Englewood early learning center forced to close as city moves to new funding system

An early childhood learning center in Englewood for 26 years was forced to shut its doors for the foreseeable future after the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services denied its proposal for funding.

Over half of Little Angels Learning Center’s operational budget came from city funding. Parents and staff of the learning center, 6701 S. Emerald Ave., have been engaged in a nearly yearlong fight to get the city to explain why Little Angels’ $300,000 proposal was turned down and for the city to restore funding.

Meanwhile, the learning center was previously awarded over $3 million from the city and state to build a new facility on a vacant lot across the street from the church basement they work out of now. Little Angels can’t break ground without guaranteed day-to-day funding.

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Executive Director Nashone Greer-Adams said she wants to find a solution to the funding problem, but city officials haven’t kept communications opened with them. Two meetings with the mayor’s chief of staff and the deputy mayor for education and human services were abruptly canceled last week.

“We’ve been in this fight for almost 10 months now asking for transparency, asking for clarity and, as of this date, we still haven’t received no clarity,” Greer-Adams said. “We know that [Mayor Lori Lightfoot] is concentrating on high-quality programing, so we don’t understand why our high-quality programing is being ripped away from us.”

Greer-Adams said the center’s retention rate is over 90% and 87% of its students go on to selective enrollment schools. A history of success, Greer-Adams said, is why the city awarded them the money to expand in the first place.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

Little Angels originally lost funding in 2019 when the Department of Family and Support Services launched a new application process for early learning centers that prioritized programs that advanced kindergarten readiness, had lower child-to-adult ratios, higher teacher salaries and a more stringent staffing qualification.

The city had said more than 150 learning centers citywide applied and those proposals were graded on a point system. Only 101 of those centers were granted some funding to begin in December 2019.

Under the new application system many centers were forced to cut services or shutter. The Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago closed three of its learning centers as a result of underfunding.

Little Angels’ application was denied, but it received funding through a City Council resolution that helped 25 early learning centers remain open until the end of June.

On July 1, that funding dried up and Little Angels was forced to close its doors to the Englewood families it served for 26 years.

Quenjana Adams Olayeni, spokeswoman with the Department of Family and Support Services, said the city has worked closely with Little Angels and others that lost funding. The department’s efforts included the funding that got them through June and consulting services to help support these learning centers prepare for when the funding ultimately dried up.

“[Department of Family and Support Services] has a team dedicated to assisting families with finding alternate programs if they’re faced with limited availability within their current program or neighborhood,” Olayeni said.

But looking for alternative programs doesn’t sit right with parents who relied on Little Angels over the years.

For weeks, parents and educators with Little Angels have camped out in front of Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s Logan Square home demanding a sit-down conversation. Lately they’ve been holding classes outdoors near Lightfoot’s home to show Little Angels isn’t just a day care.

Cherelle Bilal, a parent organizer, said not only did Little Angels provide quality education for her children but helped her survive domestic violence.

“They helped me escape that violence and escape that community and flourish,” Bilal said.

Bilal said she was able to go back to school and work on an early childhood education degree. The early learning center’s wraparound services such as family bonding classes and career growth programs will be missed if Little Angels is forced to stay closed.

“If you take this out this community you will be taking away a safe haven,” Bilal said.

Lakiesha Veal, 22, said she would’ve been lost as a young mom at 17 if it wasn’t for Little Angels. There, she learned to connect with her baby

“I didn’t know anything of how to really be a parent, I was a kid having a kid,” said Veal, now 22. “Being here with Little Angels has taught me a lot and it has opened my eyes a lot on the parenthood side. I’ve learned the value and the significant meaning of what it means to bond with your child.”

Manny Ramos is a corps member in Report for America, a not-for-profit journalism program that aims to bolster Sun-Times coverage of Chicago’s South and West sides. Sam Kelly is a Chicago Sun-Times wire reporter.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times