OLA Outreach Center Renovations
Mission of Our Lady of the Angels renovated the former Our Lady of the Angels School to be its new outreach center between 2017 and 2022. The construction of the original 1960 building was funded through donations from all over the country after the tragic 1958 school fire. The school that burned was torn down and this current 1960 building was built in its place.
This extensive renovation project updated the outdated 1960s aspects of the building and re-worked the existing spaces to fulfill 3 main needs:
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The school building was rededicated on 10/2/22, the 62nd anniversary of the dedication of the 1960 school. Please check out the INCREDIBLE work that was done to transform the former school into our new outreach center below.
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October 2, 2022 - We are rededicating the former OLA school on 10/2,2022 and You're Invited!
We are very excited to announce that the former Our Lady of the Angels school building will be re-dedicated on Sunday, October 2 at 10 AM. We cannot do enough to thank the thousands of people who made this renovation project possible! Cardinal Cupich will preside at a Mass at 10 AM followed by a blessing of the school and lunch. All are invited. *PLEASE RSVP by 9/1 so we can plan. RSVP: Of historical note, Sunday, October 2 is also the 62nd anniversary of the ORIGINAL dedication of the new Our Lady of the Angels School building. October 2 is the feast of the Guardian Angels. |
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September, 18, 2022 - Done!
We are done with all of the renovation work that will be happening before the rededication on 10/2! Thank you for all of the incredible support the last 5 years with this project! |
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July 30, 2022 - Microsoft Helps Out in a Macro Way!
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Thank you, Microsoft & especially the Microsoft Community Empowerment Fund, for the very large donation to help us upgrade the Wifi in the former school! We are very grateful for the help!! |
May 31, 2022 - Opening of Mission OLA’s Outreach Center (school)- Statue returns!
April 3, 2022 - Blessings for the Patient and Persistant
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We are hosting our first large event in the retreat center this week! Bishop Bob blessed the building and we are ready to go. Thank you for all of your extraordinary support for the past few months to get to this point. Many more highlights and pictures after we make this event happen. Thank you! |
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March 20, 2022 - Cleaners Needed - Plenty of Seats for Breaks!
We had our last major moving day of the project on 3/19! Major cleaning is underway. Please HELP on 3/26 with CLEANING. We have over 120,000 sq feet of space to clean! Sign up HERE. |
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February 28, 2022 - Done..ish
Moving/ cleaning/ moving/ cleaning CONTINUES with extraordinary zeal and excitement! We need YOU on Saturday, March 19 and Saturday, March 26 from 9 am to noon to help us FINISH the building. Sign up HERE. |
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February 20, 2022 - Penultimate...Please?
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Saturday 2/19 was (hopefully) the 2nd to last major moving day for the school project!! We are so grateful for all of the continued help and support.
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February 13, 2022 - Help! The End is Near!
Reminder- we need help almost every Saturday in February and March to help us finish. We are taking people essentially every Wednesday as well! E-mail to sign up to help! olamission@gmail.com! |
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| Bishop Bob says "Please sign up to help." |
January 30, 2022 - To the Dumpsters!
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We threw away several tons of junk from the 2nd floor of the school and prepped MANY rooms on the 2nd floor on 1/29! Thank you to our INCREDIBLE team of volunteers! |
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January 23, 2022 - Emptiness
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What a week! Every classroom has been officially emptied. If you saw how full they were, you know this is a really big deal! |
January 9, 2022 - Opportunity Knocks!
We have 2 official workdays for helping with the renovations (read- cleaning, moving, dumpster-ing) |
January 1, 2022 - Strong Work!
