Born in the period following the 1966 Division Street riots, the Puerto Rican Cultural Center (PRCC) addresses fundamental needs in the Puerto Rican/Latino communities of Humboldt Park, Logan Square, and Hermosa Park. Throughout our existence, our programs and affiliates have graduated thousands of community residents, trained dozens of adolescent peers, helped bridge the digital divide in a culturally relevant manner, and instilled hundreds of potential young community leaders with an emerging, holistic vision of community wellness and stability.
Founded in 1973, the PRCC Juan Antonio Corretjer is a 50-year-old organization that has been foundational to the creation of Paseo Boricua, as it is known—the economic, political, and cultural hub of the Puerto Rican community in the Midwest. It encapsulates the historical efforts of the same to resist gentrification through efforts such as the establishment of Puerto Rico Town. It is a non-profit, community-based institution that serves the socio-ecological needs of Chicago’s Puerto Rican /Latino community. It is built on the following principles: a philosophy of self-determination, a methodology of self-actualization and critical thought, and a moral value that bridges self-reliance and communal responsibility, which is best expressed in the Center’s motto, “To live and help to live.”
