Orland Non-Profit Provides Sense Of Belonging For Forgotten Population

ORLAND PARK, IL — Like many area residents coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, Susan Barnes found herself at a bit of a career crossroads.

She wasn’t certain what direction to turn, but she knew one thing. Whatever Barnes did, she wanted to make a difference in her community. Barnes found herself working two days a week at Community Services Foundation, an Orland Park-based not-for-profit that works with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities who, like anyone else, were just trying to find their way in the world.

Over the 11 months, Barnes, who now serves as CSF’s full-time director of development, has discovered not only do the clients the organization serves daily have more to share than many give them credit for, but they can impact people in ways few might expect.

Founded in 1989, CSF works with a population that Barnes said often goes unnoticed specifically because the organization’s clients are adults who function at varying levels of abilities. While intellectually and developmentally disabled children often receive attention, older clients who live with the same challenges and obstacles are overlooked in society, which makes CSF’s work even more vital.

The organization partners with CTF Illinois, which offers housing for 163 adult residents throughout Illinois and also supports 196 home-based families that include kids and adults, Barnes said. In addition, CSF and CTF Illinois work with 426 people who are served by the organization's day program services, which provide help for adults who suffer from chronic mental illness and intellectual and developmental disabilities. The average age of the organization's clients is 43.

All told, the organization helps people between the ages of 7 and 92, making the need so great, Barnes said.

“That’s why what we do here is so important,” Barnes told Patch on Tuesday. “It’s so that they can live as normal of a life as possible and that they are not forgotten.”

That message has become even more clear for Barnes, who joined the organization in January. While she said she was aware of the need to help adults with developmental disabilities, she said that working with CSF’s clients has opened her eyes not only to the need to provide services for these adults, but to help them find as much normalcy as possible.

A recent holiday card sale sold out of more than 100 boxes of cards created by the adults CSF works with. For each $20 box of cards sold, 75 percent of the proceeds went to the artist who created the cards while 25 percent went to benefit CSF’s work in the community. Each card included a photo of the artist and a biographical sketch of the artist that Barnes said offered another way for those supporting the effort to connect with those being helped by CSF’s mission.

Although Barnes has worked with the organization for nearly a year now, she is reminded daily of how smart and skillful CSF’s clientele is and that their abilities not only need to be recognized but celebrated.

“It’s like anything else in life,” Barnes said. “We grow and it’s an emotional need that’s met when people feel a connection like they’re important and valuable, they excel. It’s no different for (CSF’s clients.)”

Because CSF offers a variety of services for high-functioning, medium-function, and low-functioning skills, which allows the organization to meet clients where they are. CSF offers programming and work programs and housing that meet the individual needs of each client, which allows them to grow with the program rather that reaching a point where they can no longer be helped by the organization.

When clients begin to excel, they move on to the next level of programming that provides specific training and growth opportunities based on where they happen to be at the time. The structure allows clients to work toward and achieve goals to reach levels that perhaps they didn’t believe were possible when they first began working with the not-for-profit group.

CSF not only offers individualized attention and programming, but it also brings clients of the group together in ways that are essential to their feeling of belonging, Barnes said. While many of the clients have family members nearby, others do not, which makes the need for a sense of community even more important.

At a recent Halloween party, Barnes watched as clients who are served by the organization bonded over being together. All dressed in costumes and connected through the environment that celebrates achievement, those served by CSF were able to enjoy just being in a setting where they felt comfortable and welcomed.

“They all fit in,” Barnes said. “And I don’t know outside of this (environment), how often that happens.”

CSF is currently in the midst of an important time when gifts are provided to the organization through the annual Make-A-Match campaign. The funds raised for CTF Illinois, another not-for-profit group that works with people with intellectual developmental disabilities will be matched by CSF through Dec. 31 for donations up to $1,000 and $500 for corporate donations.

One hundred percent of the funds to the community CSF serves.

In addition, the organization is also partnering with the Coleman Foundation’s matching grant program. Through Dec. 15, individual donations up to $200 will receive a matching donation from the Coleman Foundation. The partnerships allow the local group to triple its impact and move toward a goal of raising $60,000 to help raise awareness and serve these often-forgotten local residents.

In addition, the group will also hold its annual Art Fair, which will be held between 5-8 p.m. on Thursday at the Painted Turtle, which is located at 17459 Oak Park Ave. in Tinley Park. The event will feature art, jewelry, and clothing that help to benefit the work of the Community Services Foundation.

Barnes is able to see the benefits of the support that comes in from the community. She sees the visible signs that have come through financial donations, all of which only helps CSF be able to do more while working toward such an important mission.

By working with the clients, she does, Barnes sees people who have a different perspective on life and who aren’t hardened by what’s happening in the world in the way other people might be. Barnes said because of the developmental disabilities that clients live with, they are not often aware of the harshness of the world, which is conveyed through the way they approach their daily lives. Barnes often goes home at night wishing that she could view life the way the organization’s clients do.

“They see the simple pleasures in life and so I guess we’re learning a lot from them,” Barnes told Patch.

She added: “There aren’t a lot of places in the world where you can go today and walk out at the end of the day knowing that you are making a difference and that you are serving a purpose.”