Platicas helps pregnant women, moms find services, cope

Nearly three years ago, Monica Arellano was five months pregnant and severely depressed.

She had recently immigrated from Mexico to Palatine with her two children to join their father, who had been living in the United States for six years. She didn't speak any English and didn't have any friends.

Then someone told her about the Society for the Preservation of Human Dignity, a not-for-profit organization in Palatine.

Agency staff helped her find her footing, providing both counseling and maternity clothes and baby supplies. Most importantly, she said, she found a network of support when she started attending the agency's group "Platicas," or "talks" in Spanish, where she met other Spanish-speaking women with whom she bonded.

"For me, it was a helping hand. It was an essential support," she said.

The Platicas group meets on Wednesdays over six weeks. While children play in a corner or in their mothers' laps, the women discuss topics, often with the help of a guest speaker, ranging from the importance of getting mammograms to how to prepare diabetes-friendly Mexican food and first aid training.

English-speaking counselor Ann Daley leads the sessions and relies on volunteer Alicia Schoumacher, who is of Mexican descent, to translate what she says into Spanish. The two have been working together for seven years.

The group ranges from five or six women in the winter to up to 15 in the summer, "a lot of them come by foot with their kids," Schoumacher said.

Executive Director Catherine Vincus said the agency is mostly funded by individual donors. with some corporate and foundation funding. The group doesn't receive any government funding.

The society helps pregnant women and mothers with children up to age 3.

The agency's 12 counselors, eight of them on staff and two of them Spanish-speaking, all with master's level degrees, work with clients, addressing topics such as postpartum depression and shaken baby syndrome.

About 200 volunteers contribute to the operation, which provides all services free of charge.

Pregnant women can come to the center to explore alternatives such as adoption. Those seeking abortion information are referred back to their primary care physician, Vincus said.

All clients are assigned a caseworker, who assists with referrals to outside services, such as the Department of Human Services food assistance program, and prenatal and postnatal care, for example.

Clients are asked to "earn" clothes from the agency's Baby and Maternity Closet program by attending at least two meetings at the center and one with another provider, such as a pediatrician visit, each month, Vincus said.

"Sometimes it's just the mom and the kids, and we become their family and support group, their support system," she said. "We really encourage them to use community services so that they don't rely on us all the time."

The agency offers services regardless of clients' immigration status and has been actively trying to reach out to Spanish-speaking population of the Northwest suburbs. Among the issues faced by Latina mothers, said clinical director Kim Stobbe, are struggles with isolation and acculturation, as well as domestic violence and childhood trauma.

Teenage mother Alma Robles, of Rolling Meadows, said she was in dire need of help after her boyfriend left her when she was three months pregnant. Her daughter Samantha is now almost 1. "I was 17, I didn't know anything," she said.

"They told me where to take my daughter (to the doctor's), and about the stages of development, like at this age she puts everything in her mouth. I also like their library in Spanish," she said. "They have helped me a lot with my daughter."

The Society for the Preservation of Human Dignity is at 37 N. Plum Grove Road in Palatine. For information call (847) 359-4919.