CHILDRENS MUSEUM IN OAK LAWN

(1) Continue to lead the region in educational, fun-while-learning experiences for all children, regardless of race, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender or economic background.
(2) Be that place where families can bond while playing together, putting the parent in the role of teacher.
(3) Constantly working with educators to provide what they're students need when they visit the museum with their families, making us a hands-on extension of classroom learning.

Our strategies include embracing social media, designing new ways for our visitors to interact with us on-line. We also are focused on preschool outreach and have a volunteer education committee who works with us on a great many projects centered on learning.

Well respected in the south suburbs and south side of Chicago, the Children's Museum in Oak Lawn has a vast network of people who provide in-kind support, everything from IT to exhibit design and from fundraising to program implementation. Our Executive Director has been with us for twelve years and has built an extensive network of connections who support the museum's efforts.

Over the years, we've accomplished a great number of things. By far, the biggest thing we accomplished includes moving from our small, 900 square foot facility in July of 2009 to our current facility, nearly 12,000 square feet. This happened during the midst of the recession just around 10 months after the stock market crashed in the Fall of 2008. The museum had to take out a $600,000 loan to complete the work and that loan was paid off in just over three years. One of the things that we have not accomplished is being able to increase the number of staff to tackle the many aspects of running a museum. We are fortunate to have the generous support of many members and community leaders who help us with in-kind donations of goods and services.

Another upcoming struggle is that we are seeing exponential growth in the number of low-income families visiting the museum. We think it is GREAT but we know that we will have to focus on more fundraising in this area to help sustain the numbers we are seeing.

2016 - 361 people from low-income families
2017 - 2,022 people from low-income families
2018 - in just three months, we've seen 1,330 people from low-income families

This growth is amazing and we are so happy to be able to serve families in need, but as mentioned, we know that this will require more funding to make this sustainable.