Medical/Health and Wellness Resources
Services, Inc. (CFC #15) Early Learning
Service, Inc. of Illinois is dedicated to helping people with developmental delays and disabilities find the services and supports they need to live a better life. Programs and offices are organized by county.
Child and Family Connections #15 serves children ages birth to 3 with disabilities and their families residing in Will, Grundy, Kankakee, and LaSalle Counties.
For information on how to make a referral, please call the CFC referral coordinator at (815) 768-3730.
Families can also visit Service, Inc.’s Frequently Asked Questions page for more information and more details for requesting help anywhere in Illinois.
Sesame Street in Communities is an online community that provides multimedia tools in both English and Spanish for parents, caregivers and providers to support children from birth to age 6.
The site covers a wide range of topics including school readiness, healthy minds and bodies, emergency planning and tough issues such as divorce, hunger and other traumatic experiences. It features videos, activities, printables and digital interactives fearing Sesame Street characters.
Share Our Spare collects new and gently-used items for children ages 0-5 and donates them to low-income families living in Metropolitan Chicago. Items are not available directly: instead, Share our Spare reaches families in need by partnering with local social services organizations that provide their clients with needed social services such as parenting classes, early childhood education, housing referrals, job readiness training, and behavioral health services.
Share Our Spare partners with social service agencies representing 120 zip codes in the following counties: Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, McLean, Will and Winnebago.
The Shirley Ryan AbilityLab is a nonprofit hospital providing patient care, a research community focused on physical medicine and rehabilitation, clinical trials and a wide range of resources to help with caregiving, adapting and accessibility. Based in Chicago, the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab provides help with pediatric and adolescent rehabilitation, spinal cord injuries, brain injury recovery, limb loss and impairment, stroke and more.
Shirley Ryan Abilitylab’s Henry B. Betts, MD, Learning, Innovation, Family and Empowerment (LIFE) Center also offers resources to help empower people living with chronic, cognitive and physical impairments and diseases affecting function. Resource topics include:
- Caregiving and equipment
- Housing and transportation
- Inspiration and hope
- Support and wellness
- Recreation and leisure
- Medical information and care
- Education and employment
For questions, visit the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab Contact Us page for contact information.
Shriner’s Hospitals for Children
Shriners Hospitals for Children provides pediatric specialty care to children with neuromusculoskeletal conditions, burn injuries, and other special healthcare needs within a compassionate, family-centered and collaborative care environment.
As a nonprofit healthcare system, Shriners Children’s aims to ensure treatment is available to all families, regardless of their ability to pay or insurance status.
Sibling Grief and Bereavement Toolkit for Children and Teens
The Pediatric Palliative Care Coalition’s (PPCC) Sibling Grief and Bereavement Toolkit aims to address the needs and concerns of children and teens who have experienced the death of their sibling with medical complexities. The toolkit provides information to help adults understand how children and teens may process their grief and how to provide comfort to help them heal.
The toolkit can help with:
- The many feelings siblings might experience
- Therapeutic activities families can do together
- More resources for encouraging and guiding conversations
Sickle Cell Disease Association of Illinois
The Sickle Cell Disease Association of Illinois provides resources, education and support for individuals with sickle cell disease (SCD) and their caregivers. Its website includes information about:
- Current SCD treatment options
- Virtual monthly support groups on Zoom
- GroupMe app support groups (the app is for use on cell phones or computers)
- SCD testing and newborn screening
- Scholarships and camp opportunities
- Events
For questions, please contact the Sickle Cell Disease Association of Illinois at (773) 526-5016 or sicklecelldisease-illinois@scdai.org.
Signed By Stories aims to raise mental health awareness, advocacy, education and support for individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, deaf-blind, late-deafened and deaf-disabled through storytelling.
Signed By Stories is working to create a community where deaf and hard-of-hearing people can:
- Join together and share their mental health stories
- Receive validation for their experiences
- Learn how to better support their own and the larger community’s mental health needs
- Have a platform where both deaf and hearing people have the knowledge, tools and feel empowered to take action to improve the current state of mental health care for deaf people
SIU School of Dental Medicine Special Needs Patient Care Clinic in Alton
The Southern Illinois University (SIU Edwardsville) School of Dental Medicine offers comprehensive dental care for patients with physical, intellectual, and emotional disabilities and other special healthcare needs. Children and adults in central and southern Illinois with special needs can receive dental care at their Special Needs Patient Care Clinic in Alton.
Dental services are available at a reduced cost. The clinic accepts Medicaid and most dental insurance plans.
For questions or to become a patient at the SIU School of Dental Medicine, please call (618) 474-7000.
SkyHope Patient Airlift Services
SkyHope Patient Airlift Services (PALS) is a nonprofit that arranges free flights with volunteer pilots to help families and individuals needing access to critical medical care, diagnosis, rehabilitation services or follow-up care. It also arranges flights for family members to ensure patients have support during long-term medical or rehabilitation services. The SkyHope network of volunteer pilots provides free regional medical flights and receives no compensation. SkyHope does not provide any ground transportation.
Visit SkyHope’s website to see frequently asked questions and to request a flight.