April is Child Abuse Prevention Month!
To help spread awareness, One Hope United’s director of programs – home visiting, Adrienne Patterson-Green, spoke with Susan Wiencek, the host of podcast Mix Matters with WTMX 101.9 The Mix, to discuss the signs of child abuse and how to report these abuses.
Take a listen to learn about different signs of abuse for different age groups, hotlines to call, and the Go Blue campaign OHU has organized for the whole month of April.
OHU’s President and CEO, Scott Humphrey, was recently featured by The North Shore Weekend East. In the article, he discusses his transition from the banking world to a non-profit. “I’m living a diff erent life now, at an entirely different pace, and I’m not traveling as much. It’s been great. It’s phenomenal, getting to work with the passionate people at One Hope United. They are all committed to doing good things for children and their families, to help others disrupt the cycle of poverty”, he shared. He also touches on OHU’s upcoming fundraising gala, Hope in Action 2017 and answers the question, “What do you find rewarding as president and CEO of One Hope United?”
Click here to read the full article.
Thank you to all who supported One Hope United on Giving Tuesday. It was because of you that we raised $12,770 in only 24 hours, surpassing our matching goal!
Your generosity is what makes it possible for us to continue providing the best services and programs for thousands of children and families each day. Though the 24 hours of Giving Tuesday have ended, your impact doesn’t have to stop there. There are still plenty of ways for you to join OHU in making a difference on any day of the week.
Be sure to check out our new Wishbook for the opportunity to directly impact the children and families we serve by providing specific services and tools that impact their lives.
Are you interested in exploring volunteer opportunites or even visiting a site? If so, feel free to respond to this email for more information. In the meantime, you can keep up with OHU daily on Facebook and Twitter!
Thank you!
At the beginning of the month, 63 team members from Ultimate Software visited our Bridgeport I and II Child Development Centers. They thoroughly enjoyed spending time at our centers and noted that one of their favorite parts of the trip was bringing out tricycles so that the children could ride around the gym. The team even set up cones and created an obstacle course for them to try out.
The Ultimate Software team had such a memorable experience at our centers, that they generously made a $1,000 donation. One Hope United currently utilizes the company’s HR system, UltiPro. It has been wonderful to see our partnership go beyond just using their technology solution.
Thank you Ultimate Software!
On Saturday, October 22nd, the One Hope United Auxiliary Board hosted the sixth annual Oktoberfest for Hope at The Underground in Chicago. Once again, the Auxiliary Board was very excited to bring people together in support of OHU. This fantastic event raised over $19,000 for our Joliet Early Learning Center (and on the same day, the Chicago Cubs won Game 6)!
Meet Adrienne Patterson-Green, an OHU director who shows great dedication and passion for our mission!
OHU: What is your job title & how long have you been an employee at OHU?
APG: Director of Programs, Home Visiting. I have been employed with One Hope United for 13 years.
OHU: What sparked your interest in this career field?
APG: I was a recent college graduate and I was unable to find employment in my field. A friend started working at a social services agency and told me that I should apply to be a case manager in their foster care department. I immediately fell in love with the job and discovered a passion for helping families and children.
OHU: Why are your programs so important?
APG: Teen parents are the most vulnerable and at a higher risk to abuse or neglect their children due to their inexperience at being a parent. Home visiting programs provide young parents with the support, encouragement, and role modeling needed to help them become more successful. In addition, home visiting helps prepare children to become more successful when they enter school, as we provide important kindergarten readiness skill building activities during home visiting. Home visitors are able to provide concrete support to families by connecting them with community resources, which is important for families who are in need and don’t know where to search for help. Research shows that home visitors provide more than just supporting mothers regarding parenting-related issues; we are now being trained to address healthy relationships (domestic violence) and post-natal depression, and to identify parents who may be struggling with addiction prenatally (alcohol/drug). It is believed that, through the trusting relationships that home visitors establish with parents through consistent home visits, parents are more likely to divulge information about their struggles that they might not be comfortable admitting to others.
OHU: What has been your most memorable moment in your role?
APG: I enjoy when home visitors share success stories about their clients’ progress while in our programs. Whether it be finding housing, having the courage to leave an abusive relationship, graduating from high school, or finding employment for the first time, their successes make me feel like I am doing the right thing at the right time in my life. In addition, I love chaperoning field trips for our teen parents in the Wings program. Being a part of creating positive memories for these families is an indescribable feeling for me.
Check out our last Staff Spotlight featuring Kevin Greer, Director of Training & Development, HERE.
One Hope United’s recent Employee Appreciation Week was a huge hit!
Our employees work very hard every single day to support the mission and vision of our organization. Therefore, we wanted to take time to recognize all that they do by hosting an Employee Appreciation Week dedicated to showing our appreciation. This was a week for our staff to have fun and pat themselves on the back because they truly deserve it.
The 2nd Annual One Hope United Science Fair was held on Friday, March 26, 2016 at the Day School on the Lake Villa Campus. Several OHU Board members and local community partners and donors toured the fair. The young men of the Day School were very excited to demonstrate their projects and explain what they had learned from their experiences. Projects included experiments displaying which fast food hamburger molds the fastest, magnetism, forming a vortex in a vacuum with dry ice and many others. One of the young men even went as far as to dress as Albert Einstein to explain his experiment!
Grass Lake Elementary School in Antioch, Illinois will be fundraising for OHU using Crayon Coin Banks during the month of April! Would your child’s school be interested in getting involved with our Go Blue 4 OHU campaign in April, Child Abuse Prevention Month?
Contact Marilee LaMattina at mlamattina@onehopeunited.org for more details!
One Hope United recently received a $10,000 grant from the Cardinal Health Foundation through its Essential to Wellness Grant Program.
The grant benefits One Hope United’s Wings/Healthy Families Illinois program, which supports “high-risk” teen, single and other parents in Lake County who have not yet abused their children but feel overwhelmed and need support, encouragement and relief.
“The Cardinal Health Foundation’s generous grant supports our mission to strengthen families and protect children,” said Mark McHugh, executive director of One Hope United. “We would not be able to offer these services without the support of organizations such as Cardinal Health.”
According to 2011 data, the number of abused children has increased due to parental poverty and related stress. Wings/Healthy Families Illinois assigns case managers to work with families using multiple interventions, including parental education about healthy growth and development. The grant will assist residents of Gurnee, North Chicago, Park City, Round Lake, Waukegan and Zion, Ill.
The Cardinal Health Foundation’s funding of this evidence-based, child abuse prevention program spotlights its commitment to the community by helping at-risk children, youth and families.
About One Hope United: One Hope United is a private human service organization dedicated to protecting children and strengthening families, offering an array of prevention, intervention and community-based programs. The nonprofit also specializes in child welfare system management, reform, consultation and training. With offices in Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri and Florida, One Hope United impacts than 42,000 children and their families nationwide each year. For information, visit www.onehopeunited.wpengine.com.
To learn more about the Cardinal Health Foundation and the Essential to Wellness Grant Program, visit www.cardinalhealth.com/community.