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Lots of progress moving furniture and garbage on the 2nd floor! |
December 12, 2021 - Second Floor Finish Line in Sight
Happy Gaudete Sunday and feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe! One of the reasons we are filled with joy this Gaudete Sunday is that we are almost done with the 2nd floor of the school. Here is a picture tour of some recent progress! Thank you for all of your support. If part of your new year's resolution is going to be working out, mark your calendars to get some aerobic cleaning and moving done here in January. We hope to wrap this up in January! |
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Renovations of the former school CONTINUE! We are working to patch, paint, and pull electric on the 2nd floor. Here is Bishop Bob admiring one of the newly refinished doors! Thank you for your continued support. |
Thank you to Notre Dame for organizing an awesome service day this week……and thank you to the many donors who have purchased bedding over the past few weeks! We are putting the finishing touches on the rooms on the 3rd floor. We are so excited! |
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Larger portions of the school are looking better EVERY week! This week we waxed the 3rd floor hallways, almost finished the 2nd floor café, and the window repairs. Thank you for your continued support! |
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Thank you to the Cenacle Sisters for their incredible donation of furniture from their retreat center. Thank you AGAIN to Fenwick High School’s football team for WEEK 2 of moving furniture! Almost all 57 bedrooms have all of the major furnishings (desk, nightstand, lamp, wardrobe). Keep checking back to see how you can help with the odds and ends needed to help us finish. |
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We are finishing painting the last rooms in the retreat center THIS WEEK! |
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We have all 57 bedrooms framed! Still some work to be done, but we are VERY CLOSE to being finished. |
49 of our 57 retreat rooms have been started! We are hoping to finish the construction by 7/31/21! We are so excited and grateful to our resident summer volunteers, professional helpers, and Home Depot for making all of this possible. Here are a few of the major steps in building a room! |
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| 1. Carpet >> | 2. Frame the Room >> | 3. Hang Drywall >> | ||||||
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Work on the 3rd floor has been fast and furious! We have 7 of 12 classrooms on the move (35 of the 58 individual bedrooms too). We have moved forward on the project every single weekday this summer thanks to the MANY volunteers who have been in to help- thank you! |
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THANK YOU, Home Depot, for your extraordinary donations of materials, labor, and monetary support! |
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Significant progress over the past few weeks on the school construction project! We are almost done with 4 total classrooms of retreat rooms (20 individual rooms). We are also preparing for the food pantry to re-open indoors. |
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First classroom in the retreat center/ volunteer housing was finished TODAY. First guest moving in Tuesday. What a journey! Thank you for all of your continued help. 1 of 12 classrooms done (5 individual rooms done, 55 individual rooms to go)! |
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Painting, molding, door frames - finishing converting the first 2 classrooms to 10 bedrooms this week! |
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Rooms are slowing coming together. Curtain door testing + taping and sanding this week. Painting and furniture next week! |
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Dreams still DO come true, despite 2020 and its aftermath! We finally have rooms in our new retreat center. Thanks for all the support to get to this point. |
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Drywall for the third-floor bedrooms is finally here! Thank you to Home Depot for the incredible donation of drywall AND thanks to all who helped us move it up the stairs! |
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Window repair/ replacement began this week! Drywall for the 3rd floor coming next week. |
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We finally got our Certificate of Occupancy! Thank you to the MANY people who helped us on the arduous journey - especially the Chicago Fire Department! |
Thanks to Home Depot, the entire 3rd floor is painted, and carpeting is down! We are waiting for some paperwork + we’ll be onto the next steps of the 3rd floor shortly. |
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| The walls needed a fresh coat of paint and the old school colors and slogans needed to be removed... | |
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| Before | After! |
We've got carpet in our retreat center bedrooms! Thank you to all the volunteers who have been helping with this. This has been done 100% with volunteer labor and almost 100% donated material. God is good! |
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> 3rd floor painting and electric is COMPLETE! Thank you, Home Depot, for sending in your amazing painting crews. We are very grateful. > We will be laying carpet on the 3rd floor this week. We are very excited. |
We prepped walls and rooms for the FINAL PAINTING of the 3rd floor, which is starting on Monday! |
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We are in the process of designing and starting to set up the 3rd floor retreat center! Can’t wait to have you here on retreat once COVID is over. |
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We are nearing the completion of several different parts of the project! We just finished the overhaul of the offices this week. Keep checking back for some (hopefully) frequent updates. |
We are gearing up to wrap up this project in 2021! Work on the 3rd floor bedrooms, 1st and 2nd floor bathrooms, and intense cleaning/ setting up will keep us busy until COVID ends! |
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The 3rd floor bathroom is almost done. We cannot wait for COVID to end so we can have you all over! We will be starting the construction on the rooms very shortly. Look here for a full photo album next week! |
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Thank you to all who helped with our new sprinkler system- valued at over $400,000! We were especially blessed to celebrate the completion of the project with many representatives from the sprinkler’s union (Local 281), the plumber’s union (Local 130), the Chicago Fire Department, and many more!
