About Us

Mission: to improve the quality of life in our community by creating affordable housing, quality education, arts & cultural endeavors, open spaces, and thriving neighborhood businesses.

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North River Commission is the nonprofit community and economic development corporation for the northwest side of Chicago, from the Chicago River to Cicero and Addison to Devon. Founded in 1962 by concerned residents and neighborhood institutions, NRC unites over 100 civic associations, businesses, schools, institutions and places of worship to improve the quality of life in our community by creating affordable housing, quality education, arts & cultural endeavors, open spaces, and thriving neighborhood businesses.

Areas of Work

Economic Development Operation of the Albany Park Chamber of Commerce and Albany Park and Irving Park Special Service Area (SSA #60). North River Commission is a delegate agency of the City of Chicago working to support small businesses in our area.

 

Community Development North River Commission has been the lead agency for Albany Park in LISC Chicago’s New Communities Program. Five times a year NRC brings together residents and their civic associations to discuss their concerns and develop solutions. Currently, NRC is partnered with CMAP/Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning for a year-long process engaging the community in planning for the future.

 

Housing NRC operates Mayfair Commons Senior Housing Center at Elston and Lawrence with 97 units and 116 low-income seniors. NRC works with landlords and tenants to secure resources that improve quality and preserve affordability. NRC creates affordable housing through partnerships with our communities, developers, and government.

 

Education NRC partners with Illinois State University’s Teacher Pipeline to connect education majors to Chicago Public Schools, which encourages them to choose area schools for their first teaching positions. In addition, NRC collaborates with local universities to develop programs that benefit their students and surrounding communities.
NRC also supports the 25 CPS schools in our area, by working with students, parents, teachers and administrators in improving the quality of education.

 

Environment NRC’s Environment Committee is currently focused on two projects, flooding solutions at the home and neighborhood levels and tree planting in parks and parkways.

 

Arts and Culture NRC collaborates with artists and the community to enhance offerings in our area. NRC is actively engaged in the return of the North Park Art Walk as well as creating public art across our communities.

Support

North River Commission thrives on the support of people like you who care about building better communities on the northwest side of Chicago. We work for you, and your support makes all the difference in ensuring our capacity to serve our communities.

North River Commission is a qualified IRS section 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and therefore your contributions are deductible to the full extent of the law. We welcome your questions about the positive impact that your contributions make on the people and communities that we serve.

Please make a contribution today in an amount that is significant for you. Thank you. Click here to make a contribution.

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Communications

We welcome you to stay up to date with the work of the North River Commission through our communication channels. Likewise, we are happy to celebrate the work that you are engaged in by sharing your news through NRC communication channels.

Email Updates

North River Commission sends out weekly neighborhood updates . Follow this link to register your email and select your interests.

 

Questions

Contact Kay Villamin, Executive Director
kay@northrivercommission.org
(847) 921-9392