Check below to learn and read about some of our partner agencies…

2009
April

We are proud to present our newest highlighted agency:

World Relief DuPage

World Relief is a not-for-profit agency that works with local churches, hundreds of individuals, and community groups to offer a comprehensive range of services to refugees and immigrants living in DuPage County. Each year World Relief helps more than 7,000 clients, 90% of whom are low income. World Relief focuses on helping clients who, because of language or income barriers, cannot yet be served by other area agencies.

We thank Hayley Meksi, Executive Director of World Relief DuPage, for taking the time to answer some of our questions.

1. How do your programs help clients improve their lives and make lasting changes?

Our most intensive service provisions are in Refugee Resettlement. The primary focus of this program is to assist refugees, who have fled war, torture, and persecution, to resettle in the United States with U.S. government approval. Our model of service is to link newly arriving refugees with community volunteers and churches to assist them in the process of adjusting to their new life. Other programs include:

• Refugee Services which support refugees in specific ways as they transition to independence in the U.S.
• Citizenship and Immigrant Legal Services which help more than 4,000 eligible area residents. Immigration Counseling and Citizenship Outreach and Application Preparation are conducted through World Relief’s Wheaton location as well as in local churches.
• Volunteer and Church Mobilization Services which help to link refugee and immigrants served by World Relief to local churches and volunteers to facilitate life changing relationships.
• Education Services provided by World Relief which help refugees and immigrants become self sufficient.

2. How has United Way of the DuPage Area helped your agency fulfill its mission?

World Relief DuPage is immensely grateful for its partnership with United Way and the resources that it provides to newly arrived refugee and immigrant families. One of the programs supported by United Way is our Youth Services program. The goal of this program is to provide opportunities for refugee students to learn, grow, and thrive in their new communities. Through funding from United Way, we are able to provide 5 after-school clubs to newly arrived refugee students. These clubs represent a beautiful example of how we are able to live out our mission by providing quality services to students and engaging the community to enter into this work with us.

3. What’s the most interesting aspect of your job?

The most interesting part is hearing stories of refugees and immigrants being welcomed into and cared for by their new communities. These stories of lives being changed, both of the immigrants and their neighbors in DuPage County, are reflective of the reciprocal relationships that we at World Relief are honored to be a part of. DuPage County is celebrating its 30th year of welcoming refugees – and this is work that originated in local churches. WR has been privileged to come alongside churches and others in the community to help equip them and provide additional much-needed support to our newest residents.

4. What can members of our community looking to GIVE, ADVOCATE, and VOLUNTEER do for your agency?

Donate Your Resources
• Financial: All gifts to World Relief are sincerely appreciated
• Used furniture: Each newly-arrived refugee family is provided with a basic home set-up from our warehouse of donated furniture.
• Used cars: We accept cars in any condition.

Donate Your Voice
To receive World Relief’s bi-monthly Advocacy Update which includes ways in which you can advocate for and speak up on behalf of the under-resourced and marginalized, please email Jenny Hwang at jhwang@wr.org.

Donate Your Time
World Relief provides many one-time and ongoing volunteer opportunities for you to plug in to. To hear more about our opportunities, please contact Jenna Liao at (630) 462-7566 x46 or at jliao@wr.org.

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2008
December

 We are proud to present this month’s highlighted Agency:

Access DuPage

Access DuPage is a collaborative effort by thousands of local individuals and hundreds of DuPage County organizations to provide access to medical services to the county’s low income, medically uninsured residents. Access DuPage is supported and sustained by a unique partnership of hospitals, physicians, local government, human service agencies, community funders and community groups working together to address the local impact of a national health care crisis.

Access DuPage Staff

Kara Murphy, Managing Director of Access DuPage (middle row, second from the right in the photo above) was kind of enough to answer some of our questions.

1. How do your programs help clients improve their lives and make lasting changes?

The truth is that no one can afford to be uninsured, but the consequences of a lack of healthcare are particularly devastating to our low income neighbors abilities to live and work. For the individuals who meet our guidelines and enroll in Access DuPage, their program enrollment means that they have access to a wide range of health care services. They have access to basic primary care services through a local volunteer provider with whom they can receive ongoing medical treatment. Enrollees also have access to diagnostic services, medication, specialty care, and hospital based services. Medical treatment is provided at a low or no cost basis, with patients paying small copays that represent a fraction of the cost of their treatment.

2. How has United Way of the DuPage Area helped your agency fulfill its mission?

United Way funding is vital to Access DuPage’s ability to coordinate health care services for our patients. Current Access DuPage enrollment exceeds 7,500, and more than 10,000 patients will be treated through Access DuPage this year. Each month brings a new record high volume, and in these difficult financial times, it is our wish and commitment to continue to enroll any and all eligible applicants. Our costs per patients are drastically lower than the cost of traditional health insurance ($403.08 per pt in FY 08 vs. $4,479 average cost of employer sponsored individual health insurance in 2007). Nonetheless, every United Way dollar that Access DuPage receives ensures that we are able to continue to provide our patients with the services they need.

