Resource Directory /

Chicago Home Care Resources

  • The September 26th Project

    The September 26th Project focuses on helping families and caregivers of children or adults with cognitive, behavioral and/or physical impairments prepare for wandering and elopement and disasters such as fires floods, or earthquakes.

    The September 26th Projects assists and encourages families to do a checkup at least annually and not put emergency preparedness on the back burner. They provide checklists and information on:

  • Emergency Preparedness Planning for Families and People with Disabilities

    Ready.gov provides emergency preparedness tools and information to help families before, during and after disasters. This site includes:

    Resources are also available in American Sign Language (ASL)  and other languages including Spanish, simplified and traditional Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese.

  • Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program

    The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) helps eligible low-income households pay for home energy services (primarily heating during winter months).

    Illinois residents with a household income that does not exceed an amount determined annually by the Department of Commerce are eligible. The program determines annual eligibility levels based on available funding and may not exceed 200 percent of the federal nonfarm poverty level.

    See the How to Apply for LIHEAP page for more information. To help find an office serving your area, visit this complete list of LIHEAP application agencies based on county.

    For more program information, check out the LIHEAP frequently asked questions or call the Help Illinois Families Call Center at (833) 711-0374.

  • Adaptive Adventures Recreation Opportunities

    Adaptive Adventures focuses on providing children, adults and veterans with physical disabilities the opportunity to achieve greater independence in outdoor sports while experiencing camaraderie and the benefits of recreation and adventure. Their ongoing programs, camps and clinics include cycling, climbing, kayaking, paddle boarding, dragon boat racing, skiing, snowboarding, waterskiing, wakeboarding and rafting.

    Adaptive Adventures travels the country to provide direct program services. Programming is offered to participants and their families free of charge or significantly subsidized. Adaptive Adventures believes cost should never be a barrier to someone’s participation in quality outdoor adaptive sports opportunities.

    Visit the Adaptive Adventures website for information about programs and events in Illinois.

  • American Sign Language Lessons

    If you are interested in learning or practicing the basics of American Sign Language (ASL), these sites provide free lessons to get you started:

    There are also free YouTube videos available to help you learn, practice and supplement your sign language instruction:

  • Cued Speach Program for Families of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children

    Cue College’s Cue Family Program provides a free, online Cued Speech class to families of deaf and hard-of-hearing children.

    Cued Speech combines a small number of simple hand cues with the natural mouth movements of speech to make the sounds or “phonemes” of spoken language clear through vision alone.

    The Cue Family Program includes free access for one year to the online Cue College course, “CS100 – Introduction to Cued American English – Self Study”, for parents, guardians, additional family members and caregivers of a child with hearing loss or other communication challenges.