Hephzibah Childrens Association

Foster care - children in foster care need love and support in order to heal. Hephzibah offers a full spectrum of foster care services for children in need of loving homes. We help children heal and prepare them for the next step in their foster journey, whether it is returning to biological family members, or in an adoptive home. Hephzibah also recruits, trains, and supports foster parents who open their homes to children in need. We surround our foster parents with the training and support they need to maintain a healthy, loving and caring relationship and home for all. This support includes parenting groups, in-home consultation, foster parent support groups, training sessions, private consultations, and the hephzibah foster parent advisory board. In fy24, 102 children were served in the foster care program.

Day care - hephzibah's after school program served more than 800 children from diverse socioeconomic backgroundsfulfilling a critical need in the oak park community for affordable, nurturing, and enriching after-school care for elementary school-aged children. We offer a dynamic childcare experience for children in grades k-5 after school and full-day care on school holidays at each of the eight district 97 elementary schools in oak park. We also offer full-day summer day camp monday-friday in oak park for children of working parents. This program is unique we offer a sliding-fee pay scale, based on ability to pay and income to families that need after school care on site at their child's local school, and in the summertime when childcare becomes a financial burden for some. Our childcare activities are designed to help children achieve their full social, emotional, and intellectual potential by fostering the development of a wide variety of skills, as well as social competence and a positive self-image.

Day care - program serves over 600 school-aged children from diverse socioeconomic backgroundsfulfilling a critical need in the oak park community for affordable, school-age day care. Our program offers a nurturing, enriching and dynamic day care experience for oak park children in grades k-5 after school, on school holidays and during the summer months. Our day care activities are designed to help children achieve their full social, emotional and intellectual potential by fostering the development of a wide variety of skills, as well as social competence and a positive self-image. Children gain experience in areas such as arts and crafts, group games, movement and music, field trips and physical activities such as swimming and ice skating.