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ChildServ

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July 12, 2010

Do Something Wonderful. Consider Foster Care Adoption

Meet Darien, a new member of the Wendy’s Wonderful Kids family. Darien is 6 years old and lives in Illinois. He was adopted in February after living in foster care for four years. Darien is an energetic, inquisitive little boy who loves “…my mom, my dad my sister and my dog more than anything in the whole world.” Welcome home, Darien!

Today, 123,000 children wait in the U.S. foster care system hoping to be adopted. The average age of these children is 8 years old. Every year, more children enter the system than are adopted and nearly 20 percent turn 18 without being adopted and are wholly left alone to enter adulthood.

According to the National Adoption Attitudes Survey, commissioned by the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, forty percent of Americans have at some point considered adoption. That translates into more than 81.5 million adults. If just one in 500 of these adults adopted, every waiting child in foster care would have a permanent family.

In April 2004, the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption launched Wendy’s Wonderful Kids. This signature program of the Foundation combines the fundraising efforts of Wendy’s restaurants and its customers; grant oversight of the Foundation and the talent of adoption professionals to aggressively move children from foster care to adoption.

ChildServ is a Wendy’s Wonderful Kids grant agency in Illinois. Last year, ChildServ served 28 children in the program, including eight who were matched with loving families and moving toward adoption, and five who were adopted into safe, nurturing, and permanent homes. “We definitely need more families that care enough to want to make a real difference by adopting our kids,” said Dianna McMichaels, Wendy’s Wonderful Kids Coordinator at ChildServ.

To learn more about foster care adoption in Illinois, call your local Wendy’s Wonderful Kids recruiter, Dianna McMichaels, at ChildServ, (773) 239-8720, or visit http://www.Wendy’sWonderfulKids.org and www.childserv.org.

Congratulations 2010 Graduates!

HIPPY: Uriel, Emilly, Evelyn, Conntell, Marnika, Bruce, Deshaun, Miriam, Jose, Kayla, Osvaldo, Alejandro, Heidi, Jose, Amy, Esthefania and Joaquin.

Residential: Anita, D'Shawn*, Terrell*, Crystal, Anna and Tanya* (*attending College in the fall).

Fostering Hope for the Future

On April 28, 2010, President Barack Obama proclaimed May 2010 as National Foster Care Month, in which he “call[ed] upon all Americans to observe this month with appropriate programs and activities to honor and support young people in foster care, and to recognize the committed adults who work on their behalf each day.” As such, ChildServ recognizes the hard work and dedication displayed by the clients and staff involved with its non-traditional foster care programs, i.e., Group Homes (GH), Transitional Living Program (TLP) and College and Career Access Program (CCAP).

ChildServ knows how important foster care is to the growth and development of young people and provides both traditional and non-traditional foster care programs. For children who have never had a stable home environment, the GH and TLP provide safe, stable environments in which their clients can live, learn and grow. The CCAP provides the guidance and support needed by the clients to prepare for adulthood. Without these programs, many young people would not graduate high school, find employment or live successful lives.

According to Kimberly Smith, case manager at ChildServ’s TLP in Wheaton, Illinois, “life skills coordinators, CCAP coordinators and staff provide a structured, supportive and nurturing environment for clients that would not be possible in their natural family settings. In fact, these programs have given clients like Deisha, Terrell and Cody, who have been long-time foster care clients, the guidance and support needed to complete high school successfully and pursue their dreams by attending college or seeking employment.” Amy St. Luce, LCSW and director of ChildServ’s Group Homes and TLP, shares Smith’s views as well. St. Luce, who has seen first-hand the difference that these programs make in the clients’ lives, believes that without these programs, the clients would not be as successful as they are today. “Many of our clients entered the system at an early age and did not have the support system they needed to build healthy relationships and develop critical life skills. Through our programs, like the group homes, the TLPs and CCAP, our clients now have the opportunity to develop those life skills that will help them to become successful adults.”

Tina Leeson, CCAP coordinator for ChildServ, has also witnessed the growth and development of the foster care clients due in part to programs like CCAP. CCAP “serves teenagers and young adults between the ages of 12 and 21 in ChildServ’s group homes and TLPs. It prepares youth for college and career success though innovative approaches, so they can achieve their full academic and leadership potential and become responsible citizens.”

