Blog
In his keynote remarks at the Metropolitan Peace Academy’s Cohort Two Graduation, Chico Tillmon, YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago’s Executive Director of Youth Safety and Violence Prevention, emphasized his message of thanks above all else.
The “Austin” family lives in West Chicago. Both parents work full time to support their three active children, two elementary-aged boys and a baby sister, and the whole family participates in counseling through Metropolitan DuPage’s WeGo Together For Kids program.
“A lot of people do a lot of posturing,” says Sunni Powell, a barber who partners with Metropolitan’s Gerst Family Young Fathers Program. “[Young Fathers] is the only program that actually offers what these kids need.”
Metropolitan CEO, Ric Estrada, spoke about Communities Partnering 4 Peace and its efforts in violence prevention at Leadership Greater Chicago’s Cities Striving for Peace event.
A group of young artists from our DuPage Center’s Early Childhood Collaborative schools are now part of an art gallery, thanks to the DuPage Children’s Museum!
The Living Room, a safe, non-judgmental space at Metropolitan’s Southwest Chicago Center, provides a non-clinical alternative to the emergency room for guests experiencing a mental health crisis.
Welcome to Good News! In this space we feature positive stories of community impact and development, relevant to the areas Metropolitan serves or the programs we offer.
We’re refreshing the look of our North, Southeast Chicago, and Southwest Centers! First up: Metropolitan Family Services North.
Kyle Harvey, Broker Associate at Baird & Warner, currently serves as Chair of the Legal Aid Society (LAS) Board of Directors. Read about Kyle’s work with LAS, in her own words.
Hundreds of our families across Chicagoland received holiday meals this season, thanks to the generosity of MillerCoors. Volunteers from MillerCoors and its partner organizations packed the food into bags to donate to families at our North, Calumet, and DuPage Centers.
Recently North Children’s Center and Midway Children’s Center hosted a Male Superhero photo shoot … and the response was amazing!
The spirit of the season was alive and well at our Midway Learning & Wellness Center’s Holiday Party, where children and families enjoyed games, food, and fun! Each child received their very own holiday gift, courtesy of Metropolitan board member Merle Cohen.
At our Midway Center’s Holiday Luncheon, staff came together with board members, community partners, and friends of the Center to celebrate the holidays and this year’s successes in empowering children and families.
The common denominator: father engagement across Metropolitan.
The DuPage Family Service League, a group of women whose support of our DuPage Center spans decades, hosted its annual “Jingle and Mingle” Holiday Dinner & Auction to benefit Metropolitan DuPage recently at the Red Oak Room at Cantigny Golf Club.
Our DuPage Community Board enjoyed a sweet evening out at Downtown Glen Ellyn’s Holiday Treats event in support of Metropolitan DuPage!
These members of our Calumet Center’s youth leadership program organized and distributed food recently as part of a partnership with Chicago Housing Authority, Urban Institute, and the Greater Chicago Food Depository.
At Metropolitan Southeast Chicago’s recent Holiday Luncheon, the Community Board gathered with staff and partners to celebrate the holidays and the contributions they have all made to make Metropolitan Southeast Chicago’s work possible.
Women Empowered for Civic Engagement honored Metropolitan Calumet Program Manager Jennifer McCraw at its recent Purple With A Passion Awards!
Congratulations to Lashyra, one of our Calumet Center’s Altgeld 10 youth leaders, who won the Shining Star Award at the Chicago Police Department’s first annual citywide youth ball!
For Giving Tuesday on November 27, we at Metropolitan gave thanks for the people who Mpower us. Supporters helped Mpower our Metropolitan family, giving more than $5,500 in honor of people and programs across the agency from staff to board members to Centers.
When asked the men in our Young Fathers program about their Halloween traditions with their kids, we heard a lot of “Halloween movies!” and “trick-or-treating!” but, given the work they’re doing to improve themselves and their relationships with their children, we also learned about some of the ways they’re being conscientious.
On October 31st, the Parents as Partners program had its bi-monthly Group Connection and made it a Halloween Party!
We’re pleased to hear from Yannely at our upcoming Equal Access to Justice Award Luncheon!
Our Calumet Center kicked off its Domestic Violence Awareness Week in Altgeld Gardens with a rally in support of domestic violence victims and survivors.
