This has been a season of milestones for the young people at One Family Illinois. Here are three stories we love.
Two brothers, one goal. Victor and Alexis, both in their early twenties, set their sights on becoming electricians, with a dream of owning a family business someday. To get there, they had to pass the union apprenticeship exam, competing with about 5,000 applicants for roughly 200 spots. They didn't make it the first time. Then they met Rodolfo Rodriguez, Director of Housing and Family Support Services at OFI's Casa Tepeyac community center in Back of the Yards, who connected them with weeks of instruction and months of hands-on training before they tried again. OFI's "Read Full Story" page to find out how it went.
40 graduates. OFI's annual Graduation Celebration honored 40 graduates from its foster care villages in Auburn Gresham, the Near West Side, and Lockport, plus Casa Tepeyac. The class includes four high school seniors, three of them heading to Northern Illinois University, the University of Illinois Chicago, and Chicago State University, along with 11 eighth graders, 11 kindergarteners, and 14 pre-K students. The celebration was made possible by 100+ Women Who Care of Will County.
Off to camp. More than 50 OFI campers, including 21 children and four foster parents at family camp, are heading to Camp Manito-Wish YMCA in northern Wisconsin this summer. A three-week stay averages about $5,000 per camper. The trip is funded by the Jefferson Sportsman Society, which started its camp fundraiser nearly 15 years ago, along with the Camp Manito-Wish Endowment Fund. Canoe trips, campfires, and starry nights build the confidence and resilience that matter so much for kids in foster care.
Congratulations to every OFI graduate, and to Victor and Alexis for not giving up.
Stories shared by One Family Illinois. Follow OFI at onefamilyillinois.org.