Family and Caregiving Support Resources
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
For questions, please contact the Kids Wish Network at info@kidswishnetwork.org or (727) 789-0008.
Kids With Heart National Association for Children’s Heart Disorders, Inc.
Kids With Heart National Association for Children’s Heart Disorders, Inc. (Kids With Heart NACHD, Inc.) is a non-profit, volunteer-run organization that provides support, education and awareness for congenital heart defects. Its resources for families affected by congenital heart defects include surgical care packages, support groups and online support, an extensive library of books on congenital heart defects, and numerous awareness projects.
Kids With Heart NACHD, Inc. also offers:
- A parent matching service to connect with individuals dealing with CHD or those with the same defects
- A nationwide support database of local families and/or area support groups
- An online support group and Facebook group page for networking and discussion
- Bereavement services
To access the support services, visit the Membership Page on Kids With Heart NACHD, Inc.’s website. For other questions, please use the Kids With Heart NACHD, Inc. Contact Us page.
KidsWork Children’s Museum of New Lenox
KidsWork Children’s Museum of New Lenox encourages children of all abilities to be curious explorers, engaged learners, creative and critical thinkers, and thoughtful and kind individuals. Kids can have playful learning experiences that encourage gross-motor play, imaginative storytelling, creative projects, and investigative discovery across a range of developmental levels and interests. Sensory-friendly playtime is on the first and third Wednesdays of each month.
KidsWork Children’s Museum of New Lenox also offers a social story and other tools to help prepare for museum visits. For questions, contact the museum at (815) 469-1199 or info@kidswork.org.
Kumler Outreach Ministries provides help to neighbors who are struggling in the greater Springfield, Illinois area. Programs include a food pantry, medicine program, neighborhood gardens, free personal hygiene items, diapers and newborn items.
La Casa Norte serves youth and families confronting homelessness by providing access to stable housing and comprehensive services aimed at transforming lives. Programs include case management, health and nutrition community outreach, emergency shelters, drop-in centers for unaccompanied youth ages 16 to 24, and a variety of transitional, rapid and permanent supportive housing options. All housing placements (transitional, rapid and permanent) are made through Chicago’s Coordinated Entry System.
La Casa Norte uses a Housing First/Continuum of Care service model that is bilingual, trauma-informed, culturally competent and impactful.
For more information, call La Casa Norte at (773) 276.4900 or email info@lacasanorte.org.
La Rabida Children’s Advocacy Center
La Rabida Children’s Advocacy Center (LRCAC) provides a safe and child-friendly environment where children and adolescents can receive supportive services following allegations of sexual abuse, severe physical abuse, other forms of child maltreatment or exposure to violent crime.
The LRCAC’s mission is to reduce trauma and provide supportive services to children and families involved in investigations of child abuse and violent crime using a multidisciplinary team approach that combines efforts of law enforcement, child protection investigators, prosecutors, medical personnel and mental health providers.
LRCAC provides forensic interviewing, advocacy, and follow-up services at no cost to children and families living in the south suburbs of Cook County.
For questions, please call the LRCAC at (708) 481-9799. Call are taken Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.
The Lake County Housing Authority (LCHA) provides a variety of programs to help individuals, families and senior citizens afford decent, safe housing and achieve economic independence.
Please contact LCHA at (847) 223-1170 for more information about coverage area and program availability.
Lantern (Formerly Bright by Text)
Lantern (formerly Bright by Text) is a national nonprofit dedicated to providing families with essential information for raising kids, from pregnancy through the preteen years. Lantern offers a free text messaging service that delivers high-quality information to families to help them foster a child’s healthy growth, based on their exact age and developmental stage.
The age-based messages have been created in collaboration with experts in the child development field and include speech and language skills, social-emotional development, tips, conversation starters, learning games and activities, and much more.
Families can sign up using the form on the Lantern website. Text messages are customized by the child’s due date or age and zip code.
A roundup of helpful information, including funding, education, housing, immigration, food and more for the Latino community.
Latino Resources Institute in Chicago
The Latino Resource Institute of Illinois (LRII) provides case management, advocacy, community outreach, counseling and other services to individuals and families in the south side of Chicago and suburban Cook County. LRII also offers:
- Coaching and mentoring
- Work readiness, life skills/empowerment training
- Court advocacy
For questions, please visit LRII contact page or call (773) 356 – 5923.