Community Improvement Project
Every year NJWC selects an organization to be one of our three 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 currently accepting applications for a new CIP partnership. If you are interested, please read and complete the following application. The application must be received no later than August 10. 2008 to be considered.

2008 CIP Application
(Adobe Reader required to view the application)

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 three CIP organizations: Humanitarian Service Project, Families Helping Families, and Teen Parent Connection. Information on each organization is listed below.

Humanitarian Service Project

Mission
It is the mission of the Humanitarian Service Project to alleviate the pain and suffering that poverty brings to needy seniors and children living in DuPage and Kane Counties, IL without distinction of gender, race, creed, caste, or color.

General Information
The Humanitarian Service Project (HSP) started in Karole Kettering's back bedroom in 1979 with the purpose of helping needy families during the Christmas season in the DuPage County area by providing them with an abundance of groceries and gifts. The Christmas Offering still continues today providing 90-95 impoverished families with 4 weeks of groceries, frozen meats, fresh produce and gifts for all the children. In 2005, they distributed 19 tons of food and 7 tons of Christmas gifts.

Programs/Services
The Senior Citizen Project grew out of that initial effort in 1982 as a commitment was made to help those in need all year long.  This project focuses on helping the many needy senior citizens living in DuPage and Kane Counties, IL.  The Senior Citizen Project delivers over 80 pounds of nutritious food, which includes: fresh produce, frozen meat, fresh bread, and five bags of non-perishable food. They also receive household products, personal care items, and special gifts from their Secret Pal. All of these items are delivered right to the homes of needy seniors each month at no cost to them. 

The Children's Birthday Project was started in 1992 to reach the youngest poor in the surrounding communities to help make a needy child's birthday a truly memorable occasion.  Each child receives a package sent to their home in time for their birthday, which includes: four new toys, four new books, one new game, party supplies, school supplies, stuffed animals, and other filler gifts such as yo-yo's, playing cards, matchbox cars, and bubble solution.  At Christmas, these children also receive gifts from their very own wish-list sent to them.

Feed the Kids started in Summer 2004 to provide impoverished families in the area with a grocery delivery during the months of June, July & August. Each family receives between 140 and 360 pounds of food each month, depending on the size of the family. Included in the deliveries are non-perishable food, fresh produce, fresh bread, meat, and dairy products.

HSP Contact Information
The Humanitarian Service Project is an Illinois not-for-profit Corp.
465 Randy Rd., Carol Stream, IL 60188
phone: 630-221-8340
email: hsp@humanitarianservice.org
www.humanitarianservice.org

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

Teen Parent Connection

Mission
The Mission of Teen Parent Connection is to serve the community through education on the realities and responsibilities of teenage pregnancy and through long-term assistance to adolescent parents for their development of self-esteem, parenting skills, and empowerment towards self-sufficiency.

General Information
Jeanne Altendorf-Mclennan, a registered nurse who worked with teenage parents at Hinsdale Hospital, discovered MYM{(Minnesota Early Learning Design) Young Mothers} on a trip to Minneapolis in 1983. Upon returning to Hinsdale, she called a meeting of other individuals and agencies in the greater DuPage area to present this program. Joined early on by Juanita Francis and Barbara Dwyer, the three began a community needs assessment, the formation of a planning board of directors, and sought 501(c)(3) status. In July 1985, Teen Parent Connection, formerly Great DuPage MYM, opened the first group for teen moms at Addison United Presbyterian Church with the purpose of providing adolescent parents with parenting education, support, and resources to improve the outcomes for both the young parent and the child. Other "founding mothers" included Barbara Miklos, a social worker at Hinsdale South High School and Kay Cushman, pastor of Addison United Presbyterian.

More than 20 years later, the organization has expanded beyond the originally utilized MELD (Minneapolis) group model to a program that now includes four options for young parents and is affiliated with Healthy Families America to provide an intensive home visitation program. Through these initiatives, Teen Parent Connection provides a continuum of comprehensive services designed to assist young parents in navigating both parenthood and adolescence. In fact, Teen Parent Connection is the only nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization in DuPage County providing comprehensive programs and services related to teenage pregnancy and parenting. In addition to parenting services, young parent participants are offered the opportunity to train as peer educators to deliver a strong pregnancy prevention message through prevention education programming offered to middle schools and high schools in DuPage and areas of Kane, Will, and Cook counties.

Teen Parent Connection has provided parenting support services for nearly 4,000 adolescent parents since 1985. In the most recent program year, nearly 400 adolescent parents (ages 13-25), and additionally their children, were served through our Group, Healthy Families DuPage home visitation and the doula programs. More than 11,000 middle school and high school students heard the prevention message.

Programs/Services
Healthy Families DuPage is a program that consists of intensive, individualized home visit services for young parents. These visits provide information on: stress management, child development, family health, and discipline. Specially designed programs help teens adjust to their new roles as parents.

Group Services offers weekly group meetings allow young parents to find commonality, strength, and encouragement to help them meet the demands of parenthood. Teen Parent Connection uses a variety of curriculum and resources tailored to meet the needs of young parents.

Doula Services offers an experienced woman who supports and nurtures other women throughout their pregnancy, labor and delivery, and immediate post-partum. A doula provides emotional support, information and instruction, and physical comfort measures while serving as an advocate for the childbearing woman before, during, and just after birth.

Teen Parent Connection Prevention Programs: Peer Prevention Program, Adolescents with Awareness Resources and Education (AWARE), and Family Planning Education.

The Parents' Pantry is a where Teen Parent Connection participants can shop for baby and personal items. You can earn "Baby Bucks" by attending Teen Parent Connection meetings, keeping up with your child's immunizations, and finishing school. You can then "spend" them in the Pantry in exchange for wipes, diapers, formula, and personal hygiene products.

Teen Parent Connection Contact Information
Teen Parent Connection
739 Roosevelt Road, Bldg 8, Glen Ellyn, IL 60137
www.teenparentconnection.org