Chicago Home Care Resources
Gastrostomy Tube and Feeding Information from Lurie Children’s Hospital
Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago provides resources for understanding and caring for a child’s gastrostomy tube. This webpage also includes an easy-to-download parent guide, “Supporting Nutrition: Understanding Tube Feeding.” The reference guide includes personal stories and information on:
- Administering feedings through the feeding tube
- Changing the dressings and cleaning around the tube
- Problems that may occur with the gastrostomy tube or the insertion site
Please note this information is not a substitute for the medical care and advice of your physician. There may be individual circumstances of your child’s healthcare that cause a variation in treatment.
Homework Tip Sheets for Families and School Staff
The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) has created a useful tip sheet with strategies to support parents and guardians who help children complete homework. The “Homework Help Strategies for Caregivers” tip sheet includes a link to a database of helpful homework support websites. It can be found under “Family and Community Resources” on ISBE’s Family and Community Engagement webpage.
School and district professionals as well as school board members can also find tip sheets on how they may help with best practice regarding homework.
Inclusion Brochure from the Illinois State Board of Education
The Illinois State Board of Education’s Inclusion Brochure provides an overview of early childhood inclusion, the benefits of high-quality inclusive programs, teaching models that support inclusion, and more. It can also help families and professionals to better explain least restrictive environment (LRE) and inclusion.
The brochure is also available in these languages: Arabic Inclusion Brochure, Cantonese Inclusion Brochure, French Inclusion Brochure, Japanese Inclusion Brochure, Mandarin Inclusion Brochure, Polish Inclusion Brochure and Spanish Inclusion Brochure.
Illinois Dyslexia Guide: A Handbook for Parents, Educators, and Students and Dyslexia Toolkit
The Illinois State Board of Education’s (ISBE) Dyslexia Guide: A Handbook for Parents, Educators, and Students provides information and guidance about dyslexia and related disorders for educational professionals, school leaders, families, guardians, and students. The handbook seeks to empower stakeholder groups to better understand dyslexia and strengthen programs to meet the educational and social-emotional needs of children and adolescents who struggle to learn to read.
You can use the handbook alone or with the Dyslexia Toolkit. The toolkit’s ever-evolving collection of additional resources includes laws, websites, videos, and podcasts for families and educators.
Visit the Specific Learning Disability Support Project (SLD Supports) website for these resources and more.
Miracle Flights provides free commercial airline tickets to pediatric patients ages 17 and under in need of life-changing medical care far from home. Families must meet certain requirements and apply online using the online application for requesting each flight.
The organization also provides flights for service dog retrieval and/or training. Miracle Flights’ service dog program is open to all individuals who need help retrieving/training their service dog.
The Sunshine Foundation helps make dreams come true for children ages 3 to 18 who have severe or profound illnesses or conditions. Referrals can come from anywhere in the United States for children with severe or profound physical/developmental/intellectual challenges or trauma from physical/sexual abuse and whose families have limited income.
Dream requests can include:
- Staying at the Sunshine Foundation Dream Village and visiting area theme parks and attractions
- Funding towards a special gift or item of interest
- Funding towards medical or adaptive equipment that insurance may not cover
Dare2tri is a nonprofit specializing in adaptive sports. It encourages recreation, racing and competition while cultivating a sense of community for all athletes who are not labeled by physical ability but rather their determination and will to succeed.
Dare2tri offers free training opportunities for athletes with physical disabilities and visual impairments throughout the year for children and adults. Its programs include:
- Play for All at Chicago Children’s Museum
- Kids Tri Camp for youth ages 6 and up
- Learn 2 Tri beginner-level training camp
- Multisport clinics and more
The Kids Wish Network provides programs to help inspire hope, create happy memories, share comfort and reach kids in life-altering situations. The organization grants wishes and provides programs across the country to children between the ages of 3 and 18 who are facing extraordinary challenges due to illness, hospitalization, homelessness, and abuse. Anyone can refer a child.
Kids Wish Network services include:
- Lifetime Wishes – grants customized wishes to children who are battling a life-threatening medical condition
- A Child Forever – comforts families devastated by the loss of a child by offering funeral assistance and ensuring a proper end-of-life ceremony
- Holiday of Hope – brings holiday happiness to children facing poverty, addiction, homelessness and life-altering situations
- Hero Wishes – helps brave kid-warriors who have survived tough and often tragic life circumstances
- Project Toy Drop – delivers gifts and laughter to at-risk youth and kids of American servicemen or women
Disability EmpowHer Network is a non-profit run by and for girls and women with disabilities that connects, motivates, and guides girls and women to learn and develop to their highest potential and have the confidence to lead. The group, based in Rochester, NY, focuses on building skills and community by connecting girls with disabilities with successful women with disabilities to serve as mentors and role models.
Resources and programs include:
- A stories blog
- EmpowHer Camp (a year-long program)
- Letter from a role model
- Get a Mentor
- EmpowHer Expressions, a public speaking and career coaching program
Find Treatment for Mental and Substance Use Disorders
FindTreatment.gov is a confidential and anonymous resource for people seeking treatment options anywhere in the United States. Information about paying for treatment and understanding addiction and mental health is also available. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality (CBHSQ) oversees the site.
FindTreatment.org also offers:
- The National Helpline at (800) 662-4357
- State substance use and mental health agency links and phone numbers
- Video tutorials for using the site
- Information about the Disaster Distress Helpline for counseling related to disasters
- Other treatment resources