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Volunteer/ retreat center bathroom should be completed by 10/23/20! We are so excited. Check out this progress! |
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| Kitchen | Guest kitchen- in progress |
Significant recent progress on the Mission OLA school renovation project! The dining room/ kitchen are almost done. The 3rd floor retreat/ volunteer bathroom should be done on 10/23/20. Significant work on the 2nd floor is starting- mainly on the 2nd floor guest kitchen. Here are some pictures of the progress! |
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| Serving area |
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| Newly grouted tile walls | 2nd floor retreat presentation room- in progress |
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| Dining room and serving area | 3rd floor bathroom |
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| 3rd floor bathroom | 3rd floor bathroom |
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Big week on the school renovation project! The donation room renovation is well underway, the fences started going up around the green spaces/ parking lots, and we got our stainless steel countertops for the kitchen in! Thank you for your continued support. |
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We’ve also had a MARATHON of construction going on! With work on our new lots, and continued work on the 3rd floor. |
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We now have drywall in the 3rd floor bathroom! Thank you for everyone’s continued support and prayers for the project. |
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Electric, floor prep, door frames, and work on the walls continue on the 3rd floor! |
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Drilled through the roof for the new HVAC system for the bathroom…..and massive truck of drywall for the 3rd floor! |
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Significant progress on the 3rd floor bathroom this week! Electric, more plumbing, and HVAC. Thank you all for the continued prayers and support. |
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Framing for the 3rd floor bathroom went in this week! We are MOVING! |
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The 3rd floor bathroom is well on its way! Holes were cored and plumbing began this week. This bathroom will be for our 45 bedroom retreat center/ volunteer housing on the 3rd floor of the school. |
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Tear down a wall, build a wall! 3rd floor demo continues. Coring for toilet and shower plumbing will begin this week. |
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| Third floor demo continues! We will be moving towards installing plumbing in the next few weeks. | |
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Nothing is impossible for God! After many delays and difficulties, we are starting the renovation of the 3rd floor of the school building! |
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We celebrated Fr. Bob’s 30th anniversary to the priesthood by passing all our kitchen inspections. We passed because the sprinkler’s union finished the sprinklers in the kitchen this week. Thank you for all the continued support! |
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The dishwasher in the kitchen is installed and functional! We can’t wait to get this kitchen opened. |
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We are starting to move into the kitchen! Electric supply for major appliances is almost done. |
We have potable water! Kitchen plumbing is done. This week kitchen HVAC, electric, gas, flooring, and associated should be complete. Thank you to ALL who continue to support this effort. |
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We have an epoxy floor in the kitchen of the school! It is almost done and looks beautiful. |
The sprinkler system is almost finished! Thank you USA Fire Protection and Local 281 for your extraordinary generosity in getting this DONE. We were featured in the USA Fire Protection newsletter as seen HERE. |
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The construction project is still moving despite all the chaos! |
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Construction is happening and probably will not stop during the coronavirus shutdowns! |
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Kitchen construction continues! HVAC system is almost done, plumbing is in, and kitchen fixtures were delivered. Soon and very soon we will have potable, running water. We can't wait!! |
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Plumbing roughing went into the kitchen this week! Sprinkler install continued + we are close to having a tentative date for completion of the kitchen! |
A banner week for the Our Lady of the Angels School renovation project! The sprinklers on the first floor were installed, work on the kitchen re-started, a handmade table for our chapel was delivered, tile/ flooring for kitchen/dining room started, and……to remind us that this is God and not us……the City of Chicago fixed the sinking sewer in front of the building. |
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There was progress on the HVAC system/ ANSUL system in the kitchen. Admin details regarding the implementation of the permit plans have led to some delays. Sprinklers should probably start next week along with some wall construction that needs to be completed to meet code. |
Tangible progress this week! Work included: |
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Thanks to Flood Brothers we now have DUMPSTERS! This is a revolutionary step for Mission of Our Lady of the Angels that will change the way we do almost everything. We are very grateful for their generosity! We cannot wait to fill them up with construction garbage! |
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Construction on the kitchen and (hopefully) the sprinklers is starting this week! Here is the official permit hand off, the 1st post permit hammer swings and a picture of the completed chapel during Adoration. |
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WE GOT THE BUILDING PERMIT! It "only" took a year and a half, but here we are! Thank you to Burnham Nationwide and Ridgeland Associates! We are very grateful for your HOURS AND HOURS of help with the permit. We will be moving forward with construction immediately- so stay tuned. |
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We finally got the signatures on the exemptions we needed to get approval for our new sprinkler system. Thank you for your prayers. There is big talk of a permit this week. Check back here next weekend for an update! |
Thanks Energy Reduction Inc. for helping us get connected with all the ComEd rebates to get all kinds of free lights for the project! THANK YOU! |
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Hood for the kitchen stove installed with the anticipation of a permit in the next few weeks. Hoping for an early Christmas permit miracle! |
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We finally officially passed zoning- the most important step in our permit! We are waiting to hear back from the Department of Buildings > we will have a permit! |
The school boilers were on this week and actually produced heat. |
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If anyone is interested in joining us, we are praying through the intercession of St. Joseph for the expeditious completion of this very long permit process. Thank you for your prayers! |