As CCAP coordinator, Leeson has developed an annual curriculum calendar that includes quarterly themes, such as Dreaming and Believing, Introduction to the Real World and Planning for Your Future, and weekly session topics like Dreaming and Your Life Plan, Life Coaches and Career Planning and Resume Building. Themes and topics like the aforementioned may seem unnecessary and basic to those of us who have been fortunate enough to live outside of the foster care system, but they are vital to those inside the system. With no one but the dedicated ChildServ staff to guide and nurture them, the clients rely on Leeson and others like her, to fill in and assume the role of parent, guardian and caregiver when natural family and foster parents cannot. It is a large responsibility, but one that the staff at ChildServ greatly accepts.

The impact is evident in ChildServ’s Residential Services where 5 of the 7 clients who graduated from high school this year and have enrolled in local colleges this summer, beating the odds they face as African American males that are wards of the state. Today, ChildServ is in the lives of 28 teens who are continuing to benefit from CCAP and are on the right path to build a brighter future for themselves.

Teens Honored for Extraordinary Achievements

Twenty-three deserving teens were honored for their extraordinary efforts and commitment to their success as responsible positive individuals over the past school year. ChildServ’s Residential Services held its First Annual Youth Awards Banquet on June 9 at the beautiful Hilton Lisle/ Naperville. ChildServ CEO, James C. Jones remarked, “This is what ChildServ is about, helping our youth to succeed in life. We are very proud of our young people as they strive to for a better future in our care.” ChildServ Board Chairman Rodney Brown delivered a very moving message to the audience, which he opened with the quote, “Strive not to be known. Strive to be worthy of being known”. His advice to the very attentive young listeners was, “Use education as a tool to place yourself where you can make a difference.”

More inspiration for attendees came from a very articulate and insightful speech made by an outstanding young man who is a ChildServ resident. The message expressed his gratefulness to ChildServ for the tools that give him the confidence and courage to “Turn your back on the old formulas [that were not successful and] to invent the future”.

Everyone present basked in the moment commemorating the accomplishments of these extraordinary young people. Various circumstances make them wards of the state and, adds Yutuc, “Some of them are here in our group homes because there are no foster family homes available for them.”

ChildServ’s Residential Services includes group homes in Lisle, Naperville, and Downers Grove and the Transitional Living Program in Wheaton. “All of the youth here are winners, today.” says Tita Yutuc who is Assistant Vice President of Residential Services at ChildServ. Yutuc says, “We definitely want this event to be held next year. They more than deserve to be celebrated for what they are achieving.”

ChildServ’s Residential Services are showing focus and determination to become productive adults in the community. To learn more about the College and Career Access Program and how you can make donations and become a mentor, contact ChildServ at (773) 693-0300 or visit ChildServ’s web site at www.childserv.org.

WANTED: Foster Parents. Children are Waiting for You!

Thousands of children and youth from communities in and around Chicago are currently waiting for foster homes. This is mainly because there just are not enough foster homes available. This is not just their problem. It is our problem as a community. It takes a village to give the necessary care to nurture and protect children and teens that would otherwise in dangerous situations or be alone.

As an agency participating in the national campaign, “Foster Kids are Our Kids”, ChildServ is searching for new foster homes in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs.

Look for ChildServ at the exciting community events coming up across Chicagoland. Here are a few:

Community Action Partners Health Fair, July 21 in Waukegan
Fiesta del Sol, July 29-31 in Pilsen
Black Women’s Expo, August 7 & 8 in McCormick Place
African Festival of Arts , September 3-6 in Washington Park/ Woodlawn
HopeFest 2010, September 4 in Humboldt Park

Visit www.childserv.org/events.asp for more community events where you can meet ChildServ.

Got questions about foster care or how to become a foster parent? Free information sessions are available, free. The next sessions will be held in Chicago on July 20 in English and on August 17 in Spanish. The next session in Lake County will be in Waukegan on August 12. In Chicago, contact ChildServ at (773)867-7323 and in Lake County call (773) 867-7386 for more information and to reserve your seat. Space is limited.

May 6, 2010

Singer Makes Gift to ChildServ Through Neighbor's Keeper Fund

Country music superstar Tim McGraw is supporting nonprofits across the United States during his 2010 Southern Voice tour.

Through a sponsorship with Frito-Lay, McGraw’s charitable fund, Neighbor’s Keeper, has identified worthy nonprofit organizations which serve children and their families in select tour cities. Grants from this sponsorship will be made to local charities in 34 cities via The Neighbor’s Keeper Fund.

On Saturday, June 26, 2010, the Southern Voice Tour makes a stop in Chicago, where McGraw, Frito-Lay's Fritos brand corn chips, and Neighbor’s Keeper are making a $50,000 gift to ChildServ. “Faith and I feel it’s incumbent upon us to step in where we see a need,” said McGraw. ”It’s the way we were raised. In our homes, money was tight – my mom was working two and three jobs when I was in junior high - but the supply of goodwill was endless.”

In addition, tour partner Outback Steakhouse will support the Neighbor’s Keeper Fund through in-restaurant promotions and other merchandise sales. Through these corporate partnerships, McGraw’s Southern Voice tour is helping create awareness about the important work of nonprofits within select tour cities.

“We, at Frito-Lay, really value our sponsorship over the years with Tim and Faith and we are proud to be able to help such worthy causes. We know that these days it is important for all of us to be “Givin’ Where We’re Livin’” and are excited to be a part of this effort,” said Ken Partyka, Vice President, Frito-Lay.

November 12, 2009

Vliet Museum hosted 115th Anniversary and Fundraiser for ChildServ, formerly known as Lake Bluff Children's Home

ChildServ and Lake Bluff's Vliet Museum teamed up to Celebrate ChildServ's 115th Anniversary on November 11. A capacity audience of more than 100 guests enjoyed an exciting evening of fundraising and celebrating the organization's past, present, and vision for the future in the beautiful, intimate Vliet Museum in Lake Bluff. The celebration atmosphere was punctuated with cameo visits from one of the historical founders and some of the orphans from the organization's early years. Friends and stakeholders, adoptive families, staff and trustees of the Lake bluff Children's Home and today's ChildServ, past and present, came together to raise much needed funds to support the organization's mission of helping Chicagoland's at-risk children and their families build, achieve, and sustain better lives.

Strolling character actors and moving presentations allowed attendees to become familiar with what it was like at the beginning when the Methodist Deaconess initialized the mission. The compassionate missionaries provided a safe and loving home to six orphans from the streets of Chicago in 1894. This original scenario was paralleled to today's environment when families are experiencing extreme hardships resulting in increased occurrence of children being neglected, abused, or homeless.

"The Vliet Center's board has been very supportive of this event's success in so many ways", says ChildServ's Vice President of Resource Development, Raeann Olsen-Jackson. The silent auction and door prize tickets raised over $15,000 which will be used to fund the community-based and foster care/ placement services in Lake, Cook, and DuPage counties.

During the evening, the organization presented awards to Wendy's Wonderful Kids- a signature program of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, as ChildServ 2009 Corporate Partner. UPS truck driver Phil Riccio was received the 2009 Volunteer Partnership Award. The Faith Community Award for 2009 was presented to the Elgin District of the Northern Illinois Conference of the United Methodist Church.

ChildServ's President and CEO, James C. Jones, commented, "ChildServ is grateful for the opportunity to reconnect with its birthplace and longtime supporters and friends. It means a lot to ChildServ to receive such a warm welcome from our birthplace as we continue carrying out the mission in its 115th year."

November 12, 2009

ChildServ's Faith Community Award for 2009 was presented to The Elgin District of the Northern Illinois Conference of the United Methodist Church at ChildServ's 115th Anniversary Celebration that took place on November 11, 2009. The Reverend Oscar Carrasco, District Superintendent accepted the on behalf of The Elgin District of The Northern Illinois Conference.

The organization honored the faith community that gave birth to the orphanage that would become ChildServ, and the community that nurtured that orphanage.

The prayers, gifts and service provided by the congregations in the Elgin district of the conference have helped make ChildServ's Lake County Family Service Center an abundant blessing, especially to northern Illinois' Latino community in need. Their gifts in the past year have included Rainbow Covenant [monetary] gifts, 1,200 Christmas presents for needy children and more than 750 book bags on their first day of school.

The Elgin District has provided ChildServ with many outstanding volunteer leaders including current Trustees of ChildServ: John Adams, Donna Atkinson, Joyce Carrasco, Nancy Duel, Debbie Fisher, Harry Nicol and Bernie Sterner.

"In honoring The Elgin District today, we honor faith, we honor mission and we honor service" says James C. Jones who is ChildServ's President and CEO.

November 11, 2009

ChildServ honors Wendy's Wonderful Kids adoption program during National Adoption Month in November

Wendy's Wonderful Kids, the signature program of The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, was founded in 2005 to move children from foster care into permanent, loving adoptive homes. ChildServ was fortunate to be one of WWK's inaugural grantees, and the Foundation has provided continuing support in each subsequent year. This funding supports not only the salary of ChildServ's WWK Program Coordinator, but the staff gain invaluable professional development and networking opportunities through the Foundation's annual WWK conferences. The Foundation's staff has provided ongoing support throughout the program's development and implementation. ChildServ has had the opportunity to enhance the organization's local and national community partnerships and networks, such as through their ongoing collaboration with Chicago's Casa Central's WWK program.

The Wendy's Wonderful Kids program strongly compliments ChildServ's foster care programming. The Foundation's continued support is vital to maintaining ChildServ's adoption services.

ChildServ's President and CEO, James C. Jones, presented the 2009 Corporate Partner Award at the organization's 115th Anniversary Celebration on November 11, 2009 in Lake Bluff, Illinois. Connie Ackert, Director of Grants for the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, accepted the award, thanking ChildServ and stated, "The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption is dedicated to dramatically increasing the adoptions of the more than 150,000 children waiting in North America's foster homes."

Vliet Museum hosting 115th Anniversary and Fundraiser for ChildServ, formerly known as Lake Bluff Children's Home

Lake Bluff's Vliet Museum and the Lake Bluff Public Library are teaming up to host the celebration of ChildServ's 115th Anniversary this fall. "The Vliet Center's board is delighted to have ChildServ return to its birthplace to celebrate its 115th birthday", says Vliet's Board President, Cathy McKechney. "They do good work that is needed today more than ever, and we are happy to do what we can to help them to continue carrying out the mission that began right here in Lake Bluff", states Vliet's Museum Vice President and Historian, Kathy O'Hara.

Lake Bluff was home for the Children's Home until 1973, when the organization moved to Chicago and was renamed, 'ChildServ'. "We've been placing Chicagoland's at-risk children in safe and nurturing home environments and the need is spanning three centuries-the 1800's, 1900's, and now, in the 2000's" remarks James C. Jones, who is ChildServ's President / CEO. Since moving its headquarters in to the city, service offerings continued to be driven by the needs of abused and neglected children in Chicago's communities. Mr. Jones adds, "Today, we are delivering community-based and placement services that prevent, intervene, educate and advocate in Lake, Cook, and DuPage counties on the behalf of children who are at risk of being neglected and abused."

On November 11, an exciting evening celebrating the organization's past, present, and vision for the future will be punctuated with cameo visits from the historical founder and some of the orphans from yesteryear. Guests will go back in time and promises to entertain.

"ChildServ is extremely grateful to the Vliet Center's board and the Lake Bluff Public Library for all their help to make the event a big success", remarks Raeann Olsen-Jackson who recently joined ChildServ as Vice President of Resource Development.

The historic celebration and fundraiser is a wonderful opportunity for guests to interact ChildServ's past, present, and future. .

Tickets for the delightful event cost $50 and are available through the Vliet Museum and ChildServ (773) 693-0300. Space is limited. The event takes place on Wednesday, November 11, 6 p.m. until 8:30 pm.

Anyone interested in finding out more about ChildServ can visit www.childserv.org or call (773) 693-0300.