Family Service of Champaign County

405 S. State Street
Champaign, IL 61820

Contacts:

The Family Service Mission

The mission of Family Service of Champaign County is to alleviate individual distress, strengthen families and improve community life by:

•Facilitating access to and coordination of community human service resources, and

•Providing quality, integrated, affordable human services to families and individuals of all ages, especially those who otherwise would not be served.

Staff Professionalism

Family Service is accredited by the Council on Accreditation for Children and Family Services (COA). The Council is an independent, not-for-profit, child- and family-service and behavioral health-care accrediting organization. In 2001, it accredited, or was in the process of accrediting, more than 1,400 private and public organizations that serve more than 6 million individuals and families in the United States and Canada.

A Family of Senior Resources

Fifty staff members and hundreds of dedicated volunteers offer their time, knowledge and skills to our community through Senior programming at Family Service. These programs allow frail seniors to maintain independent lives in their own communities by providing or connecting them with community and government services. Programs also work with family members (many of whom are 50 and over)and others in caregiving roles for more frail seniors.

RSVP. (Retired and Senior Volunteer Program) More than 800 senior volunteers provide over 100,000 hours of volunteer services to 144 nonprofit agencies in Champaign, Douglas, and Piatt Counties. RSVP is located in the Stevick Senior Center at 48 E. Main Street in Downtown Champaign. The Center also sponsors Food for Seniors.

Meals on Wheels. Hundreds of volunteers deliver more than 21,000 meals a year to 231 seniors and others unable to provide meals for themselves.

Friendly Visiting and Reassurance Calling. More than 100 volunteers make more than 500 friendly visits and nearly 15,000 reassurance telephone calls to seniors.

Senior Transportation. Volunteers and staff help provide more than 6,600 rides a year to grocery stores, medical, legal, and other essential appointments to more than 300 seniors.

Senior Advocacy and Counseling. Professional counselors assist seniors and their families with identification of needs; housing issues; life changes, grief, family conflict issues; assistance in obtaining benefits, housing, food, medicine, heating and cooling; and victims assistance or elder abuse, neglect or exploitation.

HomeCare. This program provides 249 seniors with non-medical, in-home support ranging from personal care and meal planning and preparation, to shopping, errands, laundry and housework.

Caregiver Advisor. Provides consultation, personal support, information, referral, and training to those caring for seniors and for grandparents (60 and over) raising grandchildren.

First Call for Help. This program is an information and referral service that provides callers with assistance in locating community resources and service - including those that affect seniors - throughout Champaign County. (The Help Book, an annual directory of such services, is available in print and online at www.prairienet.org/helpbook).

Local, State, and National Affiliations

•American Society on Aging

•Council on Accreditation for Children and Family Services

•Illinois and National Associations of RSVP Directors

•Illinois Association of Community Care Program HomeCare Providers

•Illinois Association of Senior Centers

•The Sixth Judicial Circuit Family Violence Prevention Coordinating Council.

•East Central Illinois Area Agency on Aging

•Champaign County Mental Health Board

•Seniors at Risk Council

•Senior Advocates

•The Money Management Advisory Committee.

•SALT (Seniors and Law Enforcement) Council.

Family Service Senior Celebration

Joining in the theme of National Older Americans Month: America: A Community for All Ages, Family Service is hosting a local Senior Celebration. The Celebration will be at Market Place Mall on Saturday, May 18 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Family Service’s Senior Resource Center, RSVP (Retired and Senior Volunteer Program), Sears, and the Prairienet Community Network will present interactive sessions displays, and information on:

- Senior Volunteerism in our Community
- Computer Training Opportunities (E-mail and Accessing Services)
- Five-Minute Vacations for Caregivers
- Oral History Training
- Assistance techniques for helping people in and out of vehicles
- Art Projects for Kids
- Information on Protecting against Senior Exploitation and Abuse
- "What's it Like to be a Senior?" Walk
- Opportunities to apply for Services (Circuit Breaker and many others)

Family Service’s Senior Celebration will have activities and give-aways for everyone in the family. Seniors, people who care for Seniors, and Seniors who care for children will be free to explore and learn from Senior Resource Center staff members.

"Families are the main providers of care for older persons in our country," says Joy Rathe, Family Service Senior Resource Center Manager, "More than a third of the American workforce is caring for an aging relative or friend. We plan to celebrate the inter-generational sharing of our nation's aging."

According to Josefina G. Carbonell, U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s Assistant Secretary for Aging, "Our families are our greatest hope for the future. Families span generations. They offer us comfort, security and sustenance. And older members of our families – grandparents, parents, relatives and even neighbors – provide us with the historical perspective that enables us to move forward and contribute to our nation’s greatness and prosperity."