Very exciting news! Our sprinkler system was donated this week! This donation is valued at about $400,000. |
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Look forward to BIG NEWS next week about the permit status and big “TURN IT ON” moment for the HVAC system!! We are so close. |
We got the garage door fixed and the awning up this week! The altar also went in the chapel. The boiler actually held and heated water this week. We are on the move! |
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Boiler pipe welding is well underway. We will have a functional boiler for the school building by October 1. Thank you to Wantuck Comfort Solutions, Carrier, and TEC for your continued generosity in this effort! |
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See ya later public notice! We passed at our zoning board of appeal hearing on Friday. 1 more step + we should finally have a permit. |
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Our new altar backdrop and floor were put in this week! We are so excited to have Adoration in our beautiful chapel soon. |
We have 1 floor of radiators installed and almost 2 floors of radiator walls. Thank you to ALL of the volunteers who have been helping with the radiator walls and for Wantuck Comfort Solutions for their continued efforts on the radiator install. |
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All of the radiators are in the building! Radiator demo is almost complete + install will begin this week. Volunteers have also been very busy building walls behind the radiator areas and the surrounding walls. Thanks to ALL who are helping in this effort. |
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As many of you know, it has been a very long and time consuming 10+ year path to getting new boilers. The first essential step has occurred- the arrival of the new equipment for the first half of the system! We are SO grateful and excited for all who have helped us take this incredible step- especially Carrier (and staff), Wantuck Comfort Solutions, and our volunteer pipefitters. |
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Thanks so much from our awesome group from St. Francis High School and our resident summer volunteers for all their work with demoing tile, moving junk into dumpsters, and moving radiators this week. Significant progress is only a permit away…. |
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While we are waiting for our building permit, we have still been able to continue with several parts of the project, including our new Adoration chapel! We have an artist who has donated his services to hand paint incredible religious art onto the walls of the chapel. |
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We are very excited to announce that an anonymous donor has stepped forward to offer a $200,000 match opportunity to help fund the school project! If we raise $200,000 he will donate $200,000! This $400,000 will get us pretty close to funding all of the main stages of the project. Donate HERE. |
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A week of surprises. We found a lot of issues with the underground drainage system in the school this week. Got it all fixed as we continue to prep for the arrival of the new boiler. |
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Thank you St. Clement’s for all of your amazing continued support of Mission of Our Lady of the Angels! We had over 40 volunteers on 4/27 to help us on the cleaning and moving projects in the school. Thank you for your help. |
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The Tuesday pantry continues to grow and improve! Here are some highlights from last Tuesday.
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This week we also officially disconnected the school boiler from any heat as we get ready to start installing the new boiler very soon! Here is the moment of disconnection. |
We had a huge group of general managers from Marriot come to help us demo, clean, and organize in the school! Thank you for helping us make some major progress! |
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The new food pantry continues to expand rapidly! Our 24x12 foot walk in fridge was FILLED for the first time this weekend. Check it out. Keep filling it up everyone! We also need more help packing produce and prepping for the pantry. If anyone would like to help with the pantry/ pantry prep, please e-mail HERE. |
Progress! Many things this week:
This project is really going now! Check out these pictures from the boiler demolition. |
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The new food pantry was featured on NBC! Check it out HERE. The Tuesday food pantry is really working smoothly now! We’d love your help if you can come. Tuesdays from 7:45 to 12 pm at OLA School- 3814 W. Iowa St. Let us know if you can volunteer HERE. |
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Building permits should be finalized and re-submitted (and hopefully approved) this week! We are continuing to paint and prep for the work that will start as soon as we get the permits. Please pray that the permits move through the city system quickly this week! |
We opened the new pantry on 1/22! Check out the highlights HERE. |
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Our new walk in fridge and freezer are fully functional! They are each 12 ft x 24 ft. Our new pantry is almost set up & is opening on Tuesday 1/22. Join us for the Tuesday pantry sometime! Details about volunteering at the Tuesday pantry HERE. |
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| New Pantry | |||||
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Big week in the school! The walk in fridge and freezer were installed. Walk in fridge is current ON and holding temperature! The walk in freezer should be working on Tuesday Jan. 15. We also painted the pantry. Thanks UW-Madison for your full weekend in the pantry taking care of this job! |
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We have been prepping for the big pantry move! The walk in fridge and freezer are coming this week. Here is a picture of the new pantry storage room as of 1/5/19. |
Now that Advent is over - we’re ready to get our chocolate calendars out for the WALK IN FRIDGE/ FREEZER COUNT DOWN! Delivery on 1/7/19. |
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The new pantry will be incredible. Check out this blog post from the Greater Chicago Food Depository highlighting the new pantry HERE. |
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Waxed floors in the new pantry! New pantry tentative opening date: Jan 22, 2019 |
We have new tile in the future pantry space! More tile will be laid this week. |
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Floors gone, lockers gone, steps jackhammered!!! 1st floor demolition is OVER! |
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Our future pantry is looking better (see hallway/ doorway picture)- lots of work to be done in the next few weeks! We ordered the walk-in fridge / freezer this week as well as preparing for the next steps. There should be major movement on the project by Christmas! |
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We are back! Wall repair and door instillation on the new pantry started this past week. |  |
The many administrative hurdles we have been jumping through remain!! Please pray that all of our paperwork moves quickly through the various systems it needs to travel through so we can get the first floor improvements going.