3. What’s the most interesting aspect of your job?

There are so many parts of my work that I find fascinating. Our patients are incredibly diverse–gracious and typically resilient in the face of challenges that most of us would find unbelievably daunting. Working in healthcare ensures that no day is ever dull, because the human body is such a complex instrument, and medical science continues to amaze me. But mostly I am humbled by the way that our community has embraced Access DuPage and the patients that we serve. Every day I talk to providers and application agents whose efforts make this program possible, and they participate because they believe that their individual efforts have the power to affect real difference in people’s lives. And they are absolutely right.

4. What can members of our community looking to GIVE, ADVOCATE, and VOLUNTEER do for your agency?

If folks want to get involved in Access DuPage’s mission, we would certainly welcome their support. We recently moved to a new office, and for the first time we have space to accommodate volunteers in our administrative offices. We could really use the assistance. In terms of advocating, I would encourage folks to speak to their personal health care providers about Access DuPage, and encourage them to participate in whatever way they can. And for individuals who may not have medical skills to volunteer, or time to serve directly, please know that even modest donations of funding support are enormously beneficial. Since every dollar of direct funding is matched by ten dollars of donated services, you can also be confident that funds provided to Access DuPage (through United Way Giving) have amplified power to change our patient’s health. Thank you so much for your support!

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October

We are proud to present our first highlighted agency:

Bridge Communities

Bridge Communities has been helping homeless families move from homelessness, financial instability and limited employment to financial self-sufficiency and permanent housing since 1988. Homelessness in DuPage County is a hidden epidemic. There are an estimated 48,000 homeless people in DuPage County, the majority of who are children. The average age of a Bridge Communities client is 8 years old.

The two-year Bridge Communities Transitional Housing program provides each family with safe and affordable housing, case management, life skills mentoring, transportation, job readiness and training, and after school tutoring in order to achieve lifelong self-sufficiency. All of this is accomplished through partnerships with more than 40 faith-based and community service groups located throughout DuPage County.

“Our dream has always been to provide quality, affordable housing for families who want to raise their families in the communities where we have lived and raised our families. Our mission is to create this dream, one family a time.” Co-founders: Mark Milligan and Bob Wahlgren.

Joyce Hothan, Executive Director of Bridge Communities

1. How do your programs help clients improve their lives and make lasting changes?

Bridge Communities is a transitional housing program that works. Comprehensive surveys, conducted after completion of our 2-year program, show that Bridge clients develop the knowledge and skills necessary to live self-sufficiently. Our clients are able to maintain permanent, stable housing and employment; they have stabilized or decreased their debt and improved their education level.

Our most recent statistics show:

-97% of it clients who completed the program were able to maintain permanent, stable housing
-91% were able to maintain stable employment
-78% have not increased their level of debt since exiting the program
-40% received additional job training or education since exiting the program

2. How has United Way of the DuPage Area helped your agency fulfill its mission?

Bridge Communities is thankful for the collaboration and resources that United Way of DuPage Area has provided to our organization and in turn to the families we serve.

Bridge Communities has always prided ourselves on working uniquely with other community organizations to solve the problem of homelessness and we value the collaborative expectations from the United Way of DuPage Area. Our agency is stronger because of these expectations and efforts.

Funding provided by the United Way of DuPage Area has helped provide housing, employment services, tutoring for adults and children, life-skills mentoring, donated automobiles and financial planning for our families.

3. What’s the most interesting aspect of your job?

My work as Executive Director of Bridge Communities is motivated by the wonderful transformations that happen with our homeless families each and every day. Once a homeless family is able to have secure housing, the process of rebuilding their lives can happen. I am so privileged to be part of creating a climate of change that can take hold through mentoring, additional training or education, job placement which can then lead to better paying jobs and long term financial security.

I also love the partnerships we are able to forge with employers, school districts, faith communities, social service and academic institutions, as well as with The United Way DuPage Area to solve the problem of homelessness - one family at a time. Can you tell I love my job?

4. What can members of our community looking to GIVE, ADVOCATE, and VOLUNTEER do to benefit Bridge Communities?

There are many ways to help Bridge. You can donate money directly to Bridge through our website at www.bridgecommunities.org.

Another great way to support us is through Sleep Out Saturday. You can create your own sleep out group or you can join a group who is sleeping out on November 1st. This is a great event for youth groups and families. Some groups sleep out in backyards or in their cars.

There are many other Bridge events during the course of the year, all of which are detailed on the website.

Pictures of Bridge Communities client and mentor working together.

Megan and Mary

Megan, Mary and Jacq