of mental hospitals moved thousands of mental patients into deteriorating apartment hotels.

Human service agencies began springing up to meet the various needs of this community.

1970’s       A “business versus social services” climate develops, with the “establishment” represented by the Uptown Chamber of Commerce and the Uptown Chicago Commission, and the “new order” represented by the Organization of the Northeast.

Between 1970 and 1980 the number of residents receiving public aid nearly tripled, from 5,120 in 1970 to 14,228 in 1980.

In the summer of 1971 Chicago Uptown Ministry opened with the collaboration of Pastor Mick Roshke and Pastor Tom Tews in the Leland-Kenmore Center, 1009 W. Leland.

Uptown Ministry shared its space with Lucille Lindemann, who cooked for the hungry and held an after-school program, and Reba Dickson who served up home-style southern cooking and was a confidant of the founding pastors and staff.

1009 W. Leland had one room for food pantry, clothes, and counseling, plus a storefront across the street for food and clothes.  $600 a month covered expenses.

The uniqueness of Uptown lies in the fact that it is the largest white port of entry in Chicago.  The majority of the people come from small-town and rural background.

At this time many other ethnic and cultural groups also move to this area: Black, American Indian, Puerto Rican, Mexican and Cuban families.

1973 Grace Lutheran, River Forest, commits $5000 toward hiring Jan (Neumuller) Steinbauer and Ruth Forni, who must raise their salaries and will start in June.  

They begin with a summer full of kids, field trips, mothers, counseling, VBS, day camp, home visits, and many beautiful people.  Come fall, they tutor reading one-on-one with five children each at McCutcheon elementary school in the mornings.

Learning Center time happens at the People’s Church.

The women of Mt. Prospect host a house-warming shower for two Uptown residents who had recently moved into unfurnished apartments.

Move to 4828 N Sheridan, working with Lutheran Welfare Services ATA. It was wedged between a tavern and a thrift store, with thick basement doors and combination locks as reminders that the building once served as a fur storage center and vault.

Most of the food pantries in Uptown were gone. $900 is “full financial support for one month.”

Carol Busse and Mary Jane Neumann start a six-week Monday morning Bible series with a curriculum called Man Alive.  Grace, River Forest, supports the effort with coffee, a coffee pot, and homemade cookies.

1974  January 6, 1974, on Epiphany Sunday, Uptown Ministry celebrates its first worship service.

The Learning Center moves from the People’s Church to the basement of the Center on Sheridan.  Concordia Teachers College contributes tables, chairs, filing cabinets, and metal storage cabinets, and rugs.  By 1976 this ministry would serve 30 children.

$1,000 to $1,400 per month sustained the Ministry.

Board welcomes James Harper to begin “Save the Alcoholic Program”

1975  Lynn, who has run a Tuesday morning play-school for pre-schoolers in the learning center as a volunteer for the past year, formally joins the staff as teacher, receptionist, and counselor.

LWML gives $40,000 grant to pay two community members’ salaries, and for operating expenses on the building.

1976 In February Martha Grooms begins a preschool Bible class on Wednesdays at 10am. 

The building at 937 Lakeside was purchased for $49,500. November 6, 1976 the Ministry moved to the new building.

1977 Ministry leases a storefront at 4408 Sheridan Road to be used as a resale shop.

Pastor Mick starts a twice-a-month Saturday “dinner and get-together for our elderly and the lonely.”  These dinners would later be known as Martha Dinners.

About 250 people per month are being seen for food pantry.  Christmas Shoebox program begins.

25 students from Concordia Teachers College in River Forest are Big Brothers and Big Sisters to Uptown children.

1978 The people are “15,000 Latino, 5,000 black, 3,000 Chinese, and as many as 27,000 Appalachian whites and American Indians.”  By 1978, 14% of the community’s total housing was condominium. 

Ministry receives 400 requests per month from food.

Pastor Tom started an adult Social Activities Ministry – seniors who get together for evenings “on the town.”  The group would later be known as Our Gang.

1980’s A period of transitions with many staff leaving and several others joining including Sister Mary Kay Flannigan.

The black population has increased by 42.8%.  The Hispanics were 23.3% of the population, and Asians were 10.7%.  These demographics are similar to the population that lives in Uptown today.

Uptown has an “extremely disparate residential population,” consisting of luxurious high-rise dwellers, low-income subsidized housing residents, new in-migrants, “and indigent or severely distressed persons seeking the relatively tolerant milieu of taverns or flophouses.”

