Families get help coping at network's new place
A new name and new office can really boost an organization's image and recognition.
The Kane-Kendall Service Coordinators have been around since 1989 under the leadership of executive director Joyce Helander, but when its name was changed to DayOneNetwork and it moved into new offices on Fabyan Parkway between the Country House restaurant and the Comfort Inn motel, far more people now know and understand what this nonprofit agency offers.
In the past year, more than 3,000 people with developmental disabilities have benefited from the early intervention and other vital programs DayOneNetwork provides in steering those children and adults and their families toward the help they need to cope.
Helander has been able to partner her service club, the St. Charles Breakfast Rotary, with her agency to stage a dinner and auction fundraiser April 11 at St. Charles Country Club to benefit DayOneNetwork.
"The fundraisers are so important to us because the state of Illinois is about 47th in the area of funding community services, and that is getting bleaker and bleaker," Helander said. "The fundraiser helps us continue our mission to help people facing these disabilities to find solutions."
Helander said that DayOneNetwork wants to ensure that individuals struggling with autism, cerebral palsy, epilepsy and other disabilities have "a point of entry to get information that allows them to make informed decisions and to link with other organizations to get their needs met."
With programs that target early intervention and identification in children 3 and younger, as well as a program for adults up to age 22, Helander said DayOneNetwork can be "the front door for these people to have an advocate and someone who can evaluate and prepare a service plan for them."
Once a family decides which path it would like to take, Helander said, the various hospitals, pediatricians and other health organizations establish fees, depending on the family's circumstances.
Those interested in the fundraiser, titled "Anchors Aweigh" can obtain tickets at $65 per person or get more information by calling (630) 879-2277, ext. 114.
More good eats: It was great to hear that Anders Jensen is back at the Erik & Me restaurant site in St. Charles, reopening it as Sage Bistro, which had its "soft opening" last night and has big plans for the coming months.
I used to stop at the Erik & Me in Oak Park 25 years ago, so it was exciting news when Jensen opened that popular eatery here at about the same time.
The new upscale look and feel of Sage Bistro will be nice, but the best part is that Jensen is back in the restaurant business. This is a fellow you want active in your community, no matter what he's doing.
Some more fitness: Those who have been anxious for another fitness center in Geneva have to like what they see as the shell and exterior of the park district's new center north of Peck Farm Park is taking shape.
If you didn't know better, the construction of the center at Kaneville and Peck roads looks like an old barn-raising in a small village.
dheun@sbcglobal.net