• Signup for Email
  • About Children’s Home & Aid
    • Mission & Vision
    • Meet Our Leadership Team
      • Mike Shaver
      • Jan Stepto-Millett
      • Angelica Stapert
      • Sean Soun
      • Paula Corrigan-Halpern
      • Sara Irmen
      • Dawnielle Jeffrey
      • Lynsey Sloan
      • Mendy Smith
      • Renae Storey
      • Amanda Whitlock
    • Board of Trustees
    • License & Accreditation
    • Mission & Vision
    • Financial Information
    • Client Policy and Rights
  • Get Involved
    • Join an Auxiliary Board
      • Join the Young Professionals Board
        • Membership Request Form
      • Hinsdale Auxiliary
      • Lost Dunes Golf Committee
      • Rice Leadership Committee
      • The Woman’s Board
      • Central Regional Advisory Board
      • Northern Regional Advisory Board
      • Southern Regional Advisory Board
    • Attend or Sponsor an Event
    • Get Your Company Involved
    • Volunteer
      • Volunteer Chicagoland
      • Volunteer Central
      • Volunteer Northern
      • Volunteer Southern
  • Ways to Give
    • Make a Donation
    • Double Your Impact – Matching Gifts
    • Become a Monthly Donor
    • Planned Giving
    • Make a Gift of Stock
    • Give Through Your IRA
    • Children’s Home & Aid Legacy Society
    • Attend or Sponsor an Event
    • Get Your Company Involved
    • Shop Amazon Smile
    • See Your Impact
    • Create Your Own Fundraising Event
  • Policy Center
    • Advocacy
    • Start to Finish Coalition
    • Youth Budget Commission
    • Our Projects
    • The Ahlquist Agenda Podcast
    • Result of the Quarter
    • Get our Newsletter!
  • Events
  • Blog & News
  • Locations
  • Careers
  • Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
    • Equity, Diversion and Inclusion Resources
    • Black History Month 2022
      • Black History Month 2021
    • Self-Care After the Election
    • Hispanic Heritage Month
    • Native American Heritage Month
    • Women’s History Month
    • Juneteenth
    • Pride Month
Children's Home + Aid
Donate
  • DONATE NOW
  • Child Welfare
    Services
    • Intact Family Services
    •  Foster Care
      Services
      • Become a Foster Parent
        • Learn More – Informational Meetings
      • Foster Parent Resources
      • Excellence Academy
      • Specialized Foster Care
    •  Foster to
      Adopt
      • Become an Adoptive Parent
      • Adoption & Guardianship Preservation
      • Adoption Information Request
      • Adoption Resources
      • The PEPAC Program
      • Post-Adoption Services Program
  •  Counseling &
    Treatment Programs
    • Adoption Support & Preservation
    • Choose 2 Change
    • Community Based Behavioral Health
    • Families And Children in Treatment
    • Family Centered Counseling Services
    • Family Solutions
    • Chicago Project Connect
    • Helping Children Heal Through Extensive Therapy
      • The Rice Center
    • The Butterfly Project
    • Family Counseling for Youth in Crisis
      • Redeploy Illinois Children Program
      • Youth Services
      • Host Home Placement
  • Parenting
    • The Butterfly Project
    • The Children’s Room
    • The Crisis Nursery Program
      • Motherhouse Crisis Nursery
      • Bloomington Crisis Nursery
    • Early Start
    • Family Visitation Center
    • Healthy Families Illinois
    • Doula Services
    • Kid’s Turn
    • Parents Care & Share
    • The PEPAC Program
    • Stronger Beginnings for Families
    • Thriving Fathers & Families
  •  Child Care
    & Education
    • Community Child Care Centers
      • Bloomington
      • Carpentersville
      • Englewood
      • Palatine
      • Schaumburg
      • Viva Chicago
    • Early Head Start
    • The Head Start Program
    • Preschool For All
    • Child Care Assistance Program
      • CCAP Request Form
    • Child Care Resource and Referral
      • Southern Region
        • Looking for Child Care
        • Parent Resources
        • Provider Services
        • Statistical Information
        • Training Opportunities
        • CCR&R Staff Directory
  • Contact Us
  • Signup for Email
  • About Children’s Home & Aid
    • Mission & Vision
    • Meet Our Leadership Team
      • Mike Shaver
      • Jan Stepto-Millett
      • Angelica Stapert
      • Sean Soun
      • Paula Corrigan-Halpern
      • Sara Irmen
      • Dawnielle Jeffrey
      • Lynsey Sloan
      • Mendy Smith
      • Renae Storey
      • Amanda Whitlock
    • Board of Trustees
    • License & Accreditation
    • Mission & Vision
    • Financial Information
    • Client Policy and Rights
  • Get Involved
    • Join an Auxiliary Board
      • Join the Young Professionals Board
        • Membership Request Form
      • Hinsdale Auxiliary
      • Lost Dunes Golf Committee
      • Rice Leadership Committee
      • The Woman’s Board
      • Central Regional Advisory Board
      • Northern Regional Advisory Board
      • Southern Regional Advisory Board
    • Attend or Sponsor an Event
    • Get Your Company Involved
    • Volunteer
      • Volunteer Chicagoland
      • Volunteer Central
      • Volunteer Northern
      • Volunteer Southern
  • Ways to Give
    • Make a Donation
    • Double Your Impact – Matching Gifts
    • Become a Monthly Donor
    • Planned Giving
    • Make a Gift of Stock
    • Give Through Your IRA
    • Children’s Home & Aid Legacy Society
    • Attend or Sponsor an Event
    • Get Your Company Involved
    • Shop Amazon Smile
    • See Your Impact
    • Create Your Own Fundraising Event
  • Policy Center
    • Advocacy
    • Start to Finish Coalition
    • Youth Budget Commission
    • Our Projects
    • The Ahlquist Agenda Podcast
    • Result of the Quarter
    • Get our Newsletter!
  • Events
  • Blog & News
  • Locations
  • Careers
  • Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
    • Equity, Diversion and Inclusion Resources
    • Black History Month 2022
      • Black History Month 2021
    • Self-Care After the Election
    • Hispanic Heritage Month
    • Native American Heritage Month
    • Women’s History Month
    • Juneteenth
    • Pride Month
Return to all blog and news posts

