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Who we are
Mission statement To provide and mobilize the services needed to strengthen families and communities. |
For 150 years, Metropolitan Family Services has been at the heart of Chicago and its suburbs-encouraging family strengths and investing in a comprehensive range of programs and services that help families through difficult times. Each year, more than 55,000 families and individuals receive counseling and other supportive services and hundreds of thousands more benefit from Metropolitan's community development and social policy efforts.
Metropolitan Family Services has had a long and distinguished history. Founded in 1857 as the Chicago Relief and Aid Society, the agency assisted families when approximately one-fifth of the city's labor force was unemployed. Later, the agency played a major role in the rehabilitation of the city after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 by administering $10 million that poured in to aid the families of Chicago and re-establish the business community.
In 1886, the Chicago Relief & Aid Society merged with the Chicago Bureau of Charities, a consortium of agencies formed during the depression, to become United Charities of Chicago. Among its many accomplished efforts, United Charities gave leadership to the passage of the national Social Security Act and the development of the Community Fund of Chicago, now known as United Way/Crusade of Mercy.
In 1995, to better reflect the work of the organization and community it serves, United Charities changed its name to Metropolitan Family Services. Our mission remains largely the same as it was almost 150 years ago: to help Chicago-area families become strong, stable and self-sufficient.
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