Mission

Reaching Out To Share God’s Love

Uni-Pres Kindercottage was established May 10, 1965, as a not-for-profit agency to provide services to children ages 3-5 years. By 1970, families needed our services for a younger group of children. We met those needs by lowering the age to 2 years. Today, we provide services to all children including those with special needs. We are licensed to serve eighty-six children, ages six weeks through twelve years. Uni-Pres Kindercottage is and always has been family driven. We provide additional services to meet the needs of families because of The Welfare Reform Act, which requires families to become self-sufficient to leave the welfare rolls. Our agency expanded services to include counseling, health and developmental screenings, food, clothing give-a-ways, job referrals and job training opportunities. Uni-Pres Kindercottage mission statement states, “We provide an environment where all children have opportunities for learning through educational, social and developmental programs.”  The Uni-Pres Kindercottage is a holistic model which includes the child’s health, social and psychological well being, as well as their family dynamics. 

Foster care is designed to protect children, but unfortunately, it can harm them further.
Beyond the sheer number of children placed in foster care in Illinois, more than a third of them shuffle homes three or more times while they’re in care. They are placed in group facilities or homes with the nearest empty beds, not necessarily the homes best suited to help them heal from their trauma.

The problem seems overwhelming, doesn’t it? So overwhelming, in fact, that — no matter how much it breaks your heart — it can be hard to know where to start. We felt that way too, at first.

But, one thing is clearer now than ever before: We are the answer. All of us.

Back Bay Mission has a simple mission: to strengthen neighborhoods, seek justice, and transform lives. We strengthen neighborhoods through ministries like our education and empowerment programs and our housing rehabilitation program. These vital ministries help the people we serve be a part of, and build, their communities on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. As volunteers take what they learn at Back Bay Mission home with them, they have the opportunity to strengthen their own neighborhoods. We seek justice by helping the people we serve become more involved in their communities, educating people about the realities of poverty, and advocating on behalf of marginalized people in our community. All of our programs transform lives. Whether we’re helping a homeowner keep their home, mentoring a single mother as she plans her path out of poverty, or working with an intern who is thinking about a career in social work, we’re making the lives of the people we serve better.

Highland Area Christian Service Ministry (HACSM) began as the outreach project of the mission committee of a local church to provide a food pantry for area residents in need. This group operated under the guidance of the Highland Area Ministerial Alliance.

As needs increased the ministry moved to a rented 2,000 square foot facility in June, 1999. As the need for services continued to grow, on September 2, 2008, with the help of a grant from Madison County Community Development and assistance from the City of Highland, local businesses, civic groups and generous individuals we moved to a new 4,500 square foot building located at 900 Chestnut Street in Highland.

Hoyleton Youth & Family Services is one of only 14 CARE certified agencies in the United States, and the only one serving youth in the Midwest. CARE certification is granted to social services agencies, by Cornell University, who meet the Residential Child Care Project’s Highest Standards for Implementation of the Child and Residential Experiences (CARE) Program Model. CARE is a trauma-informed practice model based on six core principles that create successful outcomes for children and families. The aim of CARE is to bring our current practice closer to well-researched best practices with children and families impacted by trauma. The CARE model is recognized as our agency compass, it guides our interactions with youth, families and staff as well as our policies, procedures and decision making.

CARE principles include:

• Developmentally Focused
• Family Involved
• Relationship Based
• Competence Centered
• Trauma Informed
• Ecologically Oriented