This year we celebrated graduations, alumni successes, fundraising events, and much more! We are so grateful for all the support we have received this year and are looking forward to another great year of supporting children, youth, and families across Illinois and Florida.
In January, we celebrated the New Year with Edward Jones’s Family Dinners at our Early Learning and Child Development Centers. With their help, we served over 1,300 meals to children and their families!
In February, we highlighted new families with adoption stories, including the story of Laura and Ivy. After 3 years in the foster care system, Ivy now has a forever home with Laura.
In March, we honored Women’s History Month with crafts at our Early Learning Centers. The children learned about important women in history, highlighting leaders, artists, innovators, and more.
In April, we opened Hope Center Pilsen, a new and innovative office space for our clinical services, foster care and adoption, and family preservation teams in Chicago.
In May, we celebrated Foster Care Awareness month, including Faith and Kenny’s journey to fostering and how they continue to open their home to youth and children.
In June, we hosted our annual Thriving Together Luncheon, which helped us raise over $220,000 for Hope Houses, helping us take more youth from surviving to thriving.
In July, we opened our first Hope House in Illinois at Hope House Rockford! Hope House Rockford is a place for foster teens ages 13–17 to have a place to call home in a family-oriented community.
In August, we opened our Hope Center Kankakee, where our Intensive Placement Stabilization (IPS) teams will serve youth and families in care and provide support and psychoeducation.
In September, we hosted our 34th Annual Charity Golf Outing! Together, we raised an amazing $227,818, fueling our Busy Bee Children’s Center in Waukegan to provide high-quality early learning to even more children and families across Lake County.
In October, we celebrated 130 years of OHU on October 8! As we celebrate 130 years of impact, we can’t wait to continue this legacy of hope for the next 130 and beyond.
In November, we honored National Adoption Month, sharing Joyesa’s story. What started as a call for help from a family member quickly became a commitment to being her forever family.
In December, we opened Hope House Riverview in Florida and hosted our 1st Annual Holiday Hope Brunch! We raised over $130,000 to support Hope Houses—safe, stable, family-like homes for teenagers in the child welfare system.
Thanks for a great year—we can’t wait to see what 2026 has in store!