About CSS
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Founded in 1980 by a visionary group of parents, educators and community leaders, Community Support Services was established on the premise that all individuals deserve an optimal chance to live with independence, self-esteem, and personal fulfillment. This fundamental belief continues to inspire our programs and services and motivate our many passionate staff members and volunteers.
CSS has continued to grow strategically and compassionately, striving to better serve people with developmental disabilities and their families. Ours is a story of hope and optimism—a story that speaks of the human ability to create, to achieve, and to make a tangible and lasting difference in the lives of others.
Mission Statement
Community Support Services, Inc., is a private, not-for-profit service agency that initiates, provides and promotes services for people with developmental disabilities and their families, within their communities, in order to strengthen their independence, self-esteem, and ability to participate in and contribute to community life.
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Service Principles
- Persons with developmental disabilities are people first and are respected as individuals.
- The needs, as identified by persons with developmental disabilities and their families, determine the services. Because these needs change over time, services need to be made available throughout the person’s life.
- Persons with developmental disabilities, their families, and professionals work as partners to make the service delivery system more responsive to individual needs.
- Persons with developmental disabilities are members of families, and this primary relationship is ongoing and needs to be supported.
- Persons with developmental disabilities are entitled to live and participate in the community and to receive the same opportunities and protection as people without disabilities.
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Who We Serve
CSS provides support annually to nearly 600 children, adults and seniors with developmental disabilities and their families annually. We provide services in west suburban Cook County and eastern DuPage County.
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Beth Lacey Center for Family Support
Our newest site, located at 5416 West 25th Street, Cicero is a place for area residents with developmental disabilities and their families to have access to dedicated bi-lingual resources to meet their needs in a single location opened October 12, 2011. It is the result of four years of planning, spearheaded by local families, service providers, public and private partners, funders, and community organizations. The Center grew out of a project originally known as the Project for Family Support 360. It was renamed to honor Beth Lacey, former Executive Director of CSS, and the original champion of this cause. The building has been significantly renovated to accommodate the kinds of services and activities that were requested - peer-led leadership and advocacy training, family to family resource exchanges, networking and support, information and referral, community connections, and future planning supports – in a space that is set up to encourage interaction between service providers, visitors, and CSS staff. Opportunities for participation and collaboration are continuing to grow. Click here for a brochure and contact information.
Elizabeth C. Lacey Biography
Elizabeth C. Lacey, MA, has nearly 40 years of administrative and direct service experience in disability services and was employed as Community Support Services’ Executive Director for 23 years until she retired January 1, 2006.
Currently, Ms. Lacey serves on the board of directors of the Arc of Illinois. She served as Secretary, was a member of the Executive Committee and chaired the Family Support Committee. Also, she serves on the Hyde Park Kenwood Garden Fair as Co-Chair of the Ground Cover Department. In the past, she served as President of the Illinois Conference of Executives of the Arc of Illinois, on the boards of the National Association for Down Syndrome and the Eclipse Theatre Company, on the Illinois Statewide Advisory Council for Developmental Disabilities and the Advisory Board for the Institute on Disability and Human Development at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Ms. Lacey was honored as 1999 Executive Director of the Year by the United Way of Suburban Chicago, and as the 2003 Unsung Heroine by the Cook County Commission on Womens’ Issues of the Cook County Board of Commissioners. She received the 2004 Good Neighbor Award from the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club and the Arc of Illinois’ 2005 President’s Award for Outstanding Advocacy.
Ms. Lacey lives in the Hyde Park community of Chicago with her husband Ted, a well-known Chicago photographer, and Trevor, their Golden Retriever, and two cats. She enjoys gardening, jewelry-making, reading, swimming, and spending time at Ferncliff, their lake house near Traverse City, Michigan.
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Chicago Canine Club
In 2008, we opened the Chicago Canine Club, a CSS-owned facility with a dual-purpose. It’s a doggie daycare and pet boarding business that provides a revenue stream for CSS. We also use the space to provide hands-on pre-vocational training in animal care, and community-based employment and volunteer opportunities for individuals with developmental disabilities who are interested in working in the animal-care field. The Club blends the passion to help people with disabilities and a true love for dogs, creating a space where the general public can board dogs and our participants can learn about work in doggie daycare, pet-sitting businesses, and veterinary offices. This is the only program of its kind in the geographic area.
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Calendar
In the News
Leadership Team
Diane Farina White, M.A.
President/CEO
Andrea Finnegan, CPA
Vice President of Finance and Operations
Kathie Schiffman
Vice President of Development & Marketing
Kaye Masters, MSW, LCSW
Vice President of Programs and Quality Assurance
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Board of Directors
Christine Campbell, Esq.
First National Bank of LaGrange
Sharon Flaim
Shea Fowler
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
George Gilbert
Gregory T. Mino, CFA
Nuveen Investments
Jacqueline Montgomery
Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund
Elisabeth Pantoja
Consuelo Puente, Esq.
Stephen Pleimling
Hinsdale Bank
Kiyoshi Yamaki, Ph.D
University of Illinois at Chicago
Libby Roth
Simply Rehab
CSS is a private, not-for-profit Illinois corporation governed by a Board of Directors. Members of the Board serve an initial term of three years and may be reelected to two more terms of two years each.
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Contact info
9021 Ogden Avenue
Brookfield, IL 60513
Ph: 708.354.4547
Fax: 708.354.7412
www.communitysupportservice.org
Email: info at communitysupportservices dot org
Skype: community.support.services
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