Community of Caring _110619

Community of

All in

Uplifting stories of people making a difference

F O R E S T PA R K

JOURNAL REVIEW W E D N E S D A Y

Longer lives Why life expectancy is shorter on the West Side

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Basketball life An engineer found purpose through basketball

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Life as it is Meeting each person where they are

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Sponsored by

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November 6, 2019

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November 6, 2019

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Inspired to generosity

DAN HALEY

Partnerships. Collaborations. Alliances.

These are the connections which make community happen. So again this year, the Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation and Wednesday Journal are working together on our Community of Caring section.

Here you will find six inspiring stories of individuals and organizations focusing on lifting up neighbors. These are the stories of our youth and our elders, neighbors who need help and neighbors who benefit just as much by offering help.

We hope that as we reach the very beginning of the holidays that you’ll also consider the dozens and dozens of local agencies doing such good work as we gather up their stories in the Season of Giving campaign. Season of Giving begins today and continues in these pages in the weeks ahead.

Be inspired to be generous, to be kind, to see the good in us and around us as we live in these caring communities.

Staff

Editor Lacey Sikora Photographer Alex Rogals Editorial Design Manager Claire Innes Editorial Designers Mark Moroney IT and Digital Developer Mike Risher Advertising Design Manager Andrew Mead Advertising Designers Debbie Becker Chief Revenue Officer Dawn Ferencak Display Advertising Sales Marc Stopeck, Client Engagement Natalie Johnson Inside Sales Representative Circulation Manager Jill Wagner Distribution Coordinator Wakeelah Cocroft-Aldridge Associate Publisher Dawn Ferencak Business Manager Joyce Minich

ON THE COVER: L’Arche Core Member Tim Stone at the Friendship House in Forest Park displays a work of abstract art that he painted.. | Photo courtesy L’Arche

Publisher, President & CEO Wednesday Journal, OPRF Community Foundation

November 15-December 13

Through December 31

Stop by the Hephzibah Giving Tree at Whole Foods Market in River Forest and select a paper heart ornament with the name of a child in need. Return the heart with your unwrapped gift to Whole Foods by December 13.

Make a contribution online by December 31 and your gift will be matched by generous benefactors through our annual Hephzibah Holiday Challenge. Double your gift today at hephzibahhome.org!

GIVING TREE

Hephzibah Children’s Association provides a safe haven for children traumatized by neglect and abuse, services for children and families in crisis, foster care, and day care.

Here are four ways you can help this holiday season. Thank you for your support!

Check out the Joyful Giving Guide on page 17.

1 2 3 4

Dan Haley, Antonio Martinez, Jr.

IMAGINE HOW YOUR DONATION WILL IMPACT A CHILD’S LIFE.

Looking for a way to make a difference in the community this year?

Mary Ellen Nelligan

Editor and Publisher Dan Haley

ANTONIO MARTINEZ JR.

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MATCHED GIVING

Through December 13

January 13, 2019-Volunteer Training Session

We are currently gathering gifts for the children living in our group and foster homes, the children receiving our family services, and the children in our Head Start Program. You can find a full wish list at hephzibahhome.org.

Volunteers at Hephzibah help out in a variety of ways, from Homework Helpers and Technology Mentors to helping our garden grow. Check out the opportunities at hephzibahhome.org or email hweigel@hephzibahhome.org.

DONATE A WISH LIST ITEM

VOLUNTEER IN THE NEW YEAR

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Community of Caring | Infant Welfare Society

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Tooth troubles lead to health, self-esteem issues for kids in need

Infant Welfare’s Portable Dentistry program brings care to schools, daycares

By LACEY SIKORA

T

Contributing Reporter

he Oak Park River Forest Infant Welfare Society has been providing healthcare to area children who are unable to afford the cost of private care for generations. Through its medical, dental and social services, the IWS Children’s Clinic served over 3,400 children in more than 10,000 clinic visits during the past year.

Children’s Clinic practitioners realized there was a widespread scarcity of quality dental care for children in need in the Chicago area, and in 2007, the clinic expanded its offerings through its Oral Health Outreach and Education to provide preventive dental care and oral health education in schools for low-income Chicago-area children.

The Portable Dentistry program provides oral exams, cleanings, fluoride varnish treatments, and dental sealants in the schools for low-income elementary, middle and preschool students who do not have a regular dental provider. Students identified as having urgent oral health needs are referred to the Oak Park-based clinic for restorative care, providing a seamless flow from diagnosis to referral to treatment.

Dr. Meg Vizgirda, one of the dentists working with the Portable Dentistry program, stresses that dental health is

Photos courtesy of Infant Welfare Society

The IWS Children’s Clinic Portable Dentistry program includes treatment for children as well as education on dental care. an important piece of overall health and self-esteem for children. Through the portable dentistry clinic, she says, “We encourage establishing good oral health habits early in order to prevent poor dental health in adulthood. Delta Dental states that untreated tooth decay affects 1 in 5 children aged 5 to 11. It is one of the leading health problems in children today. This rate doubles when we look at children in lower income families. Decay can lead to missing teeth which can affect speech and the

ability to eat properly. Children with dental issues can fall behind in school. Thirty percent of children aged 6 to 12 missed school in 2016 due to dental issues. Children in the U.S. missed 9 million days of school due to dental problems.”

Vizgirda feels the portable dentistry program is making a real impact in the lives of children.

“Some of these children have never seen a dentist prior to our visit. We provide treatment to these patients and subsequent-

ly offer them a dental home. We send the children home with our clinic information, and we often see these families in our clinic for follow up. We often identify children with urgent needs such as abscessed teeth, large carious lesions, or untreated dental trauma. We follow up with these families and encourage them to seek treatment at our clinic. We see many children with special needs that have not had dental treatment due to the high cost of pediatric dental visits. Another important component of

Giving back matters.

That’s why OakParkApartments.com is a proud supporter of many local organizations, events and agencies.

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Community of Caring | Infant Welfare Society

our program is educating the students on proper oral hygiene and nutrition.”

Clinic Director Victoria Novotny says the Portable Dentistry clinic is an ongoing, permanent program at the IWS Children’s Clinic. “The program has dramatically expanded services over the past five years. In fiscal year 2019, 2,151 children at 35 schools and 3 health fairs received preventive dental care and education through the Portable Dentistry program. Another 4,294 students at 26 sites including 17 schools, 6 preschool and daycare centers, 2 parent groups and 1 special event participated in an oral health and nutrition education workshop. In addition, 2,595 individuals received oral health information at 40 community health and resource fairs.”

“In fiscal year 2020, we project 2,100 children will receive preventive dental care in the schools and at health fairs through the Portable Dentistry program,” she says. “Another, 5,000 students will participate in an oral health and nutrition education workshops at schools conducted by our program manager, and an additional 2,000 individuals will receive oral health information at 30 health and resource fairs.”

In the future, Novotny sees the Portable Dentistry program growing and says they hope to increase by 10 percent the number of children referred to the Children’s Clinic after being flagged as needing urgent care during exams conducted at schools.

The IWS Children’s Clinic Portable Dentistry Mobile Unit visit’s Oak Park’s Irving School.

HELP DISCOVER THE NEXT HEMINGWAY OPEN DOORS FOR YOUNG WRITERS.

• Public programs in art, music, science, social science and literature • Scholarships for OPRF students • Networking and fellowship for members • Landmark building used by many local not-for-profits

Restore & Renovate this Historic Landmark for 21st Century Needs

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Photos courtesy of Infant Welfare Society

YOUR DONATION HAS A RIPPLE EFFECT IN OUR COMMUNITY...

