She was en route to the hospital in active labor with her third child. In desperate need of care for her 6- and 4-year-old sons, she had nowhere to turn for help.

Maryville’s Crisis Nursery Director Amy got on the phone and comforted her. Amy explained that she would meet her at the hospital and bring her two boys to the Crisis Nursery where care would be provided for three days. Amy and another Crisis Nursery family advocate arrived at West Suburban Hospital that morning and met with the young mother as she was about to undergo a cesarean section.

Our family advocate chatted with the boys to get to know them a little, and they her, so they could feel comfortable being left in the Crisis Nursery’s care. The young mother gave her sons a hug before she went in for surgery. The two boys stayed at the nursery for three days while their mother gave birth to a healthy baby girl. The new mother spent two days recovering in the hospital and one night at home with her new daughter before bringing her boys back home. Since then, our young mother has continued to use the nursery for her children’s care for follow-up medical appointments.

She no longer struggles to find last minute child care and her boys love spending time at the nursery!

A Sparkling Light (cont.)

 

The Strong Families Fund, made possible by a grant from The Fred B. Jones Special Fund at the Chicago Community Trust, allows the nursery to grant funds to families who have used our services over the past year.

Each family attends a mandatory budgeting seminar/information session and fills out an application. Diamonds applied for grant money to use toward her education. She was awarded the $350 registration fee to enroll in a Certified Nursing Assistant program.

Diamonds began using the nursery so that she could work two jobs to make ends meet and achieve her goal of going back to school. While attending all of her classes for her CNA program, Diamonds drove for Lyft, which offered flexibility. She also balanced taking care of her little girl and staying up late to complete all her homework on time. She thrived in her program and reported getting straight A’s on her assignments. She always paid her weekly tuition on time and applied for one more grant to go toward her tuition.

Diamonds will do whatever is necessary to make sure that her daughter is happy and well-cared for. She wants to further her education and go on to nursing school. We are here to help her achieve her goals!

The Strong Families Fund helps our parents succeed and grow in new and positive directions. Diamonds’s story is just one example of how the Crisis Nursery helps parents to dream big and achieve their goals toward long-term stability.

https://www.maryvilleacademy.org/2017/06/19/8649-2/

Since 2015, Maryville has collaborated with Apha Ghar, Inc., to provide a safe and comfortable place for court-ordered supervised visitation. Supervised visitation is a court-ordered visitation time for visiting/noncustodial parents and their children. Individual visits are carried out under the guidance of a trained staff member. The program’s goal is to strengthen parent-child interactions in a safe way.

In supervised visitation, children can interact with their noncustodial parent in the presence of an experienced facilitator.  In safe exhange, the program offers a safe location for parents to pick up and drop off their children for court-ordered unsupervised visits.

Our visitation services include:

• Range from one to two hours
• Are based on a parent’s availability, court order, and program schedule
• In English and/or Spanish
• Occurs in living room-like spaces with age appropriate toys and games
• On-site security
• Separate parking lots and waiting rooms
• Staggered arrival and departure times
• Safety planning

To set up an intake appointment, call Maryville Academy at 847-294-1999.

Apna Ghar provides holistic services and conducts outreach and advocacy across immigrant communities to end gender violence www.apnaghar.org.