Five years ago at this time, Maryville Academy opened its homes to nine extended families left homeless by Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana and Mississippi.  We are blessed with six locations in which we serve children and families.  We resolved in 2005 that we would dedicate the Des Plaines campus to provide housing and support to these families until they could find new stable homes and jobs.  Our staff helped the children and their families set up their households, access social and health services, enroll in school, and apply for jobs. Many of our staff members, when not working in other programs, volunteered with the families.  Our neighbors and local organizations collected items, donated funds, and volunteered time to help these families in crisis.  After one year, all of the families had resettled – in the Midwest or back to Louisiana.

Even though we were already serving children in need, many of us together "put our arms around" these families in their time of extraordinary crisis.  Today we in Illinois are facing our own very serious financial crisis.  Maryville is one of many social service and health care agencies experiencing the challenge of delayed state payments for some of the services already provided for children.  While there are many differing views about how to resolve these financial problems, I believe we can all agree that we as a society must continue to "put our arms around" the children in need.