🎉 A Historic Moment! 🎉 Today, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed SB1 (the Department of Early Childhood Act) into law, creating the first Department of Early Childhood in Illinois! 🏛️✨ A heartfelt THANK YOU to all the advocates whose work and dedication made this milestone possible. Your passion for early childhood education has paved the way for a brighter future for our children. 🌟👶📚 Lastly, a huge thank you to state leaders including Governor JB Pritzker, Senator Lightford, and Representative Canty for continuously championing children and families in Illinois.
Illinois Action for Children
Individual and Family Services
Chicago, IL 7,027 followers
Building Strong Families & Powerful Communities™
About us
Illinois Action for Children is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit charitable organization dedicated to quality, accessible early learning and care opportunities for children. With nearly 600 employees representing more than 20 programs and service across four sites, we have championed the cause of quality child care and early education for families and children throughout Illinois for over 50 years. Illinois Action for Children is a state and national leader in the early care and education community, distinguished by its "Strong Families, Powerful Communities" approach to child development, preschool education and other family and community supports. This broad approach to supporting children by supporting families is a proven and effective means to address overarching issues of endemic poverty, which are the root cause of the educational failure of America's poorest children. Illinois Action for Children's outreach and work with low-income, hard-to-reach families, has led us to research and implement highly effective and innovative programs and advocacy to ensure that early care and education, and other opportunities, are accessible to the children most in need. Highlights from our programs include: - Public Policy & Advocacy organizing to expand access to child care and early education, and other supports. - Early Learning Programs to make early education available to young children so they will be ready to succeed when they start school. - Resource and Referral Program to connect child care providers, parents, and employers with resources such as child care referrals, professional development, health services and community supports. Our mission is to be a catalyst for organizing, developing and supporting strong families and powerful communities where children matter most.
- Website
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http://www.actforchildren.org
External link for Illinois Action for Children
- Industry
- Individual and Family Services
- Company size
- 501-1,000 employees
- Headquarters
- Chicago, IL
- Type
- Nonprofit
- Founded
- 1969
- Specialties
- Child Care Assistance, Child Care Provider Resources, Early Care & Education Public Policy & Advocacy, Early Care & Education Models, Head Start, and Early Head Start
Locations
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Primary
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4753 N Broadway St.
First Floor
Chicago, IL 60640, US
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1340 S Damen Ave
Chicago, IL 60608, US
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8471 S Greenwood Suite 300
Chicago, IL 60619, US
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17926 S Halsted St Suite 2 West
Homewood, IL 60430, US
Employees at Illinois Action for Children
Updates
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In 2023, we proudly served over 55,000 single mothers 🌟💪 We are honored to support the incredible single mothers in our community. We see you, we support you, and we applaud you! 👏✨ Get help with child care in Illinois: https://lnkd.in/gsxPyscB
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Illinois Action for Children reposted this
RAPID partnered with Illinois Action for Children to hear directly from Illinois families with young children about their experiences, needed supports, and what’s going well. Illinois Action for Children will use this data to inform its policy and advocacy initiatives. The data show that parents with young children in Illinois, and particularly Latinx and Black families, are finding it hard to pay for basic needs. Parents with lower income are also most likely to report struggling with emotional distress, both in themselves and their children. Read more in this new fact sheet: https://lnkd.in/gyCpSsJV
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🌟 Thank You to Our Amazing Volunteers! 🌟 Last Friday, volunteers from our corporate partner, Marsh & McLennan, spent the day reading and painting with the children at our South Holland Early Learning Center. Your time, creativity, and dedication brought so much joy to the kids! 🎨📚 Learn more about our early learning programs in the South Suburbs of Chicago: https://bit.ly/3L9DbXy
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Need assistance with your application? Our dedicated specialists are here to assist you with your application and answer your questions at no cost. Get started with your application! Complete the form and a specialist will reach out to you and provide you with 1:1 assistance: https://bit.ly/3KBAC07
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Catherine Merritt, we're so grateful for the leadership, support, and expertise that you and our board members bring to your roles. Thank you for elevating our work at Illinois Action for Children as we celebrate 55 years of championing children and changing lives. We honor Maria's powerful legacy, and together we continue to build upon it!
Yesterday, Spool hosted the Illinois Action for Children board of directors meeting, which was deeply meaningful for a lot of reasons... I was proud to welcome my fellow board members and the leadership team of the organization my mom dedicated much of her career to, to Spool and to introduce everyone to my colleagues, who I am so proud of and grateful for. Our board meeting was held in the "Maria Conference Room," which was named in my mom's honor and marked with this plaque, a gift from my team (and one of the most thoughtful gestures I've ever received). The plaque reads: “This room is a place to put our ambitions to the test, to foster relationships, bring forward opportunities, and laugh often. We’ll remember to tell people they matter and use our voices to catalyst for positive change in our industry and communities. We dedicate this space in loving memory to Maria Whelan.” This week I had the presence of mind to recognize how lucky I am. Life moves quickly and is fragile; don't take a second of it for granted.
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Exciting News! 📣 The Chicago Tribune featured IAFC's VP of Public Policy, Advocacy and Research Angela Farwig and Assistant Director of Advocacy Neoma Nagahawatte. Read more about the historic signing and our ongoing role as a leader and advocate for children and families: https://bit.ly/3XNAl2e 📰✨
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📸 Highlights from last Saturday's Parent Provider Summit! A huge thank you to our guest, Jahmal Cole, founder and CEO of My Block My Hood My City, for sharing his time and inspiring words. 👏✨ We also want to thank our amazing partners and vendors for providing an array of resources to our community. 🌟 We are grateful for all of the parents, providers, and families who joined us. It was wonderful to be in community together, sharing knowledge, and building connections. 💜✨
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The historic signing of SB1 into law marks a milestone in the state’s commitment to early childhood education and care (ECEC). SB1 implements the new Department of Early Childhood, creating a unified agency to improve access to ECEC services across Illinois. Illinois Action for Children expresses its gratitude to Governor JB Pritzker, State Senate Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford, and State Representative Mary Beth Canty for their unwavering support of early childhood education and care. We are eager to partner with the administration, state legislators, advocates, and community members to ensure the success of the new Department. Read our full statement: https://lnkd.in/gUqPnVCq
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