ASSOCIATION HOUSE OF CHICAGO

Our mission is to serve a multicultural community, and to promote health and wellness and create opportunities for educational and economic advancement. At the heart of this mission is our focus on improving quality of life for the individual. To this end, Association House’s goals are:

(1) To build participants’ competitive skills and increase their self-sufficiency.
(2) To design professional services and programs that are aligned with both community need and external opportunity.

Our one-on-one case management teams partner with individual participants to determine both their immediate needs and long-term goals. Many of our participants have a predominant economic, mental health, or educational need and/or aspiration. Through our process, we find that fully 20% of our participant community actively utilizes services in multiple areas. This level of complex and coordinated engagement leads our participants to higher levels of success.

Association House undergoes a rigorous evaluation through a national accreditation body - Council on Accreditation (COA) - every four years. As an accredited organization, our programs and services are ensured to maintain the highest ethical and operational standards in pursuance of our mission.

We also operate with internal controls that are integrated into all of our programs and service delivery and outcomes. Our Performance & Quality Improvement department implements a cycle of continuous evaluation and program planning. Through this engagement, our programs concept program design, establish measurable outcomes, identify and respond to challenges, and critically reflect on achievements and issues to plan for programmatic planning.

To best dignify and respect everyone that we serve and to meet the ever-changing needs of our community, we commit to diversity, equity, and inclusion. We maintain individualized plans to serve individuals who are Limited-English Proficient (LEP) or with hearing, vision, and speech disabilities. We prioritize the recruitment of staff who reflect the service population: where 1) 77% identify as Latinx or African American, 2) are bilingual, and 3) represent our participant community (e.g. live with mental health issues).

Each year, Association House reports on the impact of all our programs and services. Below is a snapshot of just some of our participant gains and programmatic achievements from our coordinated, wrap-around service model in 2020:

Directly served 4,323 participants through 30+ programs. High School - 55 students graduated and earned a high school diploma; 20 children of parenting students provided childcare and education. Behavioral Health - 400 participants received substance abuse treatment; 97% of BH participants avoided psychiatric hospitalization. Child Welfare - 135 children in foster care were placed in safe and nurturing homes. Community Health and Workforce Development - 46 financial careers training participants were placed in employment; 2,639 emergency food packages were distributed to families (a 19.6% increase across a 3-year average); $69,664 in approved public benefits support individuals with basic financial needs.