Helping Families from the Start: Children’s Home & Aid Doula Program
After escaping a violent relationship in a neighboring community, Noelle (who was five months pregnant) and her children arrived in Rockford in the middle of a cold December night. With no family or friends to turn to, Noelle contacted Children’s Home & Aid for help, as the local shelter didn’t have room for all of […]
Celebrating Donna Kasper
Today is Donna Kasper’s last day with Children’s Home & Aid – she is retiring after 14 years with the agency. Donna is the Foster Care Director in Rockford – and has lived the values of Children’s Home & Aid throughout her life. Donna has been working in this field for over 23 years but […]
Children’s Home & Aid COVID-19 Response
The ongoing COVID-19 crisis has created stress and anxiety for many Illinois families who were already hurting. Requests from families to help meet basic needs like food, cleaning supplies, and PPE have sharply increased in recent months. With the support of generous donors, our staff have been working around the clock and doing whatever it […]
Making the Holiday Season Brighter in Rockford
Children’s Home & Aid is so grateful for all of the support we received in Rockford this holiday season. Read below for all the details of our holiday events! In our Northern Region… We are so grateful to our donors and supporters who contributed plenty of toys, clothes and other items for our Holiday Gift […]
Get to Know Lori Poppen, Northern Region Site Director
We’re excited to introduce Lori Poppen as the new Regional Site Director in our Northern Region. Lori takes over for Lisa Pieper, who recently retired as the Regional Vice President of the Northern Region. A native of Arthur, Illinois, Lori, obtained a BA in Psychology from Milliken University and MS in Applied Family Studies at Northern Illinois […]
New tax credit makes adoption process easier for Illinois families
Governor Bruce Rauner visited our Rockford office yesterday to announce a new adoption tax credit to support Illinois families by making adoptions more affordable. The new $5000 tax credit removes one of the barriers for families to adopt and helps fulfill our mission to create hope, opportunity and bright futures for children and families. Before the […]
Celebrating Adoption, Celebrating Family at the Northern Champions for Children Luncheon
March 16 was always a special day in the home where Kyle York, a member of Children’s Home & Aid’s Northern Regional Advisory Board, grew up. “We called it my ’Airplane Day,’ Kyle York recalls. “That was the day in 1988 that my parents first met me at O’Hare Airport in Chicago.” Kyle was adopted […]
$40,000 Walmart Foundation Grant to Support Crisis Nurseries
On February 22, Children’s Home & Aid staff and clients joined representatives from Walmart to celebrate a $40,000 grant from the Walmart Foundation with a check presentation at the Bloomington Crisis Nursery. The funding from the Walmart Foundation will support a child care worker at Children’s Home & Aid’s Bloomington Crisis Nursery and MotherHouse Crisis Nursery in Rockford. “Children’s Home […]
Children’s Mental Health: Championing a System of Care
Over 43,000 children in Winnebago County alone rely on medical assistance programs, including Medicaid[1], to provide for their physical and mental health needs. In addition, children in foster care receive Medicaid benefits regardless of the income of their families. With substantial cuts to Medicaid pending at the federal level, providers are concerned about the state’s […]
Care in Crisis
“My mommy has been hurt,” a 3-year-old girl cried, as she sat on her mom’s lap in the cozy living room of Children’s Home + Aid’s Crisis Nursery. Her mom had called the Crisis Nursery in a panic after her boyfriend became violent. She needed a safe place to stay with her three young daughters […]