CHILDREN'S MEMORIAL HOSPITAL
$1,000,000 over four years in support of an endowed directorship for Children's Services

Since the 1890s, Children's Memorial Hospital has cared for children. Today, the hospital serves nearly 100,000 children annually. It consistently ranks among the best pediatric hospitals in the nation, with 1,100 doctors in 70 pediatric specialties. The hospital is also one of the nation's premier centers for pediatric research.

An endowed directorship will provide interest income in perpetuity to support the hospital's exceptional programs of social and educational services for children and their families.

These services are primarily geared to helping reduce the stress that accompanies hospitalization. Child life specialists offer therapeutic play, support for parents and siblings, and family-friendly distractions from hospital life including special daily programming.

Education services help children keep up with their school work while hospitalized. Teachers and volunteers tutors are available at bedside or in a hospital classroom. Home tutoring is also provided to Chicago students whose chronic health problems cause them to regularly miss school.

Chicago boasts many fine institutions, and Children's Memorial Hospital is a stand-out among them, as a leader in care and service to children in need.

JEWISH FAMILY AND CHILD SERVICES
$100,000 to support mental and physical health services for infants, children and youth

For children diagnosed with autism, emotional and behavioral disorders, developmental delays and other debilitating problems - childhood itself can be a daunting challenge. For their parents, it is often a daily struggle to stay one step ahead of the overwhelming complexities of diagnosis and treatment.

Jewish Family and Children Services reaches out to these families – offering social, medical and educational assistance to children, and caring support and resources to their parents.

The agency operates a nationally recognized preschool for children with autism. In its therapeutic day school, students with behavior problems benefit from small classes and treatment services. A kindergarten for toddlers with developmental delays combines high quality child care with early intervention. A model health outreach program reaches at-risk teens with prevention services.

While the organization has evolved since 1859, its essential mission has stayed the same: to nurture and protect children, regardless of religion, race or ethnicity. With the recent merger of Jewish Children's Bureau and Jewish Family and Community Services, a stronger and more comprehensive network is now in place on behalf of Chicago's vulnerable children.

LAWNDALE CHRISTIAN HEALTH CENTER
$100,000 in support of mental and physical health services for infants, children and youth

Demographics that include high rates of poverty, unemployment, and minority ethnicity are fundamental indicators associated with poor health status and access to health care.

In other words, the health of a community defines the health of its residents.

The Lawndale Christian Health Center operates in one of Chicago's poorest and most medically underserved areas: North and South Lawndale and Garfield Park. This area also has some of the city's most alarming health statistics, including one of the highest rates of infant mortality, HIV/AIDS, diabetes and cancer.

The Center serves as a community resource for eliminating health disparities. Each year, it provides primary care services to 35,000 low income people who are mostly uninsured. One third of all patients are children.

Pediatric services include wellness care, immunizations, developmental screenings, lead poisoning intervention, teen health programs, and parent support. The Center operates the city's busiest school-based clinic at Farragut High School.

By offering extensive social services and other intervention programs, The Center's impact extends well beyond the exam room – helping address the myriad of health and non-health related issues that challenge distressed communities.

METROPOLIS 2020
$30,000 in support of the Early Childhood Education Initiative

High quality early childhood care and education ensure the future quality of the workforce by preparing children to be academically and socially successful. At the same time, these services provide parents with the flexibility and peace of mind they need to be successful members of the workforce today.

Through its Early Childhood Education Initiative, Metropolis 2020 has brought together a coalition of business leaders, elected officials and advocates to promote access to affordable and high quality childcare and education throughout the Chicago region and state.

This unified approach has produced impressive results, including three straight years of $30 million increases in state funding. The initiative is now creating an Early Childhood Asset Map, a demographic database that will further demonstrate the needs of Illinois families and better inform policy decision-makers. Use of this tool will also ensure effective use and fair distribution of funds.

Metropolis 2020 promotes long-term planning, better regional cooperation and smart investment in the Chicago region and its people. Early childhood education is one of five areas around which the organization rallies resources and community engagement.

THE OUNCE OF PREVENTION FUND
$1,000,000 over four years in support of the Educare Center

The complexities of child development often come down to a simple sobering fact: many children are not getting the best possible start in life. Where poverty outpaces opportunity, vulnerable children are being relegated to a game of "catch up" they cannot win.

Fortunately, the Ounce of Prevention Fund is leveling the playing field for the children of Grand Boulevard, one of Chicago's poorest communities. Now more than 160 infants, toddlers and their parents are receiving vital child care, early education, and family services at The Ounce of Prevention Fund's Educare Center.

In just five years, the Educare Center has become a model program and a catalyst for change - sparking national discussions about best practices in the field. The Ounce of Prevention Fund is now consulting with communities across the country to launch additional centers.

In addition to its intervention and support programs, The Ounce of Prevention Fund conducts highly respected research, trainings and policy analysis. Its influential voice can be heard in Springfield and the nation's capital as a leading advocate for young children.

RUSH UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER
$150,000 over three years in support of the school-based programs of the Rush Neurobehavioral Center

For children with neurobehavioral problems, navigating the world around them can be a daily struggle. They are often labeled as bad, lazy or unmotivated – and face daunting challenges in school.

They may have an attention deficit disorder or a language-based disability, such as dyslexia. They could be autistic or suffer from a mood disorder. Some children have problems with executive functions that regulate sequencing and working memory. As a result, they lack essential life skills such as organizational planning and time management.

Helping these children succeed academically is a major goal of the Rush Neurobehavioral Center's school-based program. This model initiative helps teachers and administrators work with impacted children to improve their executive function skills. The program reaches 1,500 children and their parents a year.

The Rush Neurobehavioral Center offers many other programs that serve the medical, psychological and education needs of children with brain-based learning and behavior problems. Twenty percent of all children in this country face neurobehavioral challenges. With appropriate diagnosis and treatment, they can achieve their potential - and look forward to productive adulthoods.

WOMEN'S BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER
$50,000 over two years in support of the Child Care Business Initiative

Being a successful entrepreneur requires vision. It also requires making an investment. For 20 years, The Women's Business Development Center has been investing in the lives of women – by investing in their entrepreneurial vision.

The Center assists approximately 3,000 women a year to launch new businesses or expand existing ones by offering training, resources, counseling, and loan packaging. Such services are undeniably relevant: More than 34 percent of Chicago area businesses are women-owned, and women of color own one in five of these businesses.

With economic development comes empowerment. Nowhere is this more evident than with the Center's Child Care Business Initiative, which assists women in low-income communities to establish or expand child care businesses. According to a recent DCFS publication, there is a gap of more than 240,000 in the number of licensed child care slots to the number of children under age five in Cook County.

The economic vitality of women and their communities is inextricably linked. The Initiative not only helps low income women to achieve self-sufficiency through business ownership – but provides a critical lynch-pin service in underserved communities: affordable, high quality child care.