It is not often that one gets the chance to enrich thousands of lives with one gift. Your donation to "The Living Room" building campaign is that opportunity.
Chabad of Bucktown / Wicker Park Building Campaign
2010 - 2015 • Campaign Objective: $3.2 million
Chabad of Bucktown / Wicker Park, established in 2006, has developed a brand name for itself as a successful model for catering to young Jews. Chabad has provided thousands of our young people with a place they can call home, and a vibrant, inclusive community in which they are unequivocally accepted and embraced. We’re making Jewish life relevant and giving young Jews an opportunity to find their own voice in expressing themselves religiously. We are building a community with a life of its own.
Chabad has specifically molded its identity to fit with the dynamics of Bucktown/Wicker Park, a neighborhood considered by many to be the hippest community in Chicago, populated mostly by young professionals, artists, and musicians.
Many a time, students embrace Jewish life and energy on campus and have nowhere to run with it. Once they leave college they simply have no where to channel the Jewish energy and passions which were so carefully cultivated on campus. Neither resources directed toward campus Jewish life nor those dedicated to synagogue development reach them, and they lack places where they feel comfortable expressing themselves Jewishly. Chabad of Bucktown is here to help build a strong bridge between college and family life — a critical step to creating a strong Jewish future.
In just a few years, Chabad has seen tremendous growth and success in establishing itself as an indispensable part of Chicago Jewish life for young adults. In fact, it has become a victim of its own success. We have far exceeded the capacity of our modest Chabad house and can no longer accommodate the growing number of individuals who seek to avail themselves of the ever growing roster of activities and services. In an age when assimilation and apathy are rampant we dare not stand by as young Jews are turned away as they "check out the scene" at Chabad on Friday night and find it so crowded they can't get in!
Furthermore, as we become aware that many of these young, local professionals are getting married and starting families, a demand exists for top-quality Jewish child care and education within the community.
In response, Chabad secured our centrally-located building in early 2010, rendering it the only Jewish institution in the neighborhood. This modern, spacious building, dubbed “The Living Room,” will allow for thousands more of our young men and women to be inspired and infused with a love for and pride in their Jewish identity. It will include a preschool and a Hebrew school, as well as a women’s mikvah in the near future, to meet the needs of the growing families in the neighborhood.
Building on our working formula, we intend to nurture the vibrant community in our neighborhood and to develop ourselves as a place where young, post-grad Jews feel comfortable.
Thank you for partnering with us to ensure a stronger Jewish tomorrow.
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