Discover the History

The Gertrude B. Nielsen Child Care and Learning Center has a rich and long history, starting with its remarkable founder, Gertrude B. Nielsen. Mrs. Nielsen and her husband, Arthur C. Nielsen Sr., raised their family on the North Shore of Chicago. She established and endowed our Child Care Center that is named after her.

When Gertrude B. Nielsen was only 5, her grandmother passed along the words that Mrs. Nielsen would live by: "Do something every day to help someone else." Mrs. Nielsen was a well-known philanthropist who did just that and focused her generosity on children. At the time the Center opened Mrs. Nielsen said, "I believe children should have the best possible care while parents are working outside the home. The older you get, the more you realize how important it is to give a child a good start in life."

The Center opened in 1988 as a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) corporation and has served and nurtured hundreds of children from birth to age 6.

Discover the Legacy

The Nielsen family believes that it is important to "do something every day for someone else." This remarkable family put their beliefs into practice in extraordinary ways.