HELP TO

November 6, 2019

To make a donation to our annual building fund, please contact:

The Nineteenth Century Charitable Association 178 Forest Avenue, Oak Park, IL 60301 708-386-2729 • info@nineteenthcentury.org www.nineteenthcentury.org

YOUR GIFT SUPPORTS: • OPRF Hemingway Scholarship Fund • Teacher Development • Student Mentorship • Young Writers Programming Donate @

hemingwaybirthplace.com

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Community of Caring | Dr. David Ansell

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How one Oak Park doctor came to know the West Side David Ansell on why West Siders die younger than Oak Parkers

By LACEY SIKORA

D

Contributing Reporter

r. David Ansell is a top executive at Rush University Medical Center. His focus is on community health and system integration for the medical center.

As a long-time Oak Parker, Ansell is also actively involved at Rush Oak Park Hospital and has been active in health-related activism in the village including the successful effort to ban smoking in public places nearly 15 years ago.

Ansell is a physician, social epidemiologist and author whose 17 years working at Cook County Hospital inspired his memoir and social history, County: Life, Death, and Politics in Chicago’s Public Hospital. Ansell’s latest book is titled The Death Gap: How Inequity Kills, and through West Side United -- a collaborative of health care institutions, residents, educators, non-profits, businesses, government agencies and faith-based institutions that work, live and congregate on Chicago’s West Side -- he works to address those inequities on a holistic level.

Ansell answered our questions about his research and what he sees as the solution. Below is an edited version of his comments.

Q: What inspired you to write about the Death Gap? A: For the past 41 years, I’ve been a doctor in Chicago on the West Side. What I noticed is that my patients seemed to have a burden of disease and maybe died earlier than people elsewhere. It really seemed there was something about their neighborhoods. It’s not just the three B’s: belief, behavior and biology. I worked at Cook County Hospital for years, then at Mt. Sinai, and then came to Rush. I

Graphics provided

West Side United brings together health care institutions, residents, educators, non-profits, businesses, government agencies and faith-based institutions on Chicago’s West Side to make neighborhoods stronger, healthier and more vibrant places to live.

noticed over the years that your zip code can mean more than your genetic code. When your opportunity for social mobility and wealth development are diminished, and when you get more exposure to the toxic effects of poverty and racism, you get bad outcomes.

Q: What statistics informed your book?

A: In general, life expectancy in the U.S. is going up, but there are very large gaps that still exist. Chicago has among the largest in the U.S. The gap between the Loop and

the South Side could be 25 years.

In River Forest, the life expectancy can be in the 90s and in Garfield Park, it’s in the 60s. Between Oak Park and Austin, there’s an approximately 11-year life expectancy gap. Sixty percent of the premature mortality gap can be attributed to cancer and heart disease. This is where the neighborhood factor comes in. Austin is almost as big as Evanston, but has no good grocery store. People are literally dying because of the way we organize the city. I call it structural violence.

Q: What are you seeing as some of the root causes of the disparity?

A: Looking at the West Side communities, between 1970 and 2010, in these neighborhoods, capital and wealth have been removed. There’s been a 9 to 1 capital investment in white neighborhoods compared to black neighborhoods since the 1970s. We will never achieve health without wealth.

What makes the most difference in peoples’ lives and children’s lives is the ability to have social mobility. Where you grow up poor makes the biggest difference in life-time earnings. Neighborhood matters. Social conditions probably account for 40 percent or maybe more of the gaps in life expectancy.

Q: What can you do to reduce the death disparity?

A: We created an entity called West Side United, a racial health equity collaborative. We named 10 West Side neighborhoods and partnered with eight hospitals including Rush Oak Park and West Suburban Hospital.

There’s no pill you can take to add life expectancy. The most effective way is to improve neighborhoods. We are taking a holistic approach with West Side United, looking at economic vitality, education, food access, transportation, violence and health. The goal is to reduce the overall life expectancy gap by 50 percent by 2030.

Author and physician Dr. David Ansell is leading Rush University’s Medical Center’s strategy to be a catalyst for community health and economic vitality on Chicago’s West Side.

Q: How has living in Oak Park informed your mission?

A: A lot of my insights come from living in Oak Park. I’ve lived here 34 of my 41 years in Chicago.

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Community of Caring | Dr. David Ansell

November 6, 2019

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‘The problems are inherently structural. … We can change them but we have to invest in these communities.’

Dr. David Ansell

I’ve driven west across the West Side and asked myself what makes a community healthy? When you drive into Oak Park from Austin, there’s all these trees, there’s people walking, there’s a gathering place in Ridgeland Commons and our parks.

When you move to Oak Park, you’re told to live west of Ridgeland, which is code in Oak Park to live away from Austin. As a society, we hold a collective mental map, so neighborhoods declined in the past because of our attitudes toward them. Sociologically, what makes a neighborhood go bad is attitudes that people have towards neighborhoods, impacted by racism and immigration. It’s so important to call out structural racism as a cause of the death gap. Oak Park gave me great insight into the issue.

Because the problems are inherently structural, not biological, we can change them, but we have to invest in these communities financially.

Graphics provided

Seasonof

Giving

Concordia University Chicago invites you along with family and friends to begin your Christmas celebration with us.

December 7 and 8 Concordia’s Kapelle, Schola Cantorum, Chamber Orchestra, Laudate, Mannerchor, and Handbells will perform in the services, along with bible readings and congregational carols.

7400 Augusta St. River Forest, IL 60305

Season of Giving 2019.indd 1

Friday, December 6 University Band Christmas Concert, 8:00 p.m.

Saturday, December 7 Service of Lessons & Carols 4:00 p.m. & 7:00 p.m.

Sunday, December 8 Service of Lessons & Carols 4:00 p.m.

All events located in Chapel of Our Lord.

Admission and parking are free.

(708) 771-8300

CUChicago.edu

10/23/2019 12:29:16 PM

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Community of Caring | L’Arche

Human dignity ‘made concrete’ with shared time L’Arche, a home for life, for those with intellectual disabilities

By LACEY SIKORA

D

Contributing Reporter

uring the day, Tim commutes to Arts of Life, where he hones his skills as a painter of abstract art. In the evening, he returns to the Forest Park house he shares with five friends and a dog named Allie. He and his roommates divide household responsibilities from cooking group dinners to cleaning the bathrooms. They like to go out to dinner to T.G.I. Fridays, drink coffee and watch softball games in the park.

It’s a home like any other, but in some ways it is unique. Tim and his roommates live in Friendship House, a house owned and operated by not-for-profit L’Arche, an international federation of adults with and without intellectual disabilities sharing life in intentional communities.

The first L’Arche home was founded in 1964 by Jean Vanier, a philosopher, writer,

Photos courtesy L’Arche

Residents of L’Arche’s Friendship House in Forest Park gather prepare a dinner for their household. and a religious leader in France. Appalled at the denigrating state of institutions that housed individuals with disabilities and mental illness, Vanier invited two men with disabilities to share his home. His outreach grew into a movement spanning 154 communities in 38 countries with residents speaking more than 20 languages.

L’Arche USA consists of 18 L’Arche com-

munities, and L’Arche Chicago opened as the 14th community in the United States in 2000. Jeremy Chia, development director for L’Arche Chicago, says the first L’Arche home in the near west suburb/West Side area opened in Austin. With the addition of two homes in Forest Park, the L’Arche in the near western suburbs is now home to 11 core members and their resident as-

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Chia says that L’Arche homes are homes for life for their core members and that the entire system is built upon Vanier’s tenets.

“At the heart of our service is the fundamental belief that each person is gifted with unique gifts and talents to benefit the world. Our homes value the mutual aspect of relationships. Both parties give and re-

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Help us spread

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Photos courtesy L’Arche

‘We started as strangers, but through the process of sharing time, we became friends. … It’s a really positive experience to have an adult who is not a family member value my kids.’

