one child, one smile, one day at a time!

GlicksGiving

WHAT WE DO

There are so many examples to illustrate the type of help, support and assistance GlicksGiving provides.  In an effort to provide the breadth and depth of our support, below are a variety of examples.  

After School & Weekend Activities
Example 1:  We have sponsored after school basketball clinics in partnership with specific Chicago Public Schools.  School administrators/personnel determine the participants.  In some cases it has been made available as a motivation or a reward, while in other cases it has been given to kids who don't have access to extra-curricular opportunities.

Example 2:  Renata Walsh is a model, actress and radio/television personality.  A few years ago while in between assignments, Renata dreamed up a program called GIFT which stands for Girls Improving Futures Together.  The project is an esteem-building and enrichment program designed to engage youth/teen girls in activities that develop their social, emotional and creative skills and talents.   GlicksGiving financially seeded the program, enabling Renata to launch an after school program for 12 and 13 year old girls through a couple Chicago Public Schools. 

Graduation/Prom Costs
For several years, we have helped deserving inner city Chicago children by covering graduation fees (ceremony, family luncheons, pictures, etc.) and end of year school trips.   In fact, Principal Dowdell from Wendell Green Elementary has made it a habit to reach out to GlicksGiving in the spring of each year to ensure that his most deserving graduates have the financial support to participate in the ceremonies and events.   

Holiday Meals & Gifts
Every winter holiday season, we help family matriarchs and patriarchs host their Thanksgiving gatherings.   One family we have helped several times over the years is led by an elderly couple on Chicago’s deep south side.  We make sure they have food on the table to host as many of their 11 children, 18 grandchildren and 14 great grand children that can join them.  

New/first job payroll matching
We have encouraged and motivated several teenage and young adults to secure employment.  To do so, we frequently offer to match their first paycheck.  Most recently, we matched a 19 year old's first Burger King paycheck.  

Relocation and Moving Costs 
Example 1: We have helped Chicago south side families relocate from very dangerous housing areas to safer areas.  In recent situations, the families secured Section 8 housing vouchers which is a federal government program designed to assist low income families afford decent, safe and sanitary housing in the private market.  While the federal government significantly subsidizes the housing costs, the family is responsible for paying the rental security deposit.  The deposit is generally the challenge for the families so GlicksGiving covers it, thereby removing the family’s biggest obstacle in leveraging the Section 8 program.  We also provide support with some basic furnishing such as beds for children. 

Example 2: We helped a struggling Chicago family relocate into situations offering better opportunities and brighter futures.  One was an early twenties daughter of a family GlicksGiving has supported over the years.  The daughter, with her infant child, was living between friends, family and the streets.  With our help, the daughter was awarded (from the Chicago Housing Authority) residence in a facility in Freeport, IL which provided her a home, schooling, job opportunities/training, child care, etc.     

Example 3: We helped a Chicago southside elderly woman relocate.  We knew and worked with her for many years periodically paying utility, phone, public transportation and other normal living costs.  We also covered one of her daughters application fees for enrollment in a nursing program at Sanford-Brown College.  Since we were first introduced to this family, the mother has been ill and this past year had a leg amputated (apparently it took more than one surgery due to complications and injections).  As such, she had been searching for several months to find housing accessible for her wheel chair (her current living quarters has many stairs and certain hallways not wide enough for her wheelchair).  With our support, she was able to secure safe, reliable and handicap accessible housing.  

School Supplies
We gathered “decommissioned” computers, loaded them with software platforms and distributed them.  We distributed several desktop computers, laptops and even a Kindle.  Most went to families (all with school age children) without an existing computer in their home. 

Temporary Living 
We had a long standing relationship with a father of one of the children we were helping.  The family’s living situation was unstable as they frequently moved between homes and frequently split up family members to ensure each had a roof over their head.  The father had a bad fall and was hospitalized for several weeks.  As his discharge was coming up, the family was spread out and no one had extra room for the father.  He identified a men’s hotel (old railroad workers barracks with shared common room, bathrooms and showers - it is set up with bunks separated by thin walls and chicken wire over the top of each to avoid stealing) but did not have the upfront money to secure a space.  As such, he was resigned to spending his nights on the train until a family member could help him.  GlicksGiving stepped in and prior to his discharged from the hospital secured him a room at the men’s hotel for one month.  To do so, we had to physically make the payment in advance of his arrival.  On our way to making the payment at the men’s hotel, we stopped at a grocery store and purchased a variety of “comfort items” such as toothpaste, soap, deodorant, toilet paper as well as food such as granola bars, cereal and canned foods.  We boxed it all up and left it as a surprise care package on his bed.

Vehicles
We provided the funds for one family to purchase a vehicle - we even covered the vehicle transfer and licensing fees as well as the first  year insurance costs.  The family is one with which we have a decade plus long relationship.  The mother and father are elderly and in poor health which makes getting around challenging (the father has fallen getting on/off public transportation).  Access to a vehicle is a game changer for them.  

We support our children and their families in many different ways, including but not limited to those listed alphabetically below: