The Chicago Autism Network is a nonprofit dedicated to helping locals find and afford effective autism therapy and supports.

The network offers therapy assistance grants for anyone living in Illinois with a current autism diagnosis. It also holds free monthly Autism Parent Workshops.

The Chicago Autism Network also provides a statewide Autism Services Directory to help families connect with services that meet their needs closer to home.

Heartland Alliance in Chicago provides programs to address the root causes of poverty, generate social change and inspire people to build better lives not only for themselves but for their communities.

Heartland Alliance’s National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) provides direct legal services to and advocates for immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers through policy reform, impact litigation and public education. Other programs include:

• Heartland Alliance Health
• Heartland Housing
• Heartland Human Care Services

The Arab American Action Network (AAAN) is a grassroots nonprofit on the southwest side of Chicago.The AAAN combines social services with organizing and advocacy to promote social change. AAAN services include:

• Children’s after-school program and summer camp
• Cultural outreach presentations for schools, faith institutions, corporations and other community organizations
• Family empowerment program offering biweekly citizenship classes, English classes and family literacy and parenting skills program
• Youth leadership program

Arab American Family Services (AAFS) provides assistance to over 30 communities in the south suburban Chicagoland area. AAFS is a non-political, non-religious organization that focuses on building respect and understanding between Arab-Americans and the mainstream-American culture. It also serves as a catalyst for social change by actively seeking to confront the myths and taboos that have kept some Arab Americans from obtaining the help they need.

AAFS assists Arab speakers in their native language and dialect and is also recognized by government agencies and other nonprofits as a local resource for cultural exchange and translation services. AAFS programs include case management, mental health assistance, immigration services, disability assistance and more.

The McLean County Functional Needs Registry helps individuals with special needs during emergencies. The registration form documents the needs of people with physical, mental or medical limitations due to impaired vision, hearing or mobility, and language barriers. The program seeks to ensure that residents with functional needs get the assistance they need during a weather disaster or some other local emergency.

Registration for the program is free, voluntary and confidential. You can fill out an online form or print out a hard copy registration form in English or Spanish on the registry website.

This Supporting Children With Limited Verbal Skills tip sheet from the Illinois Early Learning Project provides strategies that are helpful to all children but are particularly helpful for those with limited verbal skills.

IEL offers a wide variety of one-page, easy-to-read tip sheets covering a wide range of topics for parents and teachers of young children.

All tipsheets are available in Spanish and English. Selected tipsheets are available in Polish, Korean, Chinese, Arabic, Russian and French.

The Illinois Association of Medicaid Health Plans (IAMHP) provides tips and tools to help Medicaid enrollees maintain their coverage. IAMHP also provides several toolkits and brochures for Medicaid members, including:

• The Illinois Medicaid MCO (Managed Care Organization) Transportation Toolkit to help members with scheduling transportation for medical appointments. It is available in English and Spanish.
• The IAMHP Medicaid Benefit Brochure to guide current and future Medicaid members to understand the comprehensive benefits the Medicaid program provides, the added benefits of being enrolled in Medicaid managed care and how to enroll in each program. It is available in English and Spanish.
• The MCO Maternal Benefits Toolkit to help pregnant people on Medicaid understand their maternal health benefits.
• The MCO Maternal Health Toolkit to help support pregnant people and families on Medicaid with resources to support mental health conditions that arise during and after pregnancy.

You can find these toolkits and more resources on the IAMHP website.

Accessible Festivals is dedicated to making live music and recreational events fully accessible for people of all abilities. Partnering with festivals and friends in the industry, Accessible Festivals provides free tickets, a calendar of events and a variety of programs that encourage accessibility and inclusion.

It also offers the Dan Grover Memorial Ticket Grant Program for individuals impacted by newly acquired, temporary or lifelong disabilities to apply for free access to their favorite events like concerts, festivals, and conventions.

Healthy Beginnings is a free, evidence-based initiative for moms in the Champaign, Urbana and Savoy area who are first-time moms less than 29 weeks pregnant and moms with other children who are pregnant. Its goal is to help ensure children and their families have an opportunity to be prosperous and live the healthiest life they can.

Healthy Beginnings works with eligible mothers and their families to help bring the healthcare, support and resources together that fit individual circumstances, including:

• Nurse home visiting care/support for pregnant moms & their families (with interpreter services)
• Mobile clinic services
• Child and family education
• Employment opportunities
• Access to healthy food

For more information or to make a referral, call (217) 365-7925 or email referral@cuhealthybeginnings.com.

Special Father’s Network is a dad-to-dad mentoring program for fathers raising children with special needs.

The program connects new fathers of children with special abilities with another father (a Mentor Father) who has experienced a similar situation. The program matches Mentor Fathers as closely as possible based on the child’s special needs, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic group and relationship to the child e.g., .father, stepfather, grandfather).

The Special Father’s Network is available through the 21st Century Dads Foundation, which raises awareness and resources for greater father involvement and seeks to inspire dads to be present, caring and nurturing.

For questions, please use the 21st Century Dads Contact form or email info@21stCenturyDads.org.