Founded 1920

ceive.” her pastor. “I wanted to get involved with Core members, as the adults with intel- the community. We were putting down roots lectual disabilities are known, come from here and wanted to give back. My oldest other group homes or from living with fam- daughter has developmental disabilities. ily or guardians. Once they find a home in Our pastor knows this issue touches our famL’Arche they can stay there for the remain- ily, so he told me about L’Arche. As a parent der of their lives. Live-in assistants commit of a child with developmental disabilities, to at least one year of living in the house you’re always thinking about the future. I and assisting in day-to-day management wanted to have a deeper understanding of what the community looks like for an adult and assistance.

Tim and his assistant Ryan Weseloh live with developmental disabilities.”

Lucas volunteers twice a month for what in Friendship House. Weseloh has been is called shared time: she with L’Arche since 2017. spends time with core He worked with adults member Elbert when he with developmental disis home. She says, “The abilities while a student term ‘shared time’ really at Concordia College and captures the essence of says L’Arche gives him a my volunteer experience. sense of purpose while Our only agenda is to also helping him learn spend time together.” and grow. He says he and Often accompanied by the other residents are a her young son, Lucas and part of the community.

Elbert hang out in the “We walk the neighbor’s house or go on outings dog, and they come over Keri Lucas in the community. She for dinner sometimes.”

L’Arche volunteer says they have developed Chia notes, “It’s a a friendship. “We started household that’s not that as strangers, but through different from typical the process of sharing household. Everyone coordinates schedules and chores. Meals are time, we became friends. He takes a lot of cooked and shared. Some core members delight in my kids. For me, it’s a really posiwork and some go to day programs. Assis- tive experience to have an adult who is not a tants and core members enjoy leisure time family member value my kids.”

For Lucas, L’Arche allows her to give as and budget for leisure activities like movies well as receive and has helped her build a and bowling.”

Oak Park resident Keri Lucas has been deeper community for herself and her famivolunteering with L’Arche for the past year. ly. “Some of the terms we use like communiThe mother of two young children says she ty and human dignity can be very abstract, first was connected with L’Arche through but L’Arche gives them concrete meaning.”

St. Angela School

L’Arche core members and assistants gather in prayer before a group meal at their home.

As we begin our next 100 years we reaffirm our commitment to LOVE and SERVE the families of the Austin community.

To learn more about our people, our programs, and our vision for the future, please visit www.saintangela.org St. Angela School • 1332 N Massasoit • 773.626.2655

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Community of Caring | YEMBA

Basketball translates to a youth support movement YEMBA’s Edward Redd benefited from mentors, now he is building those supports

By LACEY SIKORA

W

Contributing Reporter

hen engineer Edward Redd founded YEMBA (Youth Educational Mentoring Basketball Association) in 2007, he didn’t quite know what it would become, but it didn’t take long for him to turn a youth basketball team into something much larger. Today, what was a part time volunteer job as a youth coach has morphed into a full-time calling that works with youth throughout Oak Park schools from middle school through high school.

Growing up in North Lawndale with a single mother and a father who was murdered when he was five, Redd says he was the beneficiary of many helping hands.

“I understood that as a kid growing up, I benefitted from the sacrifice of my parent and grandparents. I had a village of teachers, neighbors and the local YMCA. They educated me and led me to be able to dream.

File photo

Edward Redd mingles with guests as they look over items in the silent auction during YEMBA’s 10th anniversary celebration at Nineteenth Century Club in Oak Park.

They were role models.”

He went on to earn degrees in electrical and computer engineering, but knew that giving back was going to be a part of his path. When he was approached to coach a youth basketball team in 2007, he says he knew it couldn’t just be about the game.

“I’m big on the education side of things. I

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Support your local animal shelter this holiday season!

Acting as a safe haven for pets in our community since 1973.

Edward Redd, the founder of YEMBA (far left), with a group of YEMBA participants inside of the organization’s new Oak Park office.

Make a donation, view adoptable pets, learn about our foster program, and view volunteer and job opportunities at AnimalCareLeague.org Animal Care League is committed to providing shelter, medical care, and comfort to animals in need; reducing animal overpopulation; and acting as a community resource, thus promoting the human/animal bond. Animal Care League acts as the stray holding facility for Oak Park, Forest Park, River Forest, Northlake, North Riverside, Melrose Park & Elmwood Park.

1011 Garfield, Oak Park, IL. 708-848-8155 File photo

believe in the circle of life. You need to incorporate youth life skills like respect, communication and teamwork. It’s important not only on the field but off the field.”

After that first team won the youth basketball league conference, Redd expanded the program to become an after-school program, which initially met Friday nights for eight weeks. Today, it has become a stand-along program, operating two days a week at Oak Park middle schools. Redd notes that last year, YEMBA served 112 kids with 2,900 mentoring hours. YEMBA’s mission today is, “To educate our youth mentally, physically and spiritually with a life-long learning and service experience through group mentorship that will equip them with knowledge and tools for leadership development and success in life.”

Redd says he realized that middle school was a critical time for youth to understand their self-worth and values and states that he was seeing kids facing tough challenges.

“About 95 percent of the youth we serve are minorities from low income homes. A lot of them have single parents who are working two jobs just to get into Oak Park.

We’re a support branch for these youth who are looking for caring adults that look like them, believe in them, and that hold them accountable.”

He realized that when kids graduated

from middle school, they still needed some of that guidance, so he began a Mentoring, Empowerment and Training program for high school students to help them with college and career readiness. These students are also an important part of the YEMBA program, coming back to work with middle school students as mentors. Redd says the mentors are not only good role models for younger kids but the process “starts the ball rolling. They get a start on philanthropy. Someone made a sacrifice for them, and when you get to be my age, you can do the same for youth.”

Redd highlights one YEMBA participant who gave back to the program while in high school. When the student first joined YEMBA in sixth grade, he was so shy, that his mother attended every after-school meeting alongside him. Redd recalls that it took weeks for the child to join in on his own, but by the end of his third year in YEMBA, he was an active part of the group. When he went to high school, the dividend paid off. Redd says of the young man, “He was not only an A student, but he was in several clubs, including tutoring and foreign language. He also came back to be a mentor for younger students. We asked him to give a speech at our annual gala, and he knocked it out of the park. He is a success story.”

Empowering every voice

in our community

oppl.org/give

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November 6, 2019

Community of Caring | Oak Leyden

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Meeting each person where their needs are—whether six or 60 Oak Leyden empowers children and adults with developmental disabilities

By LACEY SIKORA Contributing Reporter

S

ince 1956, Oak Leyden has worked to empower children and adults with developmental disabilities, offering youth services and adult life-long services from its Chicago Avenue bases in Oak Park, as well as residential options in 12 group homes throughout the city and suburbs.

Carolyn Anderson is one adult who has seen her life change through Oak Leyden.

The 26-year-old Melrose Park resident recently started a new job at Jewel in Elmhurst and credits the employment services group at Oak Leyden in helping her find meaningful employment.

She says, “I go to the job club, and they teach us how to answer interview questions, how to dress for an interview and how to make eye contact.”

Prior to the classes, Anderson says job interviews made her nervous. “When I go on interviews, I’m worried I’ll mess up. At Oak Leyden, we practice what to say, and that makes me feel better.”

Her job coach at Oak Leyden, James Conyers, says that employment services are tailored to each individual’s needs, with the first four weeks of the group spent getting to know each adult in order to best match them to a job that will be appropriate. He says that Anderson needed to work on her confidence.

