The world is based upon three principles: On the Torah; on serving God; and on acts of loving-kindness.

—Pirkei Avos 1:2

The year was 1970—a year of tumult for the nation. Vietnam dominated the news. The United States invaded Cambodia. Students and other activists took their protests to the streets. National Guardsmen were on college campuses.

In Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood, a radical youth organization angrily demonstrated outside an area clinic, demanding free medical care for the neighborhood’s poor. The director of the clinic and his friend, a young, charismatic rabbi, met with the group. The doctor and rabbi were astounded to discover that the leaders of the radicals were Jewish, as were most of the poor and elderly residents they represented. The two friends wondered if an organization could be created that embraced the compassionate ethics of the Torah rather than the destructive elements of the anti-establishment movement. In a time of such great unrest, could the community be united in an age-old commitment to one’s fellow man?

As the rabbi and doctor consulted with friends and acquaintances, word of their idea began to spread. Many caring individuals—of all ages—quickly became involved in the project. Doctors, social workers and others volunteered their time. Young people enthusiastically asked to help. The idea attracted young Jews who had become estranged from more established institutions within their religion. Committed Jews, wanting to do more than write a check to charity, found an outlet to perform hands-on mitzvot (good deeds). In March of 1971, The ARK opened as a free medical clinic in a modest second floor suite on Lawrence Avenue in Chicago’s Albany Park.

This small medical clinic, serving a few hundred elderly patients, immediately began to grow and evolve to meet the emerging needs of our clients. Guided by halachah, the principles of Jewish law, The ARK relied on volunteers performing mitzvot in accordance with Torah ideals. The ARK was committed to developing services and programs that would sustain and improve the lives of those who had nowhere else to turn.

Today, after 36 years of operation, The ARK’s main facility is the Seymour H. Persky Building at 6450 N. California Avenue in Chicago’s West Rogers Park. A staff of 38 full- and part-time workers is led by a volunteer Board of Directors, representing a broad spectrum of the community. The ARK provides quality medical, legal, social welfare and similar human services for the physical, emotional and spiritual well-being of those in need.

With a budget now of over $3.7 million, The ARK still maintains its "grassroots" atmosphere. The ARK’s services are offered free of charge and are given in a spirit of loving-kindness, preserving the dignity of each individual. Many people, after coming to The ARK for the first time, experience intense feelings of relief, of safety and of hope. Many have said it is like coming home to the security of a caring family.

For those with no one, The ARK is their family. We are their support and we are their hope.

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