Financial Assistance and Grant Programs Resources
The Family Caregiver Alliance’s mission is to improve the quality of life for family caregivers and the people who receive their care. The Family Caregiver Alliance website provides in-depth information and tips on a variety of caregiving topics, including legal and financial planning, advanced illness and end of life, self-care and more.
Resources are available in Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese and more.
Family Connections with Pediatrics
“Family Connections with Pediatrics” is a series of family-written blogs summarizing research articles in Pediatrics Journal. Each blog explains the “scientific literature” findings and what they may mean for families, including:
- Examples of how the findings apply to real-life situations
- Suggestions for ways that families and healthcare professionals can work together for the health and well-being of children and families
Family Matters Parent Training & Information Center
Family Matters Parent Training and Information Center (Family Matters PTIC) empowers parents and professionals to achieve the strongest possible outcomes and enhance the quality of life for children and young adults with disabilities. Family Matters PTIC offers coaching, referral, parent-to-parent support, Educational Surrogate Parent training and more.
Family Matters PTIC services and programs include:
- A monthly event calendar highlighting webinars and training opportunities
- Self-Advocacy resources
- Videos
- Educational coaching and support for families and self-advocates
Family Resource Center on Disabilities (FRCD)
The Family Resource Center on Disabilities (FRCD) serves Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will counties. The FRCD can help you learn about your rights and responsibilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), make informed decisions about your child’s individualized education program (IEP), obtain appropriate services for your child, communicate more effectively with school professionals and more.
You can contact the FRCD at (312) 939-3513 or info@frcd.org.
Family Voices of Illinois & F2F Health Information Center
The Arc of Illinois Family to Family Health Information Center is a free service for families of children and youth with special needs. The Center is a collaborative project with Family Voices of Illinois and provides families tools to make informed decisions, advocates for improved public and private policies, builds partnerships among professionals and families, and serves as a trusted resource on health care.
Feeding Tube Information from Lurie Children’s Hospital
Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago provides this video on “The Basics of Caring for a Child With Feeding Tubes.” Lurie also provides the parent guide, “Supporting Nutrition: Understanding Tube Feeding.” The reference guide includes personal stories and information on:
- Administering feedings through the feeding tube
- Changing the dressings and cleaning around the tube
- Problems that may occur with the gastrostomy tube or the insertion site
Lurie’s website also offers tube-feeding resources for children and adults with cystic fibrosis and an overview of the types of feeding tubes for children.
Please note this information is not a substitute for the medical care and advice of your physician. There may be individual circumstances in your child’s healthcare that cause a variation in treatment.
Together, Fifth Street Renaissance/Springfield AIDS Resource Association (SARA Center) in Springfield assists individuals and families in difficult situations in reclaiming their self-sufficiency and well-being. It provides resources, transitional housing, opportunities to develop job skills and education, and help in securing employment. The organization also helps individuals diagnosed with HIV/AIDS find affordable housing, medical assistance and counseling.
Fifth Street Renaissance/SARA Center also works to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDs through education, awareness and prevention.
Find Food IL Community Food Map
Find Food IL is a community food map that provides a list of places offering free food or meals in your community. You can find food pantries, stores and markets that accept SNAP/LINK or WIC coupons, and more resources that are close to you.
The map is available in English, Spanish and French.
Find Help Southern Illinois connects people to area programs and services, including:
- Food and basic needs, such as food pantries, baby supplies, clothing and home goods
- Housing and shelter options
- Healthcare services, including medical, dental and vision care and transportation to health care
- Addition and recovery support
- Mental well-being services
- Financial assistance for child care, transportation, medical supplies and more
- Use the search filter to find the help you need in your community—sort by “closest” to receive the local information first
- Education and employment programs
- Legal assistance
The resource hub is an initiative of Southern Illinois Healthcare, Healthy Southern Illinois Delta Network and the Southern Illinois Coalition for Children and Families. The hub also receives support from the McKinney Vento Program for the Homeless Region V, Carbondale Elementary School District 95, Herrin Community Unit School District 4 Family Outreach Program, and the Carbondale Community Cabinet for Children and Youth with funding provided by Birth to Five Illinois.
Find Your Local Food Bank – Feeding America
The Feeding America nationwide network of food banks and food programs helps millions of people find food and grocery help in their communities every year. Connect with your local food bank to learn about upcoming free food distributions and to apply for national food programs.
You can also visit Feeding Illinois for more information about Illinois food banks.