History

New Life Centers of Chicagoland, NFP was created in 2005 to address the needs of the communities surrounding New Life Community Church.  As neighbors approached the church with pressing issues--youth violence, domestic violence, teen pregnancy, unemployment--New Life responded with custom-made Centers programs that fit the community.  Initial sites grew in the Little Village and Midway neighborhoods.  Subsequent programs sprang up at Humboldt Park, Jefferson Park, and Oak Forest.

Our parent organization, New Life Community Church, was founded in 1986 as an 18-member church in Chicago's Back of the Yards neighborhood. Over 20 years later, New Life Community Church (Nueva Vida) exists as a bilingual, multi-site organization, serving over 4,000 congregants weekly across 14 locations throughout Chicagoland. New Life Community Church seeks to serve 1% of Chicago’s population, expanding its reach by planting new locations and restarting declining Chicago-area churches.

Humboldt Park joined the New Life family with a history all its own. The Humboldt Park site, 1410 N. Springfield Ave., was founded in 1898 as Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church and School. Serving the community for over 100 years, Bethel made neighborhood gym outreach and children's programs a priority.  "Bethel Family Programs" expanded exponentially, joining the New Life family when Bethel's generous members gifted their facility to New Life Community Church in 2008.