1982  Milt Smith dies.

1983 550 people per month are served in food pantry.

Marianka Fousek coordinates a nursing visitation program that includes both adults and children from both the city and the suburbs.  “The elderly get cheered and the youngsters’ horizons get broadened as they learn to love and appreciate elderly people isolated in nursing homes.” 

The Toy Store is in the works, providing toys for “all 12 years.”  400 shoe boxes.

The ‘Wish List’ begins with 30 families receiving turkeys, toys, gifts, and food for Christmas day.

1984  The food pantry use increases 14.8% over the first six months of

1985  80-90% of food items are donated by individuals, parochial schools, and congregations in Chicago. 

1986  Pastor Jerry begins a children’s choir for those 8^th grade and younger, singing not only for Sunday services at the Ministry, but at hospitals and other congregations.

1987  The teen group begins with swimming, crafts, camps, and trips.

1988 Pastor Marianka Fousek begins coordinating the Nursing Home Ministry. Uptown Ministry has a strong presence in neighborhood nursing homes, where 80% of residents receive no visitors.

Uptown Ministry is accepted as an official congregation of the Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod and incorporated with the State of Illinois.

1989 The congregation held its first service in the "new facility" with the renovation not yet completed.  A $75,000 campaign for the redesign and rehabilitation began.

Church groups, schools, and individuals made and distributed 500 shoe boxes full of gifts with people in six Uptown nursing homes.

1990 Work continues on renovating the new facility, headed by former Board chair Herb Pinske and Pastor Rick Schliepsick.

1991  January 15^th, after more than two years of renovation work, the Ministry moves to 4720 N Sheridan Rd.  The building was purchased with a low-interest loan from the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod Extension Fund. 

1993 The beginning of three new programs, and a fourth would start in January

Spiritual Companionship Program

“Telling Your Own Story” drama hour which was led by Pr. Carl Isaacson from Unity Lutheran in Edgewater

Latino Women’s Group

GROW, an international self-help movement for mental/spiritual healing and growth.  “It is modeled on AA’s 12-Step program, and is built on the principle of mutual help and support.

1994 “Lay Health Promoters” program begins.  Working with the Chicago Department of Health, 40 Uptown Ministry volunteers from 11 ethnic groups complete 27 hours each of training in first-year nutrition, high blood pressure, HIV, family planning, and self-defense.

1997 Women’s group, with Pedro Gaytan as staff support, undertakes a 20 week parenting, CPR, and first-aid course. 

1998 Jobs program starts with the leadership of Amanda Fleischman, Lutheran Volunteer Corps (LVC) member.  Vacation Bible School has 90 participants, ages 3 to 86.

Half of the Uptown Ministry staff are new to their positions! The women’s group begins English as a Second Language (ESL) classes.

Christmas Toy Store serves 625 children.  Wish list provides 32 families with clothes, food, toys and furniture.  150 Thanksgiving and 100 Christmas baskets are distributed.

1999  Juntos youth program is up and running with 16 kids and 8 tutors.

2000  31 teens and their families participated in an integrated, intergenerational a School-to-Work initiative for educational empowerment and leadership development, funded by a grant from the public/private collaborative Edge/Up.

60,000 people are homeless daily on the streets of Chicago. 150,000 households fall below poverty line.

2001 The Ministry begins developing “Walking Together,” then called the “Justice Focused Christianity Project”.

September 11^th had a major effect on the Ministry

2002  Staff takes voluntary pay cuts.

2003    Pastor Bob Lesher continues position as pastor and takes on position as the Interim Director

2004    Staff is successful in keeping its doors open and most of its programming with the exception of the Teen Program. 

Budget begins to recover; at the end of 2004 the Ministry brings on Sue Lesher as Administrative Assistant and bookkeeper.

2005  The Ministry receives a generous grant from the closure of Trinity Lutheran in Glencoe.

Money will be used to wards a major renovation of the building, and to start building to their capacity.

Decision to hire a development director, Shawna Tuttle, is made, with the hopes that the position can raise the money for the building renovation while building our capacity.

2006  Building renovations are made, donations from annual fund givers increase for the first time. A Strategic Plan is adopted. Concerted efforts are made by board and staff to evaluate the changing needs of the community and to adapt programming to meet those needs.

2007 Ministry Drive Days become part of the volunteer opportunities. Gerry Graef steps down as Board President after many years of service.

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