Influential social services nonprofit Habilitative Systems, Inc. completed $1.25 million in updates to its main facility at 415 S. Kilpatrick Ave., marking the building’s first major renovations in the organization’s nearly 50 years on Chicago’s West Side.
Habilitative Systems offers support services for crisis intervention, employment, housing, mental and behavioral health, substance use, special education, young people and those with disabilities.
The entire first floor of Habilitative Systems’ main facility was renovated to include the new features of an accessible front entrance and elevator, an IT technology center, a mindfulness center, plus an occupational and physical therapy room, and a first aid room. The rest of the first floor was remodeled with new floors, walls and a mural. The renovations allow Habilitative Systems to serve even more people in need.
Habilitative Systems’ work on the West and South Sides of Chicago touches about 150,000 households, Donald Dew, HSI’s president and CEO, said during Habilitative Systems’ ribbon cutting for its main facility on March 28.
Through HSI’s various mental health and substance use services, the organization has saved Illinois’ Department of Human Services over $40 million in the last five years, Dew said.
“Today, we celebrate that this place has been physically transformed. But we know that throughout 47 years, HSI has been a staple in this community, and they have made many physical transformations for residents in our community,” said Melissa Conyears-Ervin, Chicago city treasurer and the wife of Ald. Jason Ervin of the 28th Ward. “It benefits us to invest in this facility because it saves us money from the jails, from the hospitals.”
According to U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, HSI is the largest Black-owned and operated social service agency in the state. It’s why Davis secured $500,000 from the Health Resources and Services Administration for the main facility’s renovations.
Proven IT donated $100,000 to the building’s new technology center, Republic Services and Rebuilding Together contributed $250,000, and State Sen. Lakesia Collins found $400,000 in funding for the building.
“This is one of the agencies that I don’t have to think twice about when we talk about funding, because it has been proven that the work that they do here, it works in serving the population that needs it the most,” Collins said.
History of Habilitative Systems
Since Habilitative Systems was founded in 1978, its headquarters have sat on Kilpatrick Avenue on the border of Austin and West Garfield Park. What’s now the Larry T. Byrd Administrative Building was once a manufacturing site that made pillows for United Airlines, Eastern Airlines and Amtrak, while training and employing people with developmental disabilities.
The facility also was where 8,000 telephones were assembled for the 1996 Democratic National Convention. And later, HSI launched a janitorial service. AbleServ, a for-profit subsidiary of HSI, operated through 2012 and cleaned for the likes of Coca-Cola, and Rush University Medical Center.
“It is my sincere hope and intent to invite y’all back onto the West Side, make substantial social investments in our mission, serve those on the margin of society, and help establish this facility as a national historic landmark,” Dew of HSI said.
Today, Habilitative Systems has 16 locations on Chicago’s West and South Sides, most of which are housing initiatives. In West Garfield Park, the Westside Community Triage and Wellness Center provides case management services, crisis intervention, screenings and psychotropic medications.
“Habilitative is one thing, but [Dew] took it to rehabilitation as well. To have both in an organization is what a community needs,” said La Shawn Ford, state representative for the 8th District. “I’ll mention how important it is to have legacy, competent organizations that we can fight for in government.”
Ford said that, while many nonprofits want money, many lack the knowledge of how to fill out paperwork or where to submit it. Ford suggested those organizations reach out to Dew as a mentor.
“When you talk to the people in the state of Illinois, Department of Human Services and all the other agencies, they point to Donald Dew and HSI.”
Ald. Ervin told a story about a meeting he attended with West Side elected officials about five years ago, where attendees were talking about resources to use as a community hub. When someone mentioned Dew, everyone agreed.
“Everyone at that table knew that Donald Dew has the best interest of the West Side in mind,” Ervin said.
