On September 1, 2016, New Moms acquired a small local agency called Parenthesis Family Center. Parenthesis has served parents and their children for 36 years, through research-based, effective parent education and support services in Oak Park, and the surrounding suburbs.
Creating stronger service connections to Oak Park and the surrounding suburbs allows New Moms to address a challenge that has long existed—as families move across the western border of Chicago, we are no longer able to serve them. And as Parenthesis families move into Chicago, they lose services as well. There is a significant population of young moms in the Oak Park community in need of services. While you may not guess it from its reputation as a suburb, there is significant hidden poverty in Oak Park (one of five children are considered low-income), and the challenges of being a young mother in poverty are significant and present. The acquisition of Parenthesis by New Moms helps us to bring these communities together and provide greater stability and service continuity for young moms and children. New Moms will continue to support and maintain Parenthesis’ existing programming to young moms and families in Oak Park.
The shared values and mission of both organizations has made this partnership a wise move—providing stability for Parenthesis in both financial and programmatic efficiencies, which will allow us to continue offering high quality, effective services to the community. Further, this acquisition brings strategic opportunities for growth for New Moms, along with expanded services to a whole new community of mothers in need of support towards transformative growth.
In an unstable economic climate, merging with sister organizations is fiscally responsible, and allows your donations to go further to fulfill the mission of New Moms. We look forward with anticipation, seeing great potential in serving more families, as we build a bridge between Chicago and our neighboring suburbs.
As a faithful partner of New Moms, thank you for helping us get to a place where we can grow in our mission and community of service. Your generous gifts of time, talent, and treasure continue to move the mission of New Moms forward!