The Village

SOS Children’s Villages operates three foster care neighborhoods in Illinois: an 18-home village in Lockport, a 19-home village in the Auburn Gresham/Englewood neighborhood of Chicago and a 14-home village in Chicago’s Roosevelt Square neighborhood. Each village is run by trained and loving caregivers and provides a safe and secure home for children and youth. The villages create a nurturing and vibrant environment with an array of services to help the children overcome their past trauma and build successful futures.

Preparing Youth for Independence

Youth are prepared for independence through the College Bound & Beyond program. College Bound & Beyond is essential to helping at-risk foster children and youth become self-sufficient and build a foundation for a life of achievement and professional satisfaction. The program provides staff training, educational resources, a focus on scholastic milestones and an organization-wide focus on education.

Strengthening Families 

We focus on helping biological parents overcome the circumstances that brought their children into care. Through individual and family counseling and parenting classes, we empower parents and reunite families whenever possible. 

In-home family services help families build on their strengths, tackle tough problems and stabilize to help youth deal with issues related to gang involvement and other areas of risk. Additionally, SOS Children’s Villages offers these services to other children in the community in the Back of the Yards neighborhood of Chicago at Casa Tepeyac.

Other Services

The Roosevelt Square Community Center offers academic, therapeutic, social and recreational programs; multi-use spaces for community members to connect; and a culinary kitchen to provide nutrition education and job-skills training for the hospitality industry. The center aims to serve more than 5,000 people from the surrounding community.