“We built up her confidence with mock interviews and feedback and talked about using appropriate business language.”

Conyers says Anderson learned a lot through the training. “She sold herself at the job interview at Jewel. When she left the interview, they told me she got the job due to her personal skills.”

Anderson also worked on tackling public transportation with Oak Leyden, and now uses Metra and Pace to get to her job.

Conyers says expanding her horizons and self-sufficiency was something they worked on in their classes.

Conyers emphasizes that the overarching goal of Oak Leyden’s employment program is to help adults with developmental disabilities find the best work environment for each individual with natural supports.

“They are looking for long-term careers. We want them to enjoy going to work.”

Theo Buhler’s mom Karen says Oak Leyden has been invaluable in her toddler son’s development. Diagnosed at an early age with a seizure disorder, Theo

Oak Leyden’s Children’s Services offers therapies that engage children in fun and play to help them achieve developmental milestones.

Photos courtesy Oak Leyden

faced developmental delays and needs speech, occupational and physical therapy.

Through Oak Leyden, he is receiving the therapies he needs. Karen Buhler says of Oak Leyden, “They are very good at seeing where he still has missing pieces and trying to fill in those areas so that he develops and progresses.”

Theo’s speech therapist Katie Crehan says her work with Theo, while highly individualized to suit his needs, follows similar parameters that she uses with her

youngest clients. “Everything is based in play. We’re on the floor all the time. We might work during meal time or out in the community at parks or at the library. We want to maximize the potential for learning in all environments.”

Darlene Wyosnick’s 54-year-old son Eric is at a different life stage than Theo Buhler, and she says that Oak Leyden has been just as vital to providing the supports he needs to reach his full potential. In his 19th year in residential services with Oak Leyden,

Eric has needed residential care since he was 12. Wyosnick says that when he was six years old, she was told that he would never make gains developmentally.

She reports that Oak Leyden has proved that prediction wrong. “He would not be the person he is without this,” she says of the home where he lives with three other developmentally disabled men and their caregivers.

Eric comes back to visit her most weekends, but she says of Oak Leyden, “That’s

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‘I won’t be around forever. It’s great to have Oak Leyden. … It’s the closest thing to home we’ll ever find.’

Darlene Wyosnick Mother of Oak Leyden client

Photos courtesy Oak Leyden

(Clockwise from top left) Oak Leyden’s Community Living clients work on project, Children’s Services clients engaged in motor development through art, Supported Employment clients develop skills for the workplace, and Adult Voices, Oak Leyden’s adult choir, perform. his real home. Eric is pretty much non-verbal, but he is happy go-lucky. His self-help skills are what’s most important. He can do his laundry and can shop for groceries. He can do a lot of things for himself that I did for him.”

For Eric and for her, Wyosnick says choosing residential care, while an emotional choice, proved to be the best decision. “I won’t be around forever. It’s great to have this. I deeply appreciate the decision parents have to make when choosing resi-

dential care for their child. He’s in a good place. It’s the closest thing to home we’ll ever find.”

At the end of the day, Bertha Magaña, Oak Leyden’s CEO, says her agency plays a vital role in providing much-needed social

services to many in the community. “People with developmental disabilities often lack access to the therapies, housing, activities, and employment opportunities they need to thrive. Oak-Leyden is proud to empower more than 500 children and adults with developmental disabilities each year living throughout Oak Park and western Cook County. Through a variety of programs and services, we promote the greater inclusion of people with developmental disabilities in the community at large. Our Children’s Services, Community Living Services, Lifelong Learning Centers, and Supported Employment Program each help participants meet life’s challenges and reach their highest potential. We count on the support of the mission-driven communities we work within to transform the lives of those we serve and the area as a whole.”

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Community of Caring | Pro Bono Network

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Matching lawyers looking to help with people caught in the system

Pro Bono Network keeps growing to serve desire of lawyers, needs of clients

By LACEY SIKORA

I

Contributing Reporter

n 2011 a group of local attorneys who had taken a break from their legal careers launched the Pro Bono Network. Heena Musabji, co-founder and development director, says originally the mission was two-fold: “We wanted to allow people who had taken a break from legal work to get back into the field, plus we knew the need for legal aid was great.

We wanted the organization to fill in this justice gap.”

She uses a fable to describe the work done by the Pro Bono Network. “Imagine there’s a fire in the forest, and all of the animals run out. A hummingbird flies over the fire with a drop of water in its beak and drops it out. Then flies back and does it again.

When you see a problem, you do what you can.

“We knew the number of people who needed to be helped, but we didn’t know there were so many people who wanted to do this. We started with 10 people, and now, we have over 400 professionals that have touched the Pro Bono Network,” she says.

In Cook County, approximately one-half of the 1.2 million people who qualify for legal aid will need assistance in a given year, but current legal aid programs and pro bono organizations cannot meet that need. Musabji says that PBN works to manage that gap in need through its volunteer network. Today, PBN recruits, trains, places, and supports lawyers who want to be of service but have limitations on their availability or resources. PBN places volunteers in manageable projects that make a difference in the lives of those who cannot afford legal services.

Projects are varied and range from helping senior citizens or veterans with legal issues to working with clients on issues such as divorce, guardianship or domestic violence. PBN works to partner with legal aid agencies, and the group also takes on an educational role.

Musabji says the Lawyers in the Classroom project is an example of community outreach and education. “We go into the classroom and teach civics and try to get students to understand the legal system.

If these children have ever had experience with the legal system, it was probably negative. It’s great to show them that it can

be positive. We teach them what the legal system can do for them.”

With students at Oak Park’s St. Catherine/St. Lucy School, PBN volunteers assist students in putting the big, bad wolf from Little Red Riding Hood on trial. She says of the exercise, “We’re getting in at an elementary level, and helping the kids understand how the legal practice works and how civil law is there to protect you. We also teach them that they have a voice in the system.”

In addition to the mock trial, PBN volunteers with Lawyers in the Classroom, who are partnered with the Constitutional Rights Foundation. They teach students at area schools about legal topics such as how immigration works and why laws exist.

Musabji says for all of PBN’s projects, volunteers partner with existing legal aid agencies. With the Order of Protection Litigation, PBN partners with Legal Aid Chicago and Sarah’s Inn to provide legal representation at the Maybrook court in Maywood to assist women in obtaining orders of protection against abusive husbands or boyfriends.

She notes that the Maybrook courthouse was previously under-served by volunteer attorneys for women seeking orders of protection and that having a helping hand is vital. “Our clients already have gotten

Pro Bono Network volunteers come from all walks of life to help clients who cannot afford legal services.

Photos courtesy Pro Bono Network

an emergency form of protection, but they have to go back to court to get a long-term plenary order of protection. It can be a very intimidating process. Often the women have to confront their abusers in a public forum, and many of these women did not have attorneys before we stepped in.”

What started as an organization for stayat-home parent attorneys who might be looking to get back into the work force after taking time off, PBN has grown more than

its founders expected, and Musabji says the organization has turned out to be a good fit for many.

“We found it appealed to more than just our target audience. We have retired attorneys, solo practitioners and those taking a break from the profession. We’ve attracted quite a variety of people. We train you and partner with organizations that have malpractice insurance. We want to do everything we can do to help you help the client.”

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W. HARRISON ST. | CHICAGO, IL WWW.BUILDCHICAGO.ORG | - -

Since 1969, BUILD has helped Chicago's most vulnerable youth escape gangs and violence to become positive leaders in their communities. These young people face enormous obstacles and trauma, and so we surround them with the counseling, mentoring, training, and opportunities they need to build a future and succeed.

Grateful for this community.

