Dare to Dream

The Human Support Services Day Treatment program has started making dreams come true! Following the "Dare to Dream" workshop held recently at HSS by Krescene Beck from New Visions, the Day Training staff got to work making things happen! Joe S.'s dream was to "go back home." So the Day Treatment seniors’ class took a surprise field trip to the country. They visited the town of St. Libory, the area Joe grew up in. Unfortunately they could not visit his old home because it no longer was there and is now the site of a coal mine. They did however get to visit his 83 year-old sister who still lives on her dairy farm. Joe and his sister got to visit and the seniors’ class had lunch at Chicken's restaurant. He returned that day and stated, "today my dream came true!" It was awesome to see his reaction to this event. Joe was beaming from excitement for days following the trip. It was also equally exciting to see the renewed excitement from staff. This is a perfect example of staff looking outside of the box and individualizing services to meet the needs, desires, and dreams of our clients. It is our mission to continue making the dreams of our clients a reality. After all, THIS is why we are here. Great job DT staff! – E Fuson, Day Training and Work Services Coordinator

Joe & his sister

HSS Hot Catfish and Cool Blues Fund Raiser a Success

The blues music of Jimmy and the Housecats kept over 100 HSS supporters listening at a delightful afternoon fund raising event for HSS. Hot Catfish and Cool Blues featured a down-home catfish dinner and four hours of the best blues music around on Sunday, May 17, 2009 at the Acorn’s Country Club in Waterloo. The event successfully raised funds that will support HSS programs.

There were many volunteers that made this event successful, but special thanks are given to Deb West, Virginia Bersche, Jean Marie Conrad and Mark Altadonna for their efforts.

CSN Vacation Trip to Florida

For many years the HSS consumers and staff in the Community Support Network residential sites had a dream to take a vacation trip to Florida to see Disney World. To make this happen they spent three long years planning and hosting a variety of fund raising events. They sold funnel cakes at the Waterloo Homecoming, they hosted a bowling fundraiser, they sponsored horse shows and they took on many other projects in efforts to build the vacation fund. Finally, they reached their goal of saving enough to send 20 clients to Florida for a six-day adventure. Once the funds were in hand, reservations were made, and staff began the thorough planning on how to meet the medical and other needs of 20 consumers far away from home. The trip as planned would include two days at Disney World, and a day at Clearwater Beach for fun in the surf and a boat trip to see dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico.


In the wee-hours of the morning on Saturday, April 24, 2009, 20 CSN and HBS clients along with eight HSS staff left Waterloo. Flying was too expensive; chartering a comfortable coach was too expensive as well. This brave band left in two HSS busses and two HSS vans on the 23-hour trip to the south. The first night and the following day they drove all the way to Macon, Georgia. Up bright and early the next day, they finally reached Orlando, Florida at 4 p.m. on Sunday.


The next two days were filled with the sights and sounds of the Magic Kingdom. They stayed at the Pop Century hotel in Disney World, ate at a variety of restaurants including the German Biergarten and in general experienced the full Disney adventure. Then, on Wednesday they left the Disney World crowds behind and it was on to Clearwater Beach for fun in the waves along that community’s famous two-mile white sand public beach. For many of those on the trip this was their first experience with the ocean, but with beautiful sunny skies and warm water they quickly found out how enjoyable it can be to relax on the beach.

The dolphin trip was next on the agenda. The whole group boarded a sightseeing boat and headed out into the gulf. Soon they were rewarded with a pod of dolphins that shadowed the boat as it cruised the waters. They even saw a baby dolphin among those that swam right up to the boat.

Then the next morning it was time to head back to Waterloo. Another long bus ride for a tired group of vacationers; everybody was happy but also they were ready to get home. Finally, at 4 a.m. on Friday, May 1 they were all safely back home. A remarkable trip, full of memories and good times, was over. These consumers certainly represented their community well throughout the trip and as a group they proved once again that efforts to increase integration of persons with disabilities into the community is the right way to go.

We would like to especially acknowledge the efforts of the HSS staff who made this trip possible. Bobbi Walters, Erin Fuson, Tanya Durrer all worked tirelessly in the efforts to plan the trip and to prepare to meet the needs of these consumers away from their homes. They also all went with the consumers on the trip. Gerri Kutz was very instrumental in organizing the many fundraising activities that made the trip possible and she, too, went along to assist the consumers. Zach Ingles, Errick Taylor, Frances Kistner and Mendy Mehrtens all volunteered to go and drove the many miles to and from. Although many other HSS staff worked to make this trip a reality, it would not have been possible without this group.

Thanks also for the tremendous support we received from the businesses and families in the community who helped us with the fund raising to make this trip possible. It was a real community effort and we are privileged to have the support of so many people and businesses throughout Monroe and neighboring counties.

HSS Receives New Rental Subsidy Grant

Human Support Services was one of just five agencies in the state that was granted a Long Term Operating Support grant in April from the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA). This new grant will provide rental subsidy funding that will allow tenant rents in seven apartments to be limited to 30% of the tenant’s income. The grant will pay the difference between the tenant’s rent and the market rent to HSS. The grant will run for 15 years. Previously HSS was using local funds to pay for this expense.

HSS would like to acknowledge the support of the Mayor of Waterloo, Tom Smith, as well as the support of the Monroe County Commissioners Office, State Senator David Luechtefeld and State Representative Dan Reitz. Their support was instrumental in receiving this competitive grant.

From Dreams to Reality

On April 16 HSS staff in Day Treatment invited Krescene Beck from New Visions to come and speak about helping staff to become advocates for assisting developmentally disabled clients to realize their dreams. The presenter reviewed how staff could place barriers and obstacles in front of clients without even realizing it. Staff discussed how they could instead become Dream Keepers that help clients identify their dreams and then teach them to reach them. Next month Ms. Beck will return for a presentation to 20 Day Treatment clients entitled “Dare to Dream.” The clients will learn to identify their dreams; they will talk about the steps to meeting their dreams and how to identify people who will support them in their efforts. They will create a collage of pictures that show their dreams as well. The Illinois Department of Human Services provided funding for these trainings.

New Consumer Recovery Groups

As part of HSS’s efforts to promote the recovery efforts of consumers, HSS has recently started offering several new groups on improving life skills. These groups focus on helping consumers learn about and discuss life skills that will make them healthier and more independent. These groups will empower and inspire people living with mental illness to make healthier food, beverage and lifestyle choices. They will also address risk factors associated with physical inactivity and weight concerns that lead to the increased health problems in people with mental illness. These groups will use materials from a wellness curriculum developed and provided by the Eli Lilly Corporation. Titled Choosing Wellness, this group program incorporates nutrition, physical activity, stress management and other holistic topics. Groups have already been started for the consumers residing in the HSS apartments in Columbia, in the Bradford apartments, for our consumers attending HSS day services and soon a group will be offered for other community clients as well.

Gift of Office Furniture

HSS recently received a large amount of donated office furniture from 1st National Bank of Waterloo. The furniture became available as part of the scheduled refurbishing of bank facilities. The bank had a variety of gently used chairs, tables and wall hangings and we were very pleased that they thought of HSS rather than just disposing of the property.