Welcome to Good News! In this space we feature positive stories of community impact and development, relevant to the areas Metropolitan serves or the programs we offer.
This October – Domestic Violence Awareness Month – Metropolitan staff and friends from our North Center community joined the Chicago Police Department’s 25th District and its Domestic Violence Subcommittee for a walk and rally in honor of lives lost in the area to domestic violence.
Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT) Greater Chicago, an initiative of Woods Fund Chicago, is a comprehensive, national and community-based process to “unearth and jettison the deeply held, and often unconscious, beliefs created by racism”.
The Metropolitan Southwest Community Integrated Living Arrangement (CILA) clients and staff had some luck of the Irish as they attended the farewell Southwest NAMI Fall Banquet on Friday, September 21st at the Elks Lodge in Oak Lawn.
It was a joyful yet tearful occasion for 007th District Police Station on the retirement of their beloved Commander Kenneth A. Johnson hanging up his badge after dedicating over 31 years of service to the Chicago Police Department.
Welcome to Good News! In this space we feature positive stories of community impact and development, relevant to the areas Metropolitan serves or the programs we offer.
Metropolitan Calumet’s Annual Meeting on Friday, September 14 celebrated the people who empower the Center, and by extension, the children and families we serve.
About 50 volunteers went door-to-door, speaking with people in more than 500 homes.
Rita Lopez Brosnan, Executive Director of Metropolitan DuPage, talks with Mayor Michael Gresk about our DuPage Center’s programs and community engagement on the City of Wheaton’s “Chat with the Mayor” series.
Our President and CEO Ric Estrada has been named by the Chicago Cubs as their 2018 Roberto Clemente Award winner!
Metropolitan’s Healthy Minds – Healthy Children – Healthy Chicago (H3) program, in coordination with other members of the Englewood Clinic Coalition, spearheaded a hugely successful 3rd annual Back to School Fair!
In a collaboration with the City of Chicago to build a Trauma Informed City, we at Metropolitan are facilitating several “Trauma Informed Care 101” workshops throughout September across our Chicago locations.
The outgoing chair, Marcie Peterson, and the incoming chair, Bill Jennrich, share their experiences working with Metropolitan DuPage.
Our Midway Learning & Wellness Center’s kids and families enjoyed a Mariachi concert as part of our Words to Grow On project!
Preschoolers at Metropolitan’s North Children’s Center and Midway Learning & Wellness Center recently welcomed a few new friends for the morning: members of Erikson Institute’s current cohort of McCormick Foundation Executive Fellows.
Welcome to Good News! In this space we feature positive stories of community impact and development, relevant to the areas Metropolitan serves or the programs we offer.
Metropolitan’s softball team is in the playoffs of Chicago’s nonprofit softball league!
Recently our DuPage early childhood programs sent representatives to the “Elevate Social Emotional Learning: Start Strong with Conscious Discipline the First Six Weeks” conference in Orlando, Florida.
Decorations at Metropolitan Southeast’s 30th Anniversary celebration featured “I love my Community School because…” signs made by students in the center’s Community Schools program, showing guests what a difference they’re making in the lives of kids in the surrounding neighborhoods by supporting the program.
Welcome to Good News! In this space we feature positive stories of community impact and development, relevant to the areas Metropolitan serves or the programs we offer.
Our DuPage Center’s recent Little YOUth free dental expo engaged children and families in our early learning programs with dental health!
Children at our Midway Learning & Wellness Center are growing in more ways than ever – by contributing to a new garden at the center!
“Were it not for the Community School programs at Bowen, some of our students wouldn’t be here and we know for a fact, some of our graduates, wouldn’t have graduated, were it not for the Community School Programs at Bowen.” – Bowen High School Principal Priscilla Horton
Vanessa Schwartz was born and raised in Southeast Chicago. “I love that community,” she says. “That community has been my home forever, it’s always been my heart and soul.” Learn more about Vanessa and the 30th Anniversary celebration she’s planning for Metropolitan Southeast.
Welcome to Good News! In this space we feature positive stories of community impact and development, relevant to the areas Metropolitan serves or the programs we offer.
On Thursday June 14th, the Metropolitan Family Services Calumet Center celebrated its “Miracle on 103rd Street” Investment Appeal by hearing from Executive Director Audrena Spence, board members, and youth.