Center of Hope receives a $45,000 operating grant from The Coleman Foundation

Barbara Olson Center of Hope is pleased to announce it has received a $45,000 general operating grant from The Coleman Foundation. The grant if to help organizations address the significant challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, the workforce crisis and other pressing issues affecting the developmental disabilities community.

The Center of Hope’s greatest challenge is to continue to operate and provide services when the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) funding covers approximately 62 percent of its annual operating budget. There are mandates that Community Day Services (CDS) programs are not reimbursed for and finding grants and holding fundraisers are essential to continue the programming that Barbara Olson Center of Hope provides to the individuals it serves.

The Center of Hope re-opened in August of 2020 and has continued to add participants each and every month. However, the individuals it served pre-pandemic are still not all back to programming and many are not back to full-time schedules. These factors have led to decisions that have had to be made due to the restrictions still in place. The Center continually re-evaluates and looks at any opportunity to bring participants back, even if it is for a day, to provide them with the services and the choice of attending that so many are still desiring. This is a great challenge and something that the Center is working diligently to try and overcome.

When asked what The Coleman Foundation grant means to the Center, Susan Greer, director of finance, said, “The Coleman grant means a chance to take a breath and review improvements in programming for our participants and less time on the cash flow.”