Execs share their agencies’ highlights and challenges of 2024, share one wish for 2025
Each year in January we reach out to the leaders of seven major nonprofits and ask them to review the happenings of the previous year with readers.
An article on the Hinsdale Historical Society, HCS Family Services and Wellness House appeared in the Jan. 9 issue and is available online at http://www.thehinsdalean.com.
Candor Health Education
After launching its 50th anniversary celebration in February of 2024, Candor Health Education will close out the year-long commemoration with a gala fundraiser on Feb. 1.
“We’ve been doing a lot on social media and trying to connect with a lot of former donors and supporters,” said Barb Thayer, executive director, noting the organization’s founding date is Jan. 28, 1975. “We started this last year in January and are finishing up this year with this event.”
Looking back at the history of the organization, which opened its doors as the Robert Crown Center, has been particularly fun for Thayer.
“I went to the program when I was in elementary and middle school, too,” said Thayer, who grew up in Woodridge. “Looking at the photos is like a blast from the past.”
She also discovered from reviewing the archives, which are housed at the Hinsdale Historical Society, that the political climate around sex education was much the same in the late 1970s as it is now.
“There was this huge controversy about sex education and should sex education be taught,” she said. “The article literally could have been written now. It’s literally the same exact conversation.”
Parents simply don’t have the knowledge they need to inform kids, Thayer said, and many would prefer the schools to teach sex ed to their kids.
“Parents don’t want to have these conversations. They’re not equipped to do it,” she said.
One thing that has changed dramatically over the past 50 years is the availability of information, photos and videos on the internet.
“The average time for them to see pornography is like 12 or 13,” she said. “They’re finding a lot of things they should not be seeing at that age.
“We’re never going to stay ahead of them,” she added. “We’re just not. You have to prepare them for how to handle whatever is coming at them.”
Last year Candor served about 82,000 students an expects to reach 85,000 this year, for a total of 6.5 million since 1975.
“It’s a big number,” Thayer said.
In addition to providing programs in-person in the area, Candor has expanded to serve two Wisconsin school districts with virtual programs and also serves schools in Indiana and New York.
Challenges of the past year include trying to meet the demand for programs taught in languages other than English and adapting materials for those with physical or learning challenges.
“We are trying to figure out how to provide our services and our education for all different types of learners,” Thayer said. “That’s really a big focus for our 50th year.”
Community Memorial Foundation
The focus in 2024 for Community Memorial Foundation was responding, recognizing and continuing to build a culture of philanthropy in the region, said Greg DiDomenico, chairman and chief executive officer.
In response to request from its grantee partners, the foundation brought back its in-person leadership institute, where national thought leaders provide workshops for board leaders and executive directors. An April event focused on the vital components of good governance was one of the sessions offered.
The foundation enjoyed launching a “High Five” initiative, DiDomenico said, which provided $5,500 grants to 69 organizations so they could lift up staff and volunteers. The grant recipients used the money to do everything from holding appreciation lunches to renovating a staff kitchen to sponsoring a trip to a White Sox game.
“We intentionally wanted to recognize the folks who were really making a difference every single day in the lives of people,” DiDomenico said. “In the midst of the pandemic, the staff and volunteers were there when our community, our neighbors, the foundation needed them the most. It was a small way to recognize them and thank them and say this high five is for you.”
Partnering with other agencies remained a priority for the foundation, which worked with Health Communities Foundation and The Coleman Foundation to support the sixth year of the Community Health Worker Initiative, which aims to improve access to culturally competent care and advance health equity in the region. Through the program, community health works serve as liaisons between community members and local health and social service provides to facilitate access to services and improve the quality and cultural competence of service delivery.
The foundation also worked with the Illinois Children’s Healthcare Foundation and Westlake Health Foundation to expand care at The Loft in Brookfield to seventh- and eighth-graders.
Corlyn and Jeff Simmons of Hinsdale, the Burjan family and Moira and Paul Naffah continued to support YC2 — Young Community Changemakers — the foundation’s youth philanthropy program. Last year, 69 teens from Hinsdale Central, LT, Nazareth Academy and Riverside-Brookfield high schools learned about philanthropic organizations and awarded $30,000 in grants.