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The lots at 3800 W. Chicago Ave now have their flower boxes and new plants! We are excited to have full uses of these spaces starting next spring. |
Our new basketball/ parking/ garden area was paved this week! Thank you to the City of Chicago and all who made this possible. More updates on the use of this lot very soon! |
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We are very grateful for the donated plumbing supplies and labor that have been donated to work on the 1st and 2nd floor bathrooms. We are excited about our highly functional sinks and toilets! |
| We continue to discuss and experiment with possibilities for the replacement/ upgrade of our HVAC system. One of the definite costs is going to be the replacement of most (if not all) of our unit ventilators (special radiators). It’s going to cost about $2000 a vent. There are about 50 vents in the school! Continue to pray for the project. God is very much providing the people we need to continue moving forward. |  |
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We picked up several truckloads of donations from Tribune Tower this week including kitchen equipment and tables and chairs. Thanks to the Tribune and all who helped with the move! |
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As work continues in the school, we are very excited to let you know that significant work continues to be done on 3800 W. Chicago Ave! This space will be a parking lot/ basketball courts/ garden space. Check out the latest pictures! |
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Very busy week for the school construction project! First floor demo is complete, we moved 9 UHauls worth of furniture from DePaul University and 680 N. Lake Shore Dr. to the Mission, first + second floor bathroom repairs started, and we received monetary commitments from several sources for the kitchen. Keep up the prayers, networking, and generosity!! We are very grateful. |  |
We started the demo on the first floor of the school last week! It will be completed this week. This demo is making space for our new food pantry space, our new walk in fridge and freezer, and our new donation space. |
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| Before | After |
The first of MANY before and after pictures! This week we got the basement storage room painted. We then moved all of the stuff that needed to be moved for the demolition into the room. Get excited for some demo pictures next week! |
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We have a tentative kick off date for the project! June 16 should be the start of the demo on the first floor of the building. We will be knocking down walls to make room for the new space for our food pantry, giant walk in fridge/ freezer, and donation space.
We currently are running most of our food pantry in the hallways of the school building. We are really looking forward to having a designated room for the pantry. Check out some pictures below of the current pantry. We are serving about 140 families a week! That is more than DOUBLE what we were doing at this time last year.
Despite the lack of updates, there has been a LOT of background work going on to prep for the school construction project. We are finally ready to actually start doing something in the next few weeks.
Two things are going to be happening pretty soon:
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Roof- The school still has the ORIGINAL 1959 roof. It is a minor miracle there is not more leaking. Even with some VERY generous donations of material and labor, it will cost about $90,000 to replace the roof. See pictures of our lovely tar roof.
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1st floor demo- We will be knocking down walls on the first floor of the school to make room for our new food pantry space, donation space, and HUGE walk in fridge/ freezer. More on the demo project in future updates.
Incredible food donation!
We were very blessed to receive a surprise call from our new friends from Morton, IL who work with Midwest Food Bank! They dropped off 12 pallets of food & even assembly lined it into the building for us. We would have NEVER been able to receive this donation without the school building!
The Tuesday pantry moved to the school building in August. We now serve DOUBLE the people we used to every single month at the Tuesday pantry. Learn more about the future of the Tuesday pantry HERE.
Home Depot started this project with a bang by granting the Mission at $25,000 grant and providing ~150 employees to repaint the entire school in 1 day! Here are some highlight pictures and the news story from Telemundo from that day. More pictures of Home Depot volunteers HERE.