A itude of Gratitude

We engage youth at every stage, with specialized teams dedicated to street violence interventions, gang detachments, creative a er-school programming, academic school and college support, mental health care, community violence crisis response, and enrichment activities ranging from art and music to sports, podcasting, engineering and gardening.

Make a difference to the youth in Austin and the greater Eest side this holiday season.

Potential doesn’t discriminate, neither should opportunity.

Success Knows

NO LIMITS! UCP Seguin of Greater Chicago is a charitable not-for-profit agency serving individuals with disabilities in metropolitan Chicago, including Oak Park and River Forest, and beyond. We believe that all people, regardless of ability, deserve to achieve their potential, advance their independence and act as full members of the community.

So we stop at nothing to provide life skills training, assistive technology, meaningful employment and a place to call home for people with disabilities, as well as specialized foster care for children.

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT

“ life without limits for people with disabilities ” VISIT

ucpseguin.org

OUR GOAL:

LIFE WITHOUT LIMITS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES.

UCP SEGUIN | 332 HARRISON ST | OAK PARK, ILLINOIS 60304 | 708.863.3803 | INFO@SEGUIN.ORG

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Serving our Community Senator

Don Harmon Assistant Majority Leader 6941-B W. North Ave., Oak Park, IL 60302 Representative Senator Representative Senator Representative Proud to Serve Senator Representative Don Harmon Camille Lilly Don Camille Lilly (708) 848-2002 Camille Lilly Don Harmon Camille Lilly President Pro Tempore President ProPro Tempore President Tempore 6933 W. North Ave. 6933 W. W. North Ave. 6933 North Ave. Oak Park, IL OakOak Park, IL 60302 60302 Park, IL 60302 (708) 848-2002 (708) 848-2002 (708) 848-2002 329 Capitol Building 329329 Capitol Building Capitol Building Springfield, IL Springfield, IL 62706 62706 Springfield, IL 62706 (217) 782-8176 (217) 782-8176 (217) 782-8176 www.donharmon.org www.donharmon.org www.donharmon.org

329 Capitol Building, Springfield, IL 62706 (217) 782-8176

5755 W.Division Division St.St. 5755 W. St. 5755 W. Division Chicago, 60651 Chicago, ILIL60651 Chicago, IL 60651 (773) 473-7300 (773) 473-7300 (773) 473-7300 282-S Stratton 282-S Stratton 282-S Stratton Office Building Office Building Office Building Springfield, 62706 Springfield, ILIL62706 Springfield, IL 62706 (217) 782-6400 (217) 782-6400 (217) 782-6400

www.donharmon.org | harmon@senatedem.illlinois.gov

statereplilly@yahoo.com statereplilly@yahoo.com staterepcamilleylilly@gmail.com

dharmon@senatedem.ilga.gov dharmon@senatedem.ilga.gov dharmon@senatedem.ilga.gov

WWW.OAKPARKDEMS.ORG WWW.OAKPARKDEMS.ORG WWW.OAKPARKDEMS.ORG

WWW.DPOP.ORG

1243 WOODBINE, SUITE 101 1243 WOODBINE, SUITE 101 1243 WOODBINE, SUITE 1016941-A. W. NORTH AVE., OAK PARK, ILLINOIS 60302 OAK PARK, ILLINOIS 60302 OAK PARK, ILLINOIS 60302 OAK PARK, ILLINOIS 60302 (708) 386-0090 (708) 386-0090 (708) 386-0090 (708) 386-0090 DPOP@DONHARMON.ORG DPOP@DONHARMON.ORG DPOP@DONHARMON.ORG

DON HARMON, COMMITTEEMAN EILEEN LYNCH, COMMITTEEWOMAN

DPOP@DONHARMON.ORG

con·nec·tion

noun 1. a relationship in which a person, thing, or idea is linked or associated with something else. “the connections between social attitudes and productivity”

Community journalism remade Growing Community Media Partner with us.

Find out more at GrowingCommunityMedia.org

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The Joyful Giving Catalog

B17

Everything you need for a better world: • More Art

• More Food

• More Compassion

• More Health

• More Education

• More Housing

• More Equity

• More Peace

Running now through December 25

Browse, read, share with your children. Give Locally – Give Joyfully!

Animal Care League Animal Care League offers a safe haven for pets in need. Rooted in the community since 1973, Animal Care League takes a proactive approach to animal care and adoption as well as preventative measures to help reduce the number of homeless animals in our communities.

With over 1000 pets coming to our doors each year, Animal Care League counts on supporters to ensure that we can provide what is needed from routine vaccinations to life saving surgery.

Make a difference in the life of a homeless animal by visiting www.animalcareleague. org where you can sign up to volunteer, make a donation, view our adoptable pets, and learn about upcoming events.

gangs and violence to become positive leaders in their communities. These young people face enormous obstacles and trauma, and so we surround them with the counseling, mentoring, training, and opportunities they need to build a future and succeed. We engage youth at every stage, with specialized teams dedicated to street violence interventions, gang detachments, creative after-school programming, academic school and college support, mental health care, community violence crisis response, and enrichment activities ranging from art and music to sports, podcasting, engineering and gardening.

Potential doesn’t discriminate, neither should opportunity.

Join us in BUILDing a better future. Visit and donate at buildchicago.org/

Cantata Adult Life Services

Beyond Hunger

icated to honoring, recognizing and serving local seniors. The organization concentrates on four main objectives: • To facilitate cooperation between the business community, government agencies and non-profit organizations for the benefit of the senior population.

• To promote senior groups and organizations that serve persons 60 and older.

• To raise public awareness of issues affecting seniors.

To generate funds to support at-risk and vulnerable elders.

To volunteer to support our Celebrating Seniors Week (May 14 – May 21, 2020) or to contribute financially to our community mission, visit us at celebratingseniors.net.

Children’s Research Triangle (CRT)

(formerly Oak Park River Forest Food Pantry) $1 = 3 meals, is an equation only you can make possible.

With your help, Beyond Hunger has been reducing local hunger for over 40 years. Your gifts support over 13,000 local families struggling with hunger. That support provides groceries for a week plus access to vital programs and services to help people stretch limited food budgets in healthy ways. Even a little goes a long way: every $1 donated can feed a neighbor for an entire day. Join us in making sure everyone in our community can move beyond hunger.

To make a donation, visit GoBeyondHunger. org or send checks payable to Beyond Hunger, 848 Lake Street, Oak Park, IL 60301

Cantata Adult Life Services has a strong history that goes back 100 years. Our commitment to the changing needs of older adults on our campus and in the community continues to grow and evolve. We support over 1,000 seniors annually in their journey to “best life.”

Your contributions will carry on our mission of helping individuals, families, and the community age successfully.

In tune with the season of giving, Cantata is hosting a Soup Supper on 11/14 – all proceeds benefitting seniors and the Best Life Foundation. For m/ore information on how you can make a positive difference, please visit cantatacares.org.

Celebrating Seniors Coalition

Since 1969, BUILD has helped Chicago’s most vulnerable youth escape

Since its launch almost ten years ago, Celebrating Seniors Week has become a vibrant annual tradition in Oak Park, River Forest and Forest Park. The Celebrating Seniors Coalition is ded-

Currently, more than 6,100 students are enrolled. To learn more, please visit CUChicago.edu or CUChicago.edu/GiveNow to support our students.

Ernest Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park Children’s Research Triangle (CRT) is the only organization in Illinois specializing in addressing mental health and the medical impact of prenatal substance exposure and treatment of childhood trauma. Our clinical and research staff are experts in designing and implementing interventions for youth struggling with severe mental health and behavioral challenges associated with trauma and complex neurodevelopmental issues. CRT programs increase accessibility of mental health services for high-risk children in under-resourced communities, specifically those who have experienced physical, sexual and emotional abuse, neglect, community and domestic violence, and prenatal substance exposure.