The need for help with basics such as food, housing and mental health care continues to grow, DiDomenico said. As does the foundation’s effort to meet those needs.
“We continue to partner with our other funders to leverage our grant-making and maximize the impact in our region,” he said.
Hinsdale Humane Society
With a new leader, new staff members and a new philosophy, the Hinsdale Humane Society was able to provide better care for the dogs, cats and critters it provides a temporary home to.
“We slowed down on our intake, but it allowed us to spend a lot of time on making our animals adoption-ready and ready for their forever homes,” said Jodie Arquilla, humane society president, noting staff were able to hold behavior and enrichment programs for the animals.
With the rising cost of taking a pet to the vet, the humane society has worked with veterinarians to offer discounts for adopted pets. It also offers food support and plans to offer low-cost vaccination clinics in 2025.
“We want our adopters to know they can lean on us and we’re working for them, even after they leave here, and they can have their happily ever after,” she said.
Arquilla, who joined the staff in May 2024, said she’s hired several new directors who bring a wealth of knowledge and experience.
“We’ve also added a lot of great new board members,” she said. “They bring great support and fresh perspectives.”
After months of negotiations, the humane society and the village were able to work out an agreement regarding stray pets, Arquilla announced.
“We are once again a safe haven for all the strays in Hinsdale,” she said, adding that she was happy to work with village manager Kathleen Gargano and Police Chief Brian King on the agreement.
Supporters will have plenty of opportunities to contribute to the humane society in 2025.
“We are going to be doing a bigger event at the end of ’25, but also leaning into the community and doing a lot of smaller, more curated events so people can get to know us and we can get to know them,” she said.
The new director of volunteer programs will be adding more opportunities for individuals, Arquilla said.
“We would be completely lost without our volunteers,” Arquilla said.
The transition for new staff members was remarkably smooth, she said.
“We feel like we’ve known each other and worked with each other forever,” she said. “We have such a common vision and common goal that the bumps in the road really didn’t feel that bumpy.
“I’m really, really proud of the work that everybody here is doing.”
The Community House
This past year, The Community House saw two of its programs — flag football and summer camp — hit their biggest enrollments ever. And its counseling program, which serves adolescents and young adults age 25 and younger, doubled the number of sessions offered in 2023.
Growing programs, expanding the organization’s impact and planning for the future have been and continue to be priorities at the nonprofit, said Dan Janowick, executive director. The board began working on a new strategic plan, the first since 2013, in March 2024.
“By this March’s board meeting, we’ll have the full plan rolled out with all the strategic goals and objectives and start the implementation phase,” he said.
The process has revealed that the purpose of The Community House — to offer a place for the community to gather, engage and talk, and find resources for meeting social, emotional, physical health and mental health needs — has not changed.
“We’re glad that’s still what The Community House is doing,” he said.
But change is necessary to continue to meet constituents’ needs. Janowick said staff are looking at how to better serve teens and what kind of programs they want.
“Those are questions we don’t have the answers to yet, but we’re going to spend some time figuring out,” he said.
The Community Revue was the first major fundraiser in 2024.
“We started the year off laughing, which was helpful to everyone in the cold winter months,” he said. “We sold more than 700 tickets to come and laugh at life in Hinsdale while raising money for The Community House in Hinsdale, which is great.”
The year closed with the most successful Holiday Ball in the organization’s history, with 430 guests.
“By the end of the night, we had raised over $700,000,” Janowick said, expressing his gratitude to individual donors and business sponsors.
One of the family members served by the Spark Youth Development Initiative, which supports underserved youth in unincorporated Willowbrook, spoke at the event.
“I think that really resonated with the guests and they gave generously to support the Spark program,” Janowick said.
The Community House has an amazing group of staff members and board members and wonderful partnerships with the Hinsdale Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary Club and other organizations in town, Janowick.
He said the time has flown since he became executive director.
“It doesn’t feel like it’s been five years, but it’s been great,” he said. “I continue to feel lucky to be at a place like The Community House.”
