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Marillac's Weekly Highlights - July 20, 2011

July 20, 2011

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Summer Block Party

On Friday everyone at Marillac participated in a picnic. Francisco was closed for the day. It was set up with games, music, food, basketball nets and a wonderful climbing wall. The children of all ages had a great time. All of the staff worked together to make it a special day for the children. The climbing wall was a great success. Children 7 and up took the challenge to try and reach the top. Besides being fun and good exercise it was something new for the majority of those who tried it.

Seniors Services & Outreach Program

Through a scholarship, Kathy Slover, Senior Services Director, attended the 25th annual Elder Rights Conference July 6-8 in downtown Chicago. A few of the topics of discussion at the conference were senior financial abuse, end of life issues, hoarding, and power of attorney issues.

The City of Chicago CDBG Intensive Case Advocacy and Support program was audited by city representatives on 7/14. Our program did very well complying with the requirements of the program. We will be notified of our specific results during the week of July 18th.

On Friday 7/15, representatives from State Farm held an informational session for staff and families about the importance of having renter’s insurance. This session was planned by the Outreach staff based on recent client reports of home thefts, fires and other situations which have caused a loss of personal belongings.

Hope Junior

There are 60 children in Hope Junior this summer. These children range in age from 6-13 years old. 5 teens, who used to attend Hope Junior are working as camp aides with the program. They have really demonstrated responsibility and great team work. The children swim at Altgeld Park every day. They have also enjoyed bowling, a boat ride, picnics and games. Besides all of the recreational activities 15 children are participating in weekly karate lessons, 30 children 3-8th graders are participating with UCAN in an evidenced based group intervention on anger and coping and 10 girls are in weekly sessions with Taproots on bullying and gossiping.

After School Matters

Thirty teens (176 applied for the slots) are participating in the summer session of fine arts. They are working with acting instructors Robert Hardaway and Dawn Mitchell towards performing Zoo Man and the Sign in August. The teens are also part of weekly sessions with UCAN working on Life Skills. At this time the daily attendance of the teens has been very high at 95%.

Early Childhood Development

The children are really enjoying their summer. They have been able to go on field trips including a boat ride and Commissioner Steele’s office treated the Early childhood and school age children to an entire day at Brookfield Zoo. 190 children went along with parents and staff. They had a wonderful time.

School Age Program

The school age and Hope Junior children participated in a fashion show in which a large number of families came to see. Othena Jeffers and Taneka Henderson choreographed the show. The children participated in categories of sports, rock star and dress up fashion. The audience loved the show in which the children were all very poised and confident. The children also thrilled the audience with a first time appearance of the Marillac Steppers. It was very exciting and fun. Albert Richardson, school age teacher made the A honor roll in his Youth Social Serviceb program at Harold Washington College.