Agency aimed at assisting immigrants, refugees expands to Hanover Park

When Hanover Park Village President Rod Craig two years ago toured the Palatine headquarters of Partners for Our Communities - a social services agency with an emphasis on helping immigrants and refugees - he saw value in the agency having a presence in his own diverse community.

Craig said he was overwhelmed at first sight by the work going on there.

"I said, 'This is just marvelous. Your work is just marvelous,'" Craig said.

Through its own programs as well as partnerships, POC helps clients find services and counseling in a wide variety of areas including health and wellness, education, civic involvement, access to justice, domestic violence prevention and more.

The agency already recognized that many of its clients came from Hanover Township, the second-highest concentration of immigrants in Illinois after Cicero Township.

That first meeting paved the way to this week's grand opening of a new facility - POC South - in nearly 1,700 square feet being provided for free by Amita Health at 1515 Lake St. in Hanover Park.

Craig's introduction of the agency to Hanover Township Supervisor Brian McGuire led to some space at the township's Astor Avenue Community Center in Hanover Park, while a similar conversation with Amita Health officials led to the donation of space on the DuPage County side of the village.

"It couldn't be a better spot," Craig said. "I'm so appreciative to Amita."

Maria Aurora Diaz, regional director of community health integration for Amita Health, said the donation of space was made through the company's community benefit programming.

"It is within our heritage to respond to the needs of the community, but especially the poor and vulnerable part of the population," Diaz said. "It really was a great opportunity for us to respond to the need we saw in the community to serve this population."

The new site comes with a grant and designation as an Illinois Welcoming Center from the Illinois Department of Human Services.

Liza Gutierrez, also a Hanover Park village trustee, has worked at Partners for Our Communities since 2009. She has several roles and titles with the agency, now including Illinois Welcoming Center supervisor at the new site.

It was Democratic state Rep. Fred Crespo of Hoffman Estates who introduced the agency to the Illinois Welcome Center grant, which it applied for, Gutierrez said.

Though the number of social service partners at the new location isn't yet as great as that at the Community Resource Center in Palatine hosted by Northwest Community Healthcare, Gutierrez said her ambition is to get there in due time.

Kathy Millin, executive director of POC, said many people hear of its services through neighbors, churches, schools and community police officers. One of the benefits of the new site is the increase in the number of people who will be able to seek out help in person.

"They're going to be able to have a space there," Millin said. "To have to do it on the phone is so difficult. To be handed a flier or information is so important when you're scared."

More than 30 years old, the agency has attracted clients from throughout the Northwest suburbs. This has led to a number of service sites in the area, including an evening presence at Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211's Higgins Education Center next to Hoffman Estates High School.

Gutierrez compared the agency's network of partnerships to a spiderweb with POC at the center. The best ways to deliver assistance have been constantly changing, and the past couple years have been no exception, she added.

"This model is really about going to the people, because of COVID-19," she said.

Though Craig's 2019 tour of the Palatine campus was the first time he met Gutierrez, when he learned she was a resident of Hanover Park he soon thought of her for a village board vacancy. He believed her area of expertise would create a more well-rounded board.

"I'm not a social worker, I'm a techie," Craig said. "When it comes down to the needs of families, that's always been a blind spot for me."

But he feels the new Partners for Our Communities facility in the village will be just what many families need.

"It's not just about assistance for Hanover Park, it's for anyone who walks in," Craig said. "I can't tell you how excited I am."

• For more information on Partners for Our Communities, visit its website at poc.news.