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Children's Foundation celebrates 125 years of care, guidance
When Crystal Weebling of Bloomington became pregnant when she was 15, she recalled her time in foster care when she was younger. She knew where to turn. She called The Children’s Foundation, which is part of a statewide organization celebrating its 125th anniversary. “I figured I was 15 and I could use all the help I could get,” said Weebling, now 19, and a mother of Sammy Powell, 2, and Nathan Powell, 14 months. She used the Healthy Start and Doula programs to learn about staying healthy during pregnancy, to assist with labor and delivery, and to help with early child rearing. She and her boyfriend, Brandon Powell of Bloomington, attended mom’s and dad’s support groups and received household items and children’s gifts at Christmas through Adopt-A-Family. Last spring, both boys went to the Scott Early Learning Center while she attended Heartland Community College and Brandon worked. “It’s been a really big help,” Weebling said of the foundation. Weebling graduated on time in June 2007 from Normal Community West High School, has been working as a cashier at Menard’s for 2½ years and is planning to return to Heartland in the spring. Brandon has been a cook for Avanti’s for two years and is applying for a crew leader position. Sammy and Nathan are happy and healthy, said Weebling and Pam Moore, a family support worker with The Children’s Foundation, as the boys handed Weebling and Moore snacks in the Healthy Start House at Children’s Foundation, 403 S. State St., Bloomington. “She’s an excellent mom,” Moore said of Weebling. Weebling, her sons and boyfriend are examples of people assisted by the foundation, Moore said. The Children’s Foundation is a part of Children’s Home + Aid, a statewide organization founded in Bloomington 125 years ago. “I think it’s great that they’ve been able to help families for that long,” Weebling said. When the foundation helps families, it is helping the entire community by keeping children and their parents safe and healthy, said Lisa Pieper, regional vice president. “We’re more than a safety net for families that might otherwise not have succeeded,” Pieper said. “We are a valuable resource that helps to improve quality of life for everybody.” Agreeing is Dale Strassheim, chief executive officer of The Baby Fold, the Normal-based regional child welfare agency that has collaborated with the foundation on programs. “They (Children’s Foundation) have served an important role in our community,” Strassheim said. “They’ve affected the lives of many children and families.” Pieper said “I think this (125th anniversary) is a celebration of everything that’s right in our society. The focus is on children who might otherwise have gone unseen and unheard. American Education Aid Association The American Education Aid Association was founded in Bloomington in 1883 by the Rev. Martin Van Buren Van Arsdale, a Presbyterian minister who wanted to provide housing to orphans and children whose parents couldn’t care for them. Even though the association moved its headquarters to Chicago the following year, a local board continued in Bloomington. In 1889, the Lucy Orme Morgan Home opened in Bloomington for orphan girls and for girls whose parents couldn’t afford to take care of them. In 1919, Victory Hall opened in Normal to provide the same service for boys. In 1920, the Booker T. Washington Home opened for black children. In the 1960s, the Morgan and Washington homes merged and were joined later by Victory Hall to form Children’s Foundation. Dennis Fries, who lives near The Children’s Foundation in Bloomington, was looking to get involved in the community after his son, Brien Keith, died before his 9th birthday in 1979. At that time, Morgan-Washington Home announced it was joining with Victory Hall. “That created quite a turmoil in the neighborhood because operations of Morgan-Washington hadn’t been smooth,” Fries recalled. Fries got involved and found that there were justifiable concerns on both sides. He was named to a neighborhood relations committee that advised the board, then was named to the board in 1980. He has been involved since then. “I believe it its purpose — providing for children and helping them from abuse and neglect and helping families that are struggling to stay together,” he said. Katie Allen of Bloomington began as a Children’s Foundation volunteer while a senior at Lexington High School in 1988. Today she is coordinator of the Adopt-A-Family program, in which community members donate household items and presents for children and families in need at Christmas time. “Our role is to give hope and help to people who need it,” she said. Over the years, the foundation has evolved to meet the needs of the community. Services include foster care, independent living for older teens, counseling and a 24-hour crisis nursery. In 2002, The Children’s Foundation joined Children’s Home + Aid to become the regional presence of the statewide organization. The transition allowed the local organization to better focus on services to children and families, Pieper said. Fries said the economy and inadequate state funding have been challenges over the years. He said tax money support for The Children’s Foundation is appropriate because dysfunctional families would cost society more if children end up in juvenile detention and the Department of Corrections. “It’s better to help them now to become productive citizens,” he said. The 125th anniversary is both sad and fantastic, Fries said. “It’s sad that kids are still neglected and abused and that parents are stressed,” he said. “It’s fantastic that The Children’s Foundation is there to help.” Service and scope• Services of the Children’s Home + Aid Children’s Foundation — which serves residents of McLean, Livingston, DeWitt, Piatt, Woodford and Ford counties — include Foster Care, Child & Family Counseling, Early Childhood Care & Education, Intact Family Services, Crisis Nursery, Healthy Start, Parents Care and Share, Family Visitation Center, Family Solutions, Scott Early Learning Center, Parent Support and Youth Services. • About 75 full-time and 15 part-time employees are based at the Bloomington campus, 403 S. State St. • More than 2,200 people are being served this year. • The budget for the current fiscal year, which began July 1, is $4.9 million. About 62 percent is paid to staff, 15 percent to families and others who provide foster care and other services, 11.5 percent for facilities and supplies and 11.5 percent for management and general costs. • Federal, state and local government money accounts for 75 percent of the organization’s revenue. The remaining 25 percent comes from the John M. Scott Trust, United Way of McLean County, and donations from foundations, corporations and individuals. SOURCES: Lisa Pieper, Children’s Home + Aid Children’s Foundation
Here are some highlights in the history of Children’s Home + Aid and The Children’s Foundation: • 1883: Children’s Home + Aid, then called the American Educational Aid Association, founded in Bloomington. • 1884: Headquarters moved from Bloomington to Chicago. A local advisory board continued in Bloomington. • 1889: Lucy Orme Morgan Home opens as a girls’ industrial home on Taylor Street, near Denver Street, on the site of the existing Children’s Foundation, Bloomington. • 1919: Victory Hall, on Hovey Street near Kingsley Street, Normal, opens as McLean County home for boys. • 1920: Booker T. Washington Home, 1203 MacArthur St., Bloomington, chartered as county home for “colored” children. • 1969: Morgan and Washington homes merged to form Morgan-Washington Home at Morgan home site. • 1981: New Morgan-Washington Home built. Adopt-A-Family program begins • 1984: New Morgan-Washington administration building built at 403 S. State St., Bloomington. This later became the headquarters for The Children’s Foundation. • 1988: Morgan-Washington and Victory Hall form The Children’s Foundation. • 1991: Scott Early Learning Center built on Children’s Foundation campus. • 1999: Family visitation center opens. • 2002: The Children’s Foundation becomes a part of Children’s Home + Aid. • 2007: Doula services added for first-time, teen parents. • 2008: Children’s Waiting Room opens in the McLean County Law & Justice Center. Joseph Matthew Lane Foster Care Visitation Room opens. Butterfly Project begins for families with children up to age 5 and who have been exposed to violence. E-mail this story | Print this story | Search archives | RSS Show comments |  Hide comments | Hide comments on all stories |
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