In 1883, Czechoslovakian and Bohemian immigrants resided in the near westside area (the Halsted and Maxwell Street area) of Chicago. Elizabeth E. Marcy, a member of the First Methodist Church in Evanston, enlisted the support of the other North Shore churchwomen and established Marcy Center as a religious mission in a dingy room of a smoky saloon located at 300 West Maxwell Street. In 1888, the Rock River Conference Women’s’ Home Missionary Society granted accreditation and provided support.

A small two-story frame building at the corner of Maxwell and Newberry Avenue was purchased in 1890. The neighborhood residents and new citizens, desiring to learn the language and customs of their new world, crowded the building. The constant crowded condition necessitated program expansion, and in 1896, a three-story building was erected and named the Elizabeth E. Marcy Home.

Over the next fifteen years, the cycle of immigration steadily changed to show a movement of Jewish immigrants, primarily from Central Europe, into the community, thereby dictating a shift in program and service needs. The community had become predominately Jewish by 1913, and the program of the Marcy Home expanded from its Newberry Avenue base, building Marcy Center in 1930 in the Lawndale Community.  A committee from First Methodist Church in Evanston was given charge of the old building whose name was changed to the Newberry Avenue Center. The combined project received its charter in 1936.

Shortly after World War II, the demographics of the Lawndale Community, which was primarily Jewish, began to change as large numbers of Southern Blacks started to migrate to the northern industrial states. Chicago became a frequent place of resettlement and soon Lawndale had become predominately black. Again, the philosophy of the agency changed in terms of its program to reflect the needs of the community. By 1960, the population in the community surrounding the Newberry Avenue Center had also changed into a primarily Black populated area.   As the Newberry Center moved into its present location at 1073 W. Maxwell Street, in June of 1964, both Centers (Marcy and Newberry) shared several major characteristics: both centers served low income blacks in what had become two of Chicago’s’ most blighted and neglected areas; both received substantial support from the National Division of the United Methodist Church and the Community Fund of Chicago; and both centers were critical points of hope and support for a vast number of people whose very substance was dependent upon the government and the public sector.

The merging of both centers was, therefore, fundamental in relation to their history and philosophy and commonality of their service beneficiaries and programs. In February of 1969, Marcy Center and Newberry Center did merge, thus becoming the Marcy-Newberry Association, Inc.

These centers have served children & families of the near west and westside communities for 126 years. Through our current 10 neighborhood based centers and partnerships, the agency continues to reach out into several  communities, seeking to assist people in resolving problems, whether of an individual, family or group nature, to improve and strengthen family life and to aid the community in its development and improvement.

At present, the agency operates within a budget of 5.4 million dollars, and employs a staff of 105. Our programs serve thousands of people, whose ages range from 0 years to 105 years of age. The clientele consist of ethnic & economical diversity.

ON DECEMBER 9^TH 2009, MARCY-NEWBERRY ASSOCIATION, THE ONLY UNITED METHODIST RELATED COMMUNITY CENTER IN THE NIC, CELEBRATED ITS 126^TH ANNIVERSARY. Kendrick has been Executive Director for 30 years, Williams has been on staff 45 years and several other staff has been employed for over 20 years at the centers.