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Japanese American Service Committee Celebrates $10M Newly Renovated ‘Forever Home’ in West Ridge
Ribbon-cutting ceremony for Japanese American Service Committee’s new building, located at 5700 N. Lincoln Ave., on Dec. 12, 2024. (Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)
The Japanese American Service Committee, an organization that has been serving the Japanese American community in Chicago for almost 80 years, unveiled its newly renovated $10 million building on Thursday that will serve as its new home on the Far North Side.
“This has been a dream of ours for many years,” CEO Courtney Sakai said following a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new building. “We’ve always envisioned a community destination where we could serve all and expand our programs.”
JASC’s move to what its leaders are calling their “new forever home” in West Ridge, located at 5700 N. Lincoln Ave., comes after more than 50 years being based in Uptown.
The new space is a 34,000-square-foot building that features large open floor areas and activity rooms — which leaders say offer increased client capacity for programming — in addition to a demo kitchen, conference rooms and a private parking lot.
The building formerly served as a bank branch before JASC purchased the building in late 2022. It cost a little over $2 million plus nearly $8 million for renovations, funded largely in part by donations from the community, according to Sakai.
Japanese American Service Committee’s Legacy Center Library in the organization’s new building in West Ridge on Dec. 12, 2024. (Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)
Originally called the Chicago Resettlers Committee, JASC was founded in 1946 to serve the needs of Japanese American immigrants and their families coming to Chicago after the U.S. government forcibly incarcerated them in internment camps during World War II.
“When our parents, grandparents, great-grandparents first arrived here in Chicago from camps, they had no money in their pockets, no place to live, no place to work,” said JASC Board of Directors President Stacy Uchida Brown. “I imagine it felt similar then to how we did when we started this project … but also with this glimmer of hope for a better future.”
Today, JASC offers a variety of social services such as its in-home support services program, youth development programs, daytime programming for older adults and a 200-unit affordable housing building, Heiwa Terrace, for seniors and people with disabilities.
JASC also serves as a center showcasing Japanese American culture and history with its programming such as language classes, cooking and arts classes and calligraphy workshops.
The building will be home to JASC’s Legacy Center, a publicly accessible collection of archives containing rare books, personal documents, photographs and artifacts that offer insight into the Japanese American community in the city throughout history to present day.
Musical performance in the main lobby of the Japanese American Service Committee’s new building on Dec. 12, 2024. (Eunice Alpasan / WTTW News)
The Legacy Center suspended services during the move, and the organization aims to have services back up and running early next year, according to retiring CEO Mike Takada.
Construction to renovate the building started early this year and wrapped up in the fall, according to organization leaders. JASC staff started moving into the facility about a month ago.
The organization received support from the Buddhist Temple of Chicago, Ravenswood Fellowship UMC and Japanese American Citizens League Chicago so that it could continue some of its programming and operations amid the moving process.
Following the ribbon cutting, attendees were served sake and participated in a sake barrel breaking ceremony in which organizers used wooden mallets to break open a sake barrel and poured the sake into cups before doing a celebratory toast.
Consul-General of Japan in Chicago Jun Yanagi, Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th Ward) and Senior Advisor for Public Engagement for the White House Kota Mizutani were also in attendance during the ribbon cutting festivities.
Exterior of Japanese American Service Committee on Dec. 12, 2024. (Eunice Alpasan / WTTW News)
In his remarks, Mizutani told attendees not to back down or stop the work they are doing, alluding to the next four years with President-elect Donald Trump in office.
“Throughout generations of history of Japanese Americans, our community has again and again been at the forefront to protect not only our loved ones, our communities, but all vulnerable communities across the country,” Mizutani said. “We have to keep that up, the need for that courage, that dedication and that service remains just as strong now as it has ever been.”
A luncheon was held following the ribbon cutting events to celebrate the retirement of Takada, who was CEO for the last 10 years and whose parents met at JASC in the early 1950s.
Takada said he’s proud of of his work collaborating with other organizations to provide services for the community and being supportive of one another.
“I’m hoping and very confident that this organization will continue to be present for the community,” Takada said. “It is also a community that continues to evolve.”
On Saturday, JASC will host its annual Holiday Delight event, featuring vendors, cultural performances, a silent auction, a raffle, a food court and a visit from Santa.
Contact Eunice Alpasan: @eunicealpasan | 773-509-5362 | [email protected]