Check us out and support CRT at: childrensresearchtriangle.org/donate/

BUILD

Concordia University Chicago is a liberal arts university based in the Lutheran tradition.

Founded in 1864, the university is located on 40 acres in River Forest, Illinois. Historically a college for teachers, it now offers more than 100 areas of study through traditional, blended or online classes. Students can earn bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees through one of four colleges: the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Business, the College of Education and the College of Graduate Studies.

Professors are passionate about teaching, learning and preparing students for success in their chosen vocations. Beyond academics, Concordia offers NCAA Division III athletic teams, intramural sports, touring music groups and numerous student clubs and organization focused on service, recreation, spiritual life and more.

Concordia University Chicago

The Ernest Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park is a non-profit 501(c) (3) literary arts and educational foundation dedicated to thoughtful reading and writing. The foundation offers a wide variety of programming, all open to the public, to nurture and encourage creative expression for students and for people of all ages. Through tours and exhibits at Ernest Hemingway’s birthplace museum, the foundation fosters an understanding of his life and work, his Oak Park origins and his impact on world literature. Your gift supports creative outlets for people of all ages through professional teacher development, local author and performing artist programs, inter-generational engagement, a writer-in-residence program, as well as student writing workshops, mentorships, and scholarships.

For more information about us or to donate online go to www.hemingwaybirthplace.

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The Joyful Giving Catalog com or mail us at: Ernest Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park, P.O. Box 2222, Oak Park, IL 60303-2222.

Friends of the Oak Park Conservatory The Oak Park Conservatory began as a community effort to house exotic plants residents collected during their travels abroad. Completed in 1929, it is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Free to the public with 50,000 visitors annually, the Conservatory offers a rich atmosphere throughout three indoor showrooms featuring more than 3,000 plants.

The Friends of the Oak Park Conservatory offers programs focused on enriching the visitor experience at the Conservatory.

Toddlers through adults can participate in year-round educational and recreational programs, volunteer opportunities and special events. To learn more or to join, visit fopcon.org.

Hephzibah Children’s Association

centers (Oak Park and Maywood). In 2019, we launched Sojourner House to offer medical respite for medically vulnerable individuals and interim housing for families transitioning from homelessness. Housing Forward impacts the lives of over 2000 adults and families with minor children annually.

To learn more about us, to volunteer or to donate, visit housingforward.org, email giving@housingforward.org or call 708.338.1724 ext. 283.

Infant Welfare Society (IWS) Join us in our mission to advance the health and well-being of children in need. When you support the Infant Welfare Society, you help vulnerable children in our community and surrounding areas access critical healthcare, including pediatric, dental and behavioral health services.

Our Children’s Clinic and health outreach programs serve 3,500 children each year, and your generosity is key. A gift of $50 pays for two essential vaccines. A gift of $150 provides specialized dental services. Give Health today: www.oprfiws.org/donate or 708-406-8661.

You’re also invited to join us for our 21st annual Holiday Housewalk & Market, December 5 - 7!

L’Arche Chicago Hephzibah Children’s Association was founded in 1897. We serve more than 1,000 children and families each year through innovative, community-based programs. Hephzibah provides a Group Home for children who have been taken from their families due to profound abuse or neglect. Our skilled staff recruits and trains foster parents and offers ongoing support to help all family members navigate challenges. Our after-school Day Care operates on a sliding scale to serve working parents in Oak Park, with programs based at each elementary school.

To make a real difference in the lives of children and families, please donate today at hephzibahhome.org.

Housing Forward

Housing Forward’s mission is to end homelessness by transitioning people from housing crisis to housing stability. The agency, now in its 27th year, offers a full range of services designed to reduce the length of time and impact of trauma associated with homelessness and housing instability. Our current programs include the PADS Emergency Shelter, Outreach & Engagement, Supportive Housing, Employment Readiness, and Emergency Assistance and Stabilization in two area walk-In

L’Arche Chicago is a community where people with and without intellectual disabilities share life together in homes, as family. We are committed to merge individualized, high-quality care with genuine friendships in our group homes.

Our vision is to create environments that celebrate difference - revealing the unique gifts of people with intellectual disabilities.

Help L’Arche Chicago spread joy and gratitude in this season: www.larchechicago. org/gratitude

Maywood Youth Mentoring Program Organized in 1993 as a 501c3, the Maywood Youth Mentoring Program has served hundreds of middle to high-school youth providing a variety of programs, workshops, field trips, and experiences designed to increase academic potential and instill cultural pride. Since 2008, the program has hosted free monthly youth breakfasts with topics ranging from anger management/and conflict resolution, etiquette, police/community interactions, sexual health, drug and alcohol avoidance,

and academic excellence. Youths practice critical thinking skills to encourage positive life choices. Volunteer mentors interact with youth providing positive role models for college and career choices.

To volunteer, or to donate, visit us at www. maywoodyouthmentoring.org, or contact Barbara Cole, founder/CEO at 708-344-3577.

MOMENTA Momenta is the resident Dance Company of the Academy of Movement & Music, located in Oak Park. MOMENTA dance concerts are the only place audiences can see classical ballet, historic American modern dance, contemporary works, and integrated dance (includes dancers with disabilities) all in one performance.

Learn more and donate at momentadances.org

The Nineteenth Century Charitable Association

Oak Park Art League As one of the longest, continually running non-profit arts organizations in Illinois, the Oak Park Art League (OPAL) is a vibrant cultural center where the invitation and challenge to use art as a medium for personal and community growth is made available to people of all ages.

Since 1921, OPAL has brought arts education, appreciation, exhibitions and the spirit of artistic inquiry to the surrounding community.

OPAL is committed to meaningful community outreach to the population that makes up our greater community through partnerships and on-site art and programming with local social service agencies through our “Art for Social Change” initiatives.

For more information about membership, volunteering or to make a donation, please contact Executive Director, Jill Kramer Goldstein at 708-386-9853 or oakparkartleague@gmail.com. The Oak Park Art League is located at 720 Chicago Ave. in Oak Park.

Oak Park Public Library

The Nineteenth Century Charitable Association strengthens our community through learning, giving, and sharing our landmark building through space grants to local non-profits. 80% of its usage is non-profit. We provide community outreach, scholarships, and public programming in five areas: music, art, literature, science, and social sciences.

The NCCA is the owner of 178 Forest Avenue, commonly referred to as the Nineteenth Century Club. Our charitable and cultural activities are supported by our members, volunteers, donors, and by the events held at the Club.

Programs are open to all and we welcome all ages to join.

Empower every voice in our community! When you choose to give to your local library, you invest in foundational resources, services, and spaces that support a unique quality of life in Oak Park. You support work dedicated to literacy, education, diversity, inclusion, equity, health, safety, and affordability. You also choose to help connect people and community, to educate global citizens, and to sustain, share, and respect our community’s resources.

If you would like information about volunteering, joining or donating, please call us at 708-386-2729 email to info@ nineteenthcentury.org. You can also make donation at ncca.memberclicks.net/givingtuesday.

To learn more about how you can make Oak Park’s center of information, civic engagement, and local history stronger, contact Executive Director David J. Seleb (DavidS@oppl.org, 708.697.6911). Make an online donation now at oppl.org/give.

Oak-Leyden Developmental Services The mission of Oak-Leyden Developmental Services is to help children and adults with developmental disabilities meet life’s challenges and reach their highest potential. The organization offers life-changing support in three areas: Children’s Services, Residential Services, and Lifelong Learning.

Empower people with developmental disabilities today at oak-leyden.org/getinvolved/donate.

Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation

The Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation is based on a powerful promise: to create an enduring institution where people can come together and pool their resources to meet our community’s most pressing needs — not just now, but forever. For sixty years, generations of thoughtful and caring donors and residents have empowered the Foundation’s work to safeguard and advance the community in which we live, raise our families and work.

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From helping donors with legacy gift planning, to managing donor advised funds, to strengthening local non-profits, we connect.

Visit oprfcf.org or call Rhea Yap at 708-8481560 to start a fund, discuss your charitable estate plans, or make a donation today.

Opportunity Knocks Opportunity Knocks is dedicated to enriching life and community. We exist to support people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) as they live, work, learn, grow and connect within their community. We use a dynamic, person-centered and community-based approach to programming that serves to engage the voice of our participants, foster interdependent connections, encourage exploration, promote holistic wellness and healthy relationships.

We are 95% privately funded and rely on the generous support of the community. Your gift does matter in moving our mission forward by offering unique opportunities for these young adults to create their place in the community.

PING! Providing equitable access to instrumental music for students in grades 4 through 12 in Oak Park and River Forest public schools has been the mission of PING! (Providing Instruments for the Next Generation) for more than 20 years. In addition to loaning band and orchestra instruments to students whose families cannot afford them, PING! also provides music enrichment through workshops; mentoring; and scholarships for summer music camps, school music trips, and private instruction. Enrichment programs like these provide positive peer groups and growth opportunities for students in need.

PING! relies on community support for donated instruments and financial contributions to maintain its instrument inventory and program funding.

For more information or to make a donation, go to pingoprf.org. If you have an instrument to donate, send us an email at pingoprf@ gmail.com.

River Forest Public Library Foundation RFPL Foundation works to enhance River Forest Public Library today and for the future through fundraising and advocacy. In 2019, the Foundation fully funded major updates in the Children’s Room to make the space more welcoming and functional. We provided support for the Summer Reading Program and contributed to the Lobby/Circulation area renovation. Since 2015, gifts have supported special programming for all ages, staff development and the Anne Smedinghoff Memorial Garden.

Help ensure a bright future for River Forest Public Library with your gift. We gratefully accept cash, credit/debit, securities and bequests. Visit RFPLFoundation.org/donate.

St. Angela School St. Angela School has walked with the families of Chicago’s west side for one hundred years— walked with a deep commitment to enriching the lives, and the futures, of their children. We have a rich and varied history – and a future of great promise. We provide our children with a safe and loving environment and challenging academics; we help them explore paths that lead to meaningful and rewarding careers; and we teach them, above all, to believe in themselves. As we prepare for our next hundred years, we’re proud to reaffirm our commitment to love and serve all those who choose to be part of our community.

Learn more about St. Angela School at saintangela.org.

The Symphony of Oak Park & River Forest

Named “Community Orchestra of the Year” in 2018, The Symphony of Oak Park & River Forest, under the leadership of award-winning conductor, Jay Friedman, continues to bring extraordinary and accessible concerts to our community. Ticket sales provide less than half the funds needed for the Symphony’s performances. Your gift keeps the orchestra going strong and allows us to maintain affordable ticket prices, including free admission for all students through college.

Please help us continue and strengthen our 88-year tradition of bringing beautiful and inspiring music to Oak Park and River Forest.

Make your end-of-year tax-deductible donation at symphonyoprf.org, or: P.O. Box 3564, Oak Park, IL 60303-3564.

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VOCEL

Thrive Counseling Center Thrive Counseling Center (formerly Family Services of Oak Park) has provided mental health services to our community for over 120 years. Located in the heart of Oak Park, our mission is to build healthy minds, families, and communities by empowering people to attain mental and emotional well-being. Hope, resilience and recovery form the heart of our programs and services. Last year we provided critical services to more than 1,400 friends, neighbors and family members including: • Counseling for youth and adults • Psychiatric care and medication management • In-home counseling for older adults • Increased access to care for impoverished youth • 24/7 crisis intervention • Suicide Safer Community Programs including: safeTALK and QPR • FREE, public Thrive Talks: our Speaker Series at the Oak Park Main Library Adult and youth group therapy including: art therapy, stress management, coping with anxiety, grief support and Sibshops We are open Monday through Friday during regular business hours and evenings, and on Saturdays from 9am-2pm (all services). To learn more or donate, please visit thrivecc. org or call 708-383-7500, ext. 111. Follow us on Facebook!

UCP SEGUIN OF GREATER CHICAGO

UCP Seguin believes that all people, regardless of ability, deserve to achieve their potential, advance their independence and act as full members of the community. So we stop at nothing to provide life skills training, assistive technology, meaningful employment and a place to call home for people with disabilities, as well as specialized foster care for children.

Our goal: life without limits for people with disabilities.

Make a difference in the lives of people with disabilities. Donate online at ucpseguin. org or send gifts to UCP Seguin, 332 Harrison Street, Oak Park IL 60304

At VOCEL, our ultimate purpose is to help ensure every child has the foundation to learn, grow and lead. Our core program, the Child Parent Academy, is a dynamic, two-generational early learning accelerator for both children and their parents. VOCEL uses innovative early learning approaches designed for children age 0 to 3 while remaining grounded in science-based best practices in child development, attachment, and neuroscience.

Through VOCEL’s programs, families are equipped with the insights, tools, and support they need to catalyze their child’s brain development in preparation for preschool and beyond.

Find out more about VOCEL and donate at vocel.org.

West Suburban Special Recreation Association West Suburban Special Recreation Association (WSSRA) provides recreational programming for individuals with disabilities who reside in Oak Park, River Forest and nine other surrounding communities.

Donations to WSSRA, help provide financial assistance to those participating in our yearround programs and summer day camp. To make a donation, please visit wssra.net.

The Joyful Giving Catalog of local nonprofits will run weekly through December. If you would like to see your organization listed, email Marc Stopeck at marc@oakpark.com.

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Running through December!

Community of

How our communities make a difference

Great worries.

Great resolve.

RIVERSIDE-BROOKFIELD

Our earth

Zero waste makes local difference PAGE 4

Our refugees

Faith communities make neighbors out of refugees PAGE 8

F O R E S T PA R K

JOURNAL REVIEW W E D N E S D A Y

Giving 2018

Your local catalog for a more Beautiful

Giving Tuesday pull-out section on Nov. 27

Community of Caring Pull-out section Nov. 6

Coordinated by the Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation

Impact Stories Featured in each Season of Giving issue

Inside Wednesday Journal Nov. 6 - Dec. 25 W E D N E S D A Y

Vol. 39, No. 43 ONE DOLLAR @oakpark @wednesdayjournal

JOURNAL of Oak Park and River Forest

Re-imagining North Avenue

Forever

By IGOR STUDENKOV Contributing Reporter

See NORTH AVENUE on page 12

Page 19

The Star & Stripes makes its way down Ashland during the annual River Forest Memorial Day Parade on May 27. For more photos, turn to page 16.

Draft plan for busy corridor’s revitalization May 9

The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) has officially released the draft of the new North Avenue Corridor Revitalization and Mobility Plan — and it represents one of the most ambitious comprehensive plans for the area in years.

The plan includes strategies to revitalize the portion of North Avenue, between Austin Boulevard and Harlem Avenue, on both the Oak Park and Galewood sides of the corridor. Last year, the North Avenue District, Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29th) and the village of Oak Park, successfully applied for CMAP’s Local Technical Assistance Program. The program helps municipalities and nonprofits develop plans to improve transportation, land use and quality of life.

Since then, the agency has been working with other entities, including the Urban Land Institute, which bills itself as “membershipbased, multidisciplinary real estate forum that offers communities strategic advice from development experts,” to figure out the particulars.

