Sometimes the most useful resource is the person sitting next to you, because they already found what you're looking for.
This truth sat at the center of our June session of the Nonprofit Leaders Forum, hosted by Maryville Academy.
This session's Resource Sharing segment proved its worth immediately: partners surfaced dozens of community resources across housing, food access, transportation, mental health, legal aid, employment, and more.
Partners shared what they'd recently come across, things like a drive-thru mobile food pantry that requires no ID or referral, a rideshare program that helps clients get to appointments, and a housing program for adults transitioning out of a hospital stay. As partners talked, two connections clicked into place on the spot: one partner had a list of landlords willing to work with clients and offered to share it with a colleague who'd been searching for housing options, and a tutoring program one agency runs turned out to be a fit for another's students.
We also heard from Family Service Association of Greater Elgin (https://www.fsaelgin.org), whose Pathways to Success program pairs clients with mentors and therapists. A partner consultation explored what it means to feel valued within an organization that isn't ready to create the role you've grown into. Partners also reflected on personal and professional capacity, naming wins like passing the LCSW and the importance of protecting space for family and self-care.
Thank you to Maryville Academy for hosting us. From the music and art room to the gymnasium, where students have a place to release energy, the campus is built to support the kids and families they serve every day, and that same warmth and care made it the perfect setting for an honest, reflective conversation among partners.
This forum reinforces the vital role of peer support and collective problem-solving in strengthening nonprofit leadership.
Proud to partner with these dedicated organizations: Ascension Center for Mental Health (https://healthcare.ascension.org/locations/illinois/ilchi/arlington-heights-ascension-illinois-center-for-mental-health), Association for Individual Development (AID) (https://aidcares.org), Centro de Información (https://centrodeinformacion.org), Children's Advocacy Center (CAC) of North and Northwest Cook County (https://www.cachelps.org), Community Crisis Center (https://www.communitycrisiscenter.org), Easterseals DuPage & Fox Valley (https://www.easterseals.com/dfv), Ecker Center (https://www.eckercenter.org), Family Service Association of Greater Elgin (https://www.fsaelgin.org), Hanover Township Youth & Family Services (https://www.hanover-township.org/youth-family-services), and Maryville Academy (https://www.maryvilleacademy.org).
Thank you to the Hanover Township Mental Health Board (https://www.hanover-township.org/departments/mental-health-board) for supporting this initiative.
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