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Community
Improvement Project
Every year NJWC selects an organization to be one of our Community Improvement Partners (CIP) who receive a set dollar amount over a designated timeframe. In addition, we work closely with each of our CIPs to identify hands on projects in which the club members can actively participate.We are not accepting applications for Community Improvement Projects (CIP) until Spring 2010.
Philanthropy Donation Recipients
We are not accepting applications for philanthopic donation requests at this time.
Current CIP Partners
General Information
NJWC curently has partnerships with two CIP organizations: Families Helping Families and Kids Matter (WINGS). Information on each organization is listed below.
Families Helping Families
Mission
Families Helping Families is a grass roots neighborhood organization started by a Naperville mom in 1994, with the sole focus of helping families in DuPage County. FHF provides apartments and supportive services to homeless families while they are working to reclaim their lives.
General Information
FHF's adopted families are usually homeless mothers and their children who have been victims of domestic violence or poverty. These are mothers who are struggling to provide housing, food, and even clothing for their children - women who want to become self-sufficient but lack the financial means to pay for rent and the education to obtain the kind of jobs that will allow them to provide for their families. While the circumstances surrounding their housing crises differ, there is one universal truth - they are deeply concerned about their children and truly believe that, with assistance, they can provide a better life for them. Families Helping Families provides housing, mentoring, and supportive services with the end goal being self-sufficiency and overcoming the vicious cycle of several generations of abuse and poverty.Only families they are drug free and have removed themselves from their domestic violence situation are eligible for our services. They are screened by licensed social workers from Bridge Communities, Inc. a 501(c)(3) that serves as FHF's umbrella organization. Each mom signs a contract, renewable every 3 months, with Families Helping Families, agreeing to adhere to the rules of our program. Goals are reviewed and revised quarterly as well. The average stay in our program is 2 years.Our FHF families live in apartments in DuPage County that our program provides. We gather gently used furniture, bedding, and kitchen items - all the tools needed to start a new life. Then, the real work begins - helping a family move from homelessness to self-sufficiency.
Programs/Services
Each family works with two FHF volunteer mentors, as well as a professional case manager. The mentors, who have completed a training program preparing them for the challenge, meet with their clients weekly. They help each mom enroll in college or trade school or ESL or GED classes. Mentors work with clients to establish budgets and repay debt. They work with the local schools in order to advocate for the client's children. Most importantly, the mentors provide guidance, encouragement, and emotional support. Local dentists, attorneys, CPAs, car repair shops, etc provide their services to our clients free of charge.
FHF Contact
Information
Families Helping Families
825 Lyndhurst Ct., Naperville, IL 60563
email: VMJ@hotmail.com
www.famhelpingfam.org
KidsMatter (WINGS)
Mission
KidsMatter is a proactive not-for-profit organization whose mission is to empower youth and families with tools to effectively manage the stressors of everyday life through programming, eduction, and collaboration. KidsMatter works hard to prevent problems from happening in kids' lives by providing them with experiences, relationship, opportunities, and values they need to succeed. Our education and programming is based on powerful research that's proven by Search Institute. This research conclusively shows that the more Developmental Assets young people have in their lives, the less likely they are to take part in at-risk behaviors and the more likely they are to exhibit thriving behaviors.
WINGS stands for Women Involved in Girls' Success and is overseen by coordinator Karen Brothers. She works closely with NCO Youth & Family Services to find girls who are a good fit for the program.
KidsMatter (WINGS) Contact
Information
KidsMatter
PO Box 662
Naperville, IL 60566
630-527-6562
www.kidsmatter2us.org
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