The draft plan was released to the public on May 9, during an open house held at Galewood Trinity Church, 1701 N. Narragansett Ave. It was posted online the following day. The agency is expected to use the feedback to create the final versions of the plan, which will need to be approved by the three partner organizations.

The draft plan was largely developed during a technical assistance panel conducted by ULI Chicago that took place in December 2018. The

Disrepair to desirable

SHANEL ROMAIN/ Contributor

Oak Park ordered to reinstate, reimburse cop

Village inappropriately fired Oak Park patrol officer in 2016

By TIMOTHY INKLEBARGER Staff Reporter

The village of Oak Park could be on the hook for more than $200,000 following an arbitrator’s ruling that the village improperly fired veteran police officer Rasul Freelain in 2016.

Arbitrator Peter R. Meyers ruled in Freelain’s favor on the more serious accusation leveled against Freelain and issued a strong rebuke of the village’s action in not only terminating his employment but also damaging his reputation.

Meyers ordered the village to pay Freelain back pay and benefits since his termination. An employee compensation report from the village notes that in fiscal year 2016, Freelain earned $118,172 in pay and benefits. The village was also ordered to reinstate Freelain to the police force.

Freelain attorney Jeffrey Burke, an inhouse lawyer for the Fraternal Order of

Police Union, declined to comment. Oak Park spokesman David Powers declined to comment, noting that the village does not comment on personnel matters.

The village made multiple claims in his termination letter, many of which were tied to an excessive force case in 2013 – the village lost that case in 2016, when a jury verdict ruled that Freelain acted improperly during the arrest of an Oak Park man suspected of domestic violence, and was ordered to pay the complainant $35,000 in restitution.

See FREELAIN on page 13

Peaceful Community.

OAK PARK-RIVER FOREST

We connect giving to impact!

May 29, 2019

Secure Loving

Community Foundation

Our addicts

Opioids, alcohol, pot top worries PAGE 12

Healthy

The Joyful Giving Catalog Mass email to subscribers

Social Media shares on all platforms

Community Giving Guide

Coordinated by the Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation

S

The Most Wonderful Guide of The Year!

eason of Giving is a campaign organized by Wednesday Journal and the Oak Park River Forest Community Foundation to encourage local charitable giving during the holiday season. It has long

been recognized that when we shop local, our money recirculates through the local economy reaping dividends for the entire community. The same is true for charitable giving. When you donate to local nonprofits, your money goes to

AgeOptions

BUILD, Inc.

work in your own neighborhood. Your donations feed local families, offer safety and learning to local children, and enrich the beauty and art that surrounds us all. Over the coming weeks, we hope that you will take a moment to look over the listings

We connect giving to impact!

Season of Giving listings, in each edition

AgeOptions helps to empower older adults in Suburban Cook County by connecting them to information and resources so they can thrive as they age. AgeOptions has served older adults since 1974 reaching more than 155,000 older adults and caregivers last year alone. AgeOptions partners with community-based nonprofits serving older adults and their caregivers to ensure that every aging person has access to in-home care, adult day services, nutritious meals, intervention and prevention of fraud, abuse, and neglect, and advocacy to protect their right.

To donate, volunteer, or simply find out about the many services and programs available to you or your loved ones, go to www.ageoptions.org or call us at (708) 383-0258.

Animal Care League Animal Care League offers a safe haven for pets in need.

Founded in 1973, Animal Care League takes a proactive approach to animal care and adoption as well as preventative measures to help reduce the number of homeless animals in our communities. With over 1000 pets coming to our doors each year, Animal Care League counts on supporters to ensure that we can provide what is needed from routine vaccinations to life saving surgery.

Make a difference in the life of a homeless animal by visiting www.animalcareleague. org where you can sign up to volunteer, make a donation, view our adoptable pets, and learn about upcoming events.

Since 1969, Austin-based BUILD, Inc. has helped thousands of Chicago youth escape gang violence to become positive community leaders. BUILD is a second family to young people who face steep obstacles, yet succeed every day with the help of caring mentors who share similar backgrounds.

Programs like the Block 51 Arts Academy, Austin Summer of Opportunity, and BUILDing Girls 2 Women foster creativity, social-emotional health, and academic success of youth ages 6 to 24. Gifts to the Attitude of Gratitude campaign support expansion of programs in Austin, Garfield Park, Humboldt Park, Hermosa, Logan Square, and Fuller Park.

Visit www.buildchicago.org or call 773/2272880.

The Children’s Clinic/ Oak Park River Forest Infant Welfare Society Will you join us? We’re on a mission to advance the health and well-being of children in need. When you support the OPRF Infant Welfare Society, you help vulnerable children in our community and surrounding areas access critical healthcare, including pediatric, dental and behavioral health services.

Our Children’s Clinic is an important safety net for 3,500 children each year, and your generosity is key. Your gift of $50 will provide a toddler with two essential vaccines. Or for $150, a young patient with autism can receive specialized preventive dental services.

The Collaboration for Early Childhood

The Collaboration for Early Childhood is your resource for early childhood information in Oak Park and River Forest. We provide the connections vital to every child’s opportunity for success in learning and in life. We work with more than 60 organizations so that parents and their children receive critical information and support services, children are screened for developmental delays, teachers in child care centers, preschools and family child care homes provide high quality programs and our most vulnerable children and their families experience a strong web of support.

For more information, or to make a donation, please visit us at collab4kids. org or follow us on Facebook.

Friends of the Oak Park Conservatory Since 1986, the Friends of the Oak Park Conservatory has been inspiring and educating visitors. We manage over 150 volunteers. We offer free tours through the showrooms and free educational programs for kids. We sponsor two free events at the Conservatory KidsFest and FallFest. We host the Uncorked summer-series and we are celebrating the 30th annual plant sale this coming spring.

We give grants to the park district to make improvements to the Conservatory. We rely on volunteers, members and donors to make these events, programs and grants possible.

Please consider helping us grow. Join. Donate.

Volunteer.

in this Giving Guide. Find an organization that resonates with you. Check out their website. Consider making a donation or volunteering. Spread the word. Don’t just shop local—give Local.

Green Community Connections The most recent United Nations report shows that the worst effects of climate change will hit by 2040 if we don’t act now.

Go “all in” for the planet with your donation to the 8th annual One Earth Film Festival, an OPRF grass-roots effort that inspires climate action, resilience and environmental justice in communities throughout Chicagoland. In 2018, we hosted 60 film screenings, and 95% of surveyed attendees reported being inspired to get involved in issues or solutions.

Protect the planet by joining One Earth today: oneearthfilmfest.org/give.

Memberships start at $25. Bill Reilly of The Reilly Group at Merrill Lynch will generously match your donation now through #GivingTuesday.

Hephzibah Hephzibah Children’s Association was founded in 1897. We serve more than 1,000 children and families each year through innovative, community-based programs.

Hephzibah provides a Group Home for children who have been taken from their families due to profound abuse or neglect.

Our skilled staff recruits and trains foster parents, and offers ongoing support to help all family members navigate challenges.

Our after-school Day Care operates on a sliding scale to serve working parents in Oak Park, with programs based at each elementary school.

To make a real difference in the lives of children and families, please donate today at hephzibahhome.org.

To become part of the giving community, call Marc at 708.613.3330 Make a gift at www.oprfiws.org or call 708406-8661.

p.s. You’re also invited to join us for our 20th annual Holiday Housewalk & Market, November 29 – December 1! Another great way to help us provide heartfelt healthcare.

For more information about membership, volunteering, or to make a donation please contact Executive Director, Beth Cheng, at 708.725.2460 or director@fopcon.org.