Illinois Action for Children: 50 Years of Impact

April 5, 2019

Illinois Action for Children: 50 Years of Impact

Illinois Action for Children: 50 Years of Impact

The agency is celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year, but only began operating its own early learning facilities in the last five years. IAFC currently operates four Head Start and Early Head Start programs in south suburban Cook County. IFF’s Real Estate Solutions team conducted a site search for the nonprofit’s location in Chicago Heights.

The decision to provide direct services to families in the south suburbs was simple; there was a gap that needed to be filled.

“We were seeing a pocket of children who weren’t getting exposed to quality care because they didn’t qualify for the Child Care Assistance Program, so that got us thinking about what we could do,” says April Janney, Senior Vice President of Programs at Illinois Action for Children, noting that the change to providing direct services was not without its challenges.