Needs Among Us

by Gelasia Croom
10/27/2020  |  Southern Region, Stronger Beginnings for Families

Pastor Rob Dyer and the members of First United Presbyterian Church of Belleville wanted a way to support families in their community who are going through a tough time.

“We want to be part of the real transformation – not a temporary, quick fix,” says Pastor Rob Dyer, First Presbyterian’s senior pastor.

The pastor and members of the church launched a program called Needs Among Us, a community support program that has grown even more important in Belleville and surrounding communities since the beginning of the pandemic.

Needs Among Us started in the church several years ago, asking if, aside from prayer, there was anything the congregation could do to help a congregant in need. When a church member had a need to be met, they anonymously place it in a basket, and a church committee would discuss the need and meet it.

Children’s Home & Aid and the church recognized the potential power of their work together.

“We work with dozens of families in the tri-cities area, providing educational, social and emotional help and resources for basic needs,” says Sherri O’Toole, supervisor of our Stronger Beginnings for Families program. “However, there are needs our families have that we are not able to meet, including rent support, home furnishing and transportation. Now my staff and I can submit these requests to the generous friends who run the Needs Among Us program.”

“Jena,” a client within our Stronger Beginnings for Families program, is a certified nursing assistant, and a very essential worker in these times of COVID-19. She was spending an increasing amount of time and money on repairs for her car, which was needed for transportation to her job at the hospital. The congregation members went above and beyond – they not only gifted her with a vehicle, but also furniture for her apartment.

There are up to 48 families receiving help from the church year-round. Help includes mentoring, assistance with yard work, walking buddies, financial assistance, and more. The congregation has even sent a family on a trip to meet a specialist doctor, due to a rare condition of their child, among many other things.

The congregation makes it a point to work with the caseworkers of these families as well.

