February 23, 2016
February is a time when many exchange valentines or small gestures of care and kindness. Beyond February, however, the gifts of compassion and love are so vital and second nature, like the beating of our hearts, to the very fabric of our work at One Family Illinois. We are fortunate to have such great staff, corporate partners, and donors that value the love and encouragement we seek to provide to our youth on a daily basis.
Jeanette Rush, an One Family Illinois Professional Foster Parent, knows firsthand what this kind of nurturing and care looks like. Ms. Rush, like all of our Foster Parents, uprooted her life to provide unconditional love and acceptance to the children in her care. Her wisdom and experience as a seasoned Foster Parent is treasured, and her advice is humbling and full of insight for interested Foster Parents—and for us all.
Beyond the Villages, we are blessed to have great partnerships with organizations that believe in our mission and generously show us love and support time and time again. This month, our extended family at Swissôtel and LifeSource baked cookies with care and donated all sales, and H&M collected and auctioned books and music to support the brothers and sisters of One Family Illinois.
As we look to March, we celebrate another treasured partner, Wintrust Financial. They understand that not only do we want our youth to feel loved and safe; we want to instill in them hope about the possibilities for the future. That understanding is something that will be illustrated on a mural along the Kennedy Expressway starting in early March. We are grateful to Wintrust, and we are very proud to share this gift with Chicagoland.
For all of you who helped us support the dreams of the children at One Family Illinois this month, we thank you. And to all of you who would like to continue to be a champion for our youth, we have a simple and fast way for you to contribute from March 1 – March 31, 2016. Use the hashtag #OurHopeTheirDreams and take 30 seconds each day to be an One Family Illinois storyteller on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook. I hope you’ll join us spread the word about the very important work we do. You inspire us to do more and are pivotal to our success.