As the school year begins, representatives from a diverse array of community organizations representing education, health care, housing, volunteerism and more discussed the ways they assist children and families at a Thursday community forum in East Chicago.
“It’s Takes A Village,” a forum sponsored by Healthy East Chicago and the Indiana Youth Institute, also aimed to connect professionals for future collaborations that help children.
Joy Berry, family support coordinator of MOMS Taking Charge, detailed the work it engages in with single moms ages 18 to 45. Berry said the program, which started in 2009, helps link moms with young kids or expectant moms with the services and support to build strong families — whether that be through utility assistance or health care.
Communities In Schools of Lake County is known for its after-school programming in East Chicago, but Executive Director Pat Simes said the dropout prevention organization does much more, including helping struggling students and their families connect with needed services, leadership training, mentoring and more.
“We want to surround students with a community of support so they can succeed,” Simes said.
Kim Eldridge, the northwest coordinator for MDWise, detailed the various health options that MDWise runs for low-income residents in Indiana, including Medicaid, the Healthy Indiana Plan 2.0, Hoosier Healthwise and HoosierCare Connect. MDWise also distributes health information to schools, donates backpacks with supplies to students and informs parents about the immunizations necessary to attend school.
For the past five years, Healthy East Chicago has hosted forums two to three times a year on a variety of topics — such as human trafficking, data analysis, grant writing, and bullying, Executive Director Cynthia Rivas said.
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