Heartland Human Care Services will shut down Dec. 31 after 138 years serving Chicago's most vulnerable residents, the nonprofit announced Tuesday on its adult literacy program's website. The closure stems from federal funding cuts and an unexpected unemployment insurance liability, ending programs that provided housing support, refugee and immigrant services, job training, and financial coaching to people facing poverty and displacement. The organization described the decision as "a heartbreaking loss for our volunteers, participants, staff, and the communities we serve."
During its fiscal year 2024, which ran from July 2023 through June 2024, Heartland Human Care Services worked with around 20,500 participants, including more than 10,000 people who got help through Travelers Aid Chicago at O'Hare International Airport. The nonprofit ran programs for people experiencing homelessness, refugees and asylum seekers, trafficking survivors, and young people in the justice system. A September notice filed with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity lists 40 workers slated for layoff on Dec. 31, citing a lost contract as the reason. That follows 337 employee layoffs expected in April when the organization closed all four Chicago shelters for unaccompanied immigrant children after the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement didn't renew its contracts.
Federal funding cuts forced workforce reductions affecting more than half of the organization's employees, Heartland Human Care Services said in a Thursday statement. The scale of those layoffs triggered an unexpected unemployment insurance liability that compounded the financial strain. Combined with shrinking funding and limited reserves, these pressures made it impossible to keep operating despite efforts to maintain services, the organization said. All remaining staff will lose their jobs as the nonprofit prepares to close, and Sarah Moss, a staff member and volunteer facilitator, wrote that Heartland hopes to move students and tutors from its adult literacy program to other organizations.
The closure follows years of financial turbulence for the broader Heartland network. Heartland Human Care Services was one of several nonprofits spun off from Heartland Alliance in 2024 as the longtime social services organization struggled with money problems. Heartland Alliance's history traces back to 1888, when Jane Addams founded Travelers and Immigrants Aid to help people arriving in Chicago. Another spinoff, Heartland Alliance Health, nearly shut down in 2025 when it announced plans to close clinics and food pantries before reversing that decision after receiving a major donation. It's still unclear exactly how the closure will affect people who depend on Heartland Human Care Services' programs or whether other groups will take over any of its work. The organization also plans to close the Manuel Saura Center, described as the county's only shelter alternative to the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center, on Nov. 30, and Cook County officials have been looking for another provider to continue those services.