Contact Us
Our NEW address is as follows:
Block Club Federation
4000 West North Avenue
Chicago, IL 60639
Phone: 773-227-1135
Fax: 773-227-1264
Email: info[at]blockclubfederation[dot]org
About Our Permanent Staff
Magdalena E. Martinez
President & Executive Director
Maggie is a community activist and organizer in Humboldt Park. She has
volunteered her time to the community for over 20 years and is a deeply
religious woman. She is a retired school community representative with the
Board of Education and has taught religious education classes at Maternity
BVM Church for the last 30 years. She started her community work with
Neighborhood Housing Services and then joined the Youth Service Project of
Chicago where she took leadership workshops at DePaul University in 1988.
She later formed the Block Club Federation in 1989. Magdalena started the
Block Club Federation because of the many problems in the Humboldt Park area
like drugs, gangs, abandoned buildings, slum landlords, the large lack of
employment, and other issues that concerned the community. Today, Magdalena
is the pro bono President and Executive Director of the Block Club
Federation and has been since 2004. She is also the District Advisory
Council Chair for the Community Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS) in the
14th District, and a court advocate attending many court hearings
to show the community’s concern. Maggie motivates both youths and adults to
participate in community activities and events, many of which she organizes
herself. As a member of the Near Northwest Neighborhood Network (NNNN) and
Humboldt Park Empowerment Partnership (HPEP) for the last 12 years, Maggie
has worked with many agencies by forming partnerships in order to discover
all of the resources she can for the community that she so dearly loves.
Carlos A. Rivas Jr.
Director of Programming, and Grant Compliance
Carlos is a 21 year old junior at Claremont McKenna College in
California, has been affiliated with the Block Club Federation since 1999.
Growing up in a single parent household, Carlos had no relationship with his
father throughout the majority of his life. He was born into the Humboldt
Park area and still resides there when he is not away at college. His mother
is a lunch room attendant at Lowell Elementary School. Seeing the plight of
the community and the many improvements that it needed, he joined the Block
Club Federation and today is their Director of Programming. Through his
leadership and grant writing abilities, the organization has received the
necessary funds in order to hold countless youth programs throughout the
years. Carlos’s endless dedication to the community has largely contributed
to the many accomplishments the Block Club Federation has had throughout the
years, and he has forever bettered the community he and so many other
individuals live.
Malani Garcia
Site Coordinator, YIPEE Summer Camp
Malani has worked with the YIPEE Summer Camp since its inception in
2007. She is a graduate of Lane Technical College Prep High School, and
currently is in the Master's Program at New Life Covenant Ministries while
taking classes online. Malani's dedication to the YIPEE Program, creative
projects, and youth ministries give her the perfect relationship with the
youth of Humboldt Park to provide much needed programming.
Melissa Garcia
Site Coordinator, YIPEE Summer Camp
Melissa has worked with the YIPEE Summer camp since its inception in
2007 as well, and continues to provide dedicated service to the youth of our
community. Melissa is a graduate of Lane Technical College Prep High School
and is a rising sophomore at Northeastern Illinois University. Melissa is
dedicated to children's ministries and works with the Children's Ministry at
New Life Covenant Church.
Volunteer Staff
The Block Club Federation was built by volunteers, and to this day we
count on the support of countless volunteers to aide us in accomplishing our
mission in the community.
We also have many interns from local universities including DePaul,
Loyola and Chicago Theological Seminary. These interns focus their majors on
community development, nonprofit management or social services.
To find out how you can volunteer not only at our events, but possible
unpaid internships at our headquarters, contact 773-227-1135.