About Us

Fighting poverty and injustice so that lives are transformed and Jesus is known.
By sharing the hope and love of Christ while meeting basic needs and offering long-term solutions, we empower people toward a more stable future.

Dignity.

We believe in creating a radically inclusive community where people are treated with dignity and respect regardless of their ethnic, economic, legal, or religious status.

Hope.

We believe true hope is found in a redemptive relationship with Jesus Christ.

Transformation.

We believe transformation occurs in the hearts of those serving and being served, as God redeems hurting people and broken situations.

What we know today as “The Care Center” began over 40 years ago when one man saw a need – families in our church who didn’t have enough food – and started providing bags of groceries from the trunk of his car. This single act eventually blossomed into parking lot food drives twice a year and eventually a food pantry.

Much like the Care Center began with the story of one car trunk, the C.A.R.S. ministry (Christian Automotive Repair Service) started when 2 members of the Willow Grounds Team saw the need of a single mother who couldn’t afford to fix her car at the local repair shop. Those men responded by repairing her car for free and sparked a movement of providing repairs that quickly expanded to accepting donated cars, fixing them up, and gifting them to members of the church community.

Following the recession, Willow Creek saw the needs of their community grow, a vision grew to bring the Care Center services on site. Their hope was to provide holistic care by offering a variety of services at one location, all within a single location connected to the church. The project was fully funded before ever breaking ground.

The Care Center opened its doors in 2013. The 60,000 square foot facility housed a full-choice grocery store, clothing store, car repair shop, dental & Vision clinic, legal aid, employment counseling, and financial and educational Services.

In March of 2020, when most of the world closed the doors to their buildings, including the church, the Care Center remained open. Thousands of congregants rallied together to transition in-building services to a drive-up model, allowing guests to receive a variety of food and staple items that helped sustain them through the COVID-19 pandemic; eventually, an online menu enabled guests to customize their food selections, adding dignity and choice back into our process. Volunteers continued serving hundreds of guests a day in a line of cars that backed all the way to Barrington Road. The congregation also hosted parking-lot clothing tent sales and the Build-A-Box campaign, filling and decorating boxes to be distributed throughout the community via the Mobile Care Center truck.

The Care Center celebrated its tenth anniversary on June 3, 2023. This milestone marked almost four decades of prayer and hard work that has allowed the Care Center to serve hundreds of families each week.

In 2023, the Care Center became increasingly aware of the disparity between our food selection and the large number of Hispanic, Latinx, and Eastern European guests served, following an influx of refugee or immigrant guests. This led to the origin of Culturally Responsive Foods: these items are safe and nutritious foods that meet the diverse tastes and needs of customers based on their cultural identity.

On October 12, 2025, Willow Creek Community Church celebrated 50 years of God’s faithfulness through triumphs and trials. This celebration marked a turning point in Willow’s history. Over the next 50 years, Willow will be mobilizing compassion across Chicagoland through Care Center Hubs to fight food insecurity and spread dignity, hope, and transformation in our local communities.