“We also focus on the caseworkers; they need to be taken care of and supported too,” says Pastor Rob. “When we help them, we help the families.” Program Coordinator Bob Jensen says they aim to focus on how they can create a household for those in need.

During the recent pandemic, the needs among our children and families have grown – and the congregation has again stepped up. The First United Presbyterian Church recently raised $15,000, which they would like to go directly to families impacted by the pandemic.

Although this program has grown immensely since its start, Pastor Rob says he has no plans to slow down. “We want to grow this as much as possible. I don’t see any reason to limit this,” he says.

Thank you to Pastor Rob and all the generous members of the First United Presbyterian Church of Belleville for this wonderful support for our families!

share
No Comments

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search the Blog

Categories

  • 135th Anniversary (16)
    • Hope With Wings (1)
  • Adoption (15)
  • Associate Board (1)
  • Black History Month (3)
  • Blue Bow Campaign (18)
  • Butterfly Project (1)
  • Central Region (24)
  • Champions for Children (11)
  • Chicago Cubs (2)
  • Child Welfare (12)
  • City of Chicago (25)
    • One Summer Chicago (12)
      • Summer Intern Project (8)
  • Corporate Partner Spotlight (6)
  • COVID (1)
  • Crisis Nursery (9)
  • Cultural Competence (2)
  • Diversion and Inclusion (1)
  • Diversity and Inclusion (1)
  • Domestic Violence (1)
  • Donor Spotlight (2)
  • Early Childhood Services (16)
  • EDI (6)
  • Education (9)
    • Literacy (1)
  • Equity (1)
  • Families Thriving Podcast (2)
  • Family Visitation Center (1)
  • Fatherhood (4)
  • Fiscal Scan (4)
  • Foster Care (8)
  • Foster Care Spotlight (2)
  • Foster Parent Mentoring (5)
  • Fundraising (25)
    • Stuff the Bus (2)
  • Graze & Raise (1)
  • Healthy Families Home Visiting (2)
  • Holiday Time (19)
  • Home Visiting (1)
  • In the News (16)
  • Jerri Hoffmann Child & Family Center (1)
  • LGBTQ (1)
  • Memorial Day (1)
  • Mental Health (5)
  • Mission (27)
    • Careers (14)
      • Internship (7)
    • Leadership Spotlight (9)
  • Mitzi Freidheim Child + Family Center (4)
  • MotherHouse (1)
  • Mothers Day (1)
  • Northern Region (13)
  • Philanthropy (9)
  • Power of Fathers (4)
  • Program Results (58)
    • CCAP (2)
    • Choose 2 Change (7)
    • Community Schools (5)
    • Doula (4)
    • Foster Care (19)
      • Intact Family Services (2)
    • Head Start (2)
    • Healthy Start (2)
    • Mentoring (5)
    • Parents Care + Share (2)
    • Redeploy Illinois (2)
    • RISE (1)
    • Safe from the Start (2)
    • Stat of the Month (3)
    • Stronger Beginnings for Families (3)
  • Relative Caregivers (2)
  • Rice Child + Family Center (19)
  • Southern Region (13)
  • State Budget Crisis (6)
  • The Ahlquist Center (29)
    • Advocacy (18)
    • Newsletter (7)
  • Uncategorized (18)
    • Mentorship (4)
  • Veterans Day (2)
  • Volunteer Spotlight (4)
  • Woman's Board (7)
  • Youth Budget (2)

On Twitter

My Tweets

HRC Seal of Recognition

Image
Children's Home + Aid is a recognized leader in supporting and serving LGBT families.
Children's Home + Aid

Corporate Home Office

200 West Monroe Street, Ste 2100, Chicago, IL 60606
(312) 424-0200
+ DONATE NOW!

ABOUT

  • Media / Press Room
    • Press Releases
  • Careers
  • Financial Information
  • Corporate & Foundation Partners
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy

GET IN TOUCH

  • Contact Us
  • Volunteer
  • United Way
  • COA

© copyright 2022 children’s home + aid