HCC and its board of directors welcomed local dignitaries and community members to the ground-breaking ceremony of its new Harlem Community Center. The ceremony took place on Tuesday, November 21, 2023 and began at 10:00 am. Due to the anticipated rain, the ceremony began in the gymnasium with a brief outdoor groundbreaking. In addition to local dignitaries, a class of our graduating preschoolers assisted.

HCC announced in April that they were the recipients of an $8.9 million Early Childhood Construction Grant from the State of Illinois. This highly competitive grant was awarded to 8 non-profit centers across the state. The completion date is November, 2024. Harlem Community Center’s Heart of the Parks Early Learning Center is scheduled to open November 2024. Heart of the Parks ELC will have 5 classrooms and employ 20 staff members.

Childcare will be available for many low and moderate income families. One of the reasons HCC was chosen was due to the high need in the community for quality licensed care. Additionally, the Community Center will include recreational and social programming and Senior Day Services.

Shannon Scheffel, HCC’s CEO, said “Thanks for our 2013 Early Childhood Grant HCC has been able to provide early childhood learning experiences to hundreds of families in our community. This second grant provides us an opportunity to expand to a second underserved area and bring licensed and accredited care and education to even more families..”

About Harlem Community Center: HCC is a not-for-profit agency that has been serving the needs of the youth and families of Northern Winnebago County since 1957. HCC was created to meet the recreational needs of the Harlem Township. It has grown to provide social, recreational, and educational activities for youth and their families. In October 2007, HCC opened the Hand-n-Hand Child Care Center to meet the demand for quality child care services for our families. In 2014, HCC built the HCC Hand-n-Hand Child Care Center its own home. HCC HNH is a licensed, Gold Star, accredited program in Loves Park. Harlem Community Center believes the best way to help ensure children’s success in life is to provide them with positive role models, build their self-esteem, give them a safe place to play and make friends, provide them with new skills, and support families as they spend quality time together.