Hogar: Centro del Corazón
(Home: Center of the Heart)

Last month, the Resurrection Project announced that they received a $3.4 million grant that will fund a large portion of La Casa, a college dormitory and resource center. The group hopes that La Casa will provide increased access and resources to urban youth interested in pursuing higher education. The area of Chicago that the Resurrection Project serves has one of the lowest populations of college graduates in Chicago.

The Resurrection Project (TRP) is a faith based community organization. Founded in 1990 by a coalition of Pilsen churches, TRP's mission is to build relationships and challenge people to act on their faith and values to create healthy communities through organizing, education and community development. TRP's member parish institutions include Assumption, Epiphany, Good Shepherd, Holy Trinity, Our Lady of Tepeyac, Providence of God, St. Adalbert, St. Agnes, St. Ann, St. Paul, St. Pius V., St. Procopius, and St. Roman.

In addition to the dormitory, which will house over 50 students, La Casa will also include a computer lab, a drop-in study center, and a college resource center. The college resource center will be in addition to the other programs and workshops already offered by Resurrection Project at some of its member institutions.

The proposed site, a former convent, is well equipped for conversion into a dorm and is close in proximity to a number of prominent Chicago universities and colleges with downtown campuses such as DePaul, Loyola, UIC, Columbia, Roosevelt and National-Louis. Its location will allow residents to eliminate long commutes on public transportation from their neighborhoods, leaving them more time to concentrate on their studies.

"My parents can stop worrying about my safety", Northeastern University student Marilu Rodriguez told the Resurrection Project.

Marilu has also found a small house crowded with 6 brothers and sisters to not be conducive to doing coursework. "Because I don't have a place to study at home, I have to stay late in school. It's not easy for me to get to school. I travel 2 hours to get back home and my parents worry about me traveling at a late hour".

The Resurrection Project is still seeking an additional $1.4 million donations to allow them to open for the start of the fall semester 2006.

For more information on this project or on the Resurrection project and its other programs, please visit the Resurrection project website .

Catholic Connections

"The challenge of being transformed into a holy person is not undertaken alone but within a faith community. Young adults repeatedly told us of their desire to find and to participate in communities that accept and welcome them, where people hold values and beliefs similar to their own. This longing for community touches each of us at the very core of our being. It is basic to being human, not "an extraneous addition, but a requirement" of our nature. Within the community, we develop our potential, foster our talents, form our identity, and respond to the many challenges of being holy men and women. Community is not only an abstract principle but also a concrete reality lived each day at home, on campus, within society, and in organizations, movements, and parishes."
Sons and Daughters of the Light: A Pastoral Plan for Ministry with Young Adults, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, 1996

Reflection Questions

Is your living situation a concern to you as you think about going to college?

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