Metropolitan Family Services

Family Matters | Updates from Metropolitan Family Services

IN THIS MONTH'S FAMILY MATTERS ...

“Community outreach work is one of the most essential pieces of making sure that our communities are safe, healthy, and thriving. And the beautiful aspect of it, is that it's people who know and come from these communities who get to be their biggest servants and their best advocates.”

- Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx,
in a video message to the Metropolitan Peace Academy's Cohort Six graduates

Programs operating remotely during Covid-19

Congratulations to the Metropolitan Peace Academy Cohort Six graduates!

These street outreach workers are superheroes, and they never take their capes off! Thank you to all our newest graduates for bringing your perspectives to the Metropolitan Peace Academy and learning together.

Our virtual celebration featured special awards and recognition, reflections from our graduates, as well as messages from Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx, Metropolitan Family Services CEO Ric Estrada, and Metropolitan Peace Initiatives Executive Director Vaughn Bryant.

WATCH THE GRADUATION

METROPOLITAN IN THE MEDIA

* Those Who Did Not Die: Survivors of Gun Violence
WBEZ
For every person killed in a city shooting, five are shot and survive. Those victims — about 50,000 since 2000 — are marked for life. WBEZ's Patrick Smith highlights the human toll of gun violence.

* Family Shelter Service of Metropolitan Family Services DuPage Emergency Shelter Needs
Naperville Community Television
A holiday feature highlighting the emergency needs of families living in the Family Shelter Service of Metropolitan Family Services’ domestic violence shelter.

* Op-ed: Vaccines Will Tame the Pandemic. And Chicago’s Other Scourge, Gun Violence? Just As Urgent.

Chicago Tribune
The ability to address this epidemic long term rests largely with Chicago’s business, philanthropic and social services communities, says King & Spalding's Zach Fardon.

* Lights Out – How More Than 73,000 Illinois Homes Lost Electric Service During COVID-19
South Side Weekly
How can you stay in your home if you don’t have heat?” The Legal Aid Society's Mia Segal speaks to the importance of utility consumers knowing their options, and protections available for low-income families.

Play is more than just fun:
Midway Children's Center is building a new playground, and you can help!

One of the biggest obstacles for our teachers at Midway Children’s Center is … furniture. Our outdoor playground is unusable, so in order to ensure our children have enough space for play, the teachers move our furniture aside to make enough space indoors.

Because play is a critical part of how children learn, we want to ensure a quality play space for the 72 children we serve through full-day, high-quality early learning on Chicago’s Southwest Side. The staff recently launched a grassroots community fundraising effort to help pay for a new playground.

LEARN MORE

Metropolitan Celebrates the Holidays

* Midway Center's virtual holiday luncheon celebrates community partners
Staff, board members, and community partners joined together to make the season bright and recognize everyone’s efforts to empower our communities.

* Calumet Center's staff and community board celebrate the holidays
Our Calumet Center, often called the “Miracle on 103rd Street,” finished the year strong with a virtual holiday celebration!

* MillerCoors donates holiday meals to families in our Calumet, North, and DuPage communities
Our staff found creative ways to distribute the meals while staying safe and socially distant, and it was worth it to see the joy it brought to our families.

Thank you to all the Santa For A Day Santas who helped make our youth's holiday dreams come true!

Metropolitan Calumet partnered with the Chicago Housing Authority on the "Santa For A Day" initiative, with our youth writing letters about their wishes.

Program Director Carrie Pullie shares one special story: "The founder of Santa for a Day, Rich Gentile, read one of our youth's letters and it really hit him. [She] wanted a bed so she wouldn't have to sleep on the floor anymore. So he bought a frame, mattress and sheets."

DonateForward to a friendVisit our websiteView in browserUnsubscribe

Congratulations to the Metropolitan Peace Academy Cohort Six graduates!

Play is more than just fun:Midway Children's Center is building a new playground, and you can help!

Play is more than just fun:
Midway Children's Center is building a new playground, and you can help!