Helping Hands

By Mark Loehrke
Appears in the October 2024 issue.

Metropolitan Family Services DuPage works to fill critical needs in the county

While the public health emergency of the pandemic is in the rearview mirror, that strange, upending window of time continues to send out ripples to many different aspects of society, especially in regards to mental health. Lisa Horne has witnessed this firsthand as executive director of Metropolitan Family Services DuPage (the local outlet of the wider Chicagoland Metropolitan Family Services network), which has been providing a variety of social services and resources for the greater DuPage County community since 1930.

“Recovering from the pandemic has been interesting,” she says. “We’ve seen an increased need for supportive mental health resources, as well as an increase in the number of survivors of domestic violence seeking services.”

All told, Horne says her nonprofit agency served more than 48,000 people in 2023, which was about 12,000 more than the previous year, illustrating a general upward trend that she expects to continue throughout 2024. Most of those calling or coming through the doors of the main Wheaton facility are seeking assistance in one of three primary service areas:

Domestic Violence
Metropolitan DuPage is the only comprehensive domestic violence service provider in the county, with a 41-bed emergency shelter, court and victim advocacy services delivered from the DuPage County Courthouse, group and individual support services and education, and prevention and community advocacy.

Behavioral Health
Fee-for-service clinical services for children and adults include those for individuals and groups, and there is a psychiatrist onsite three days a week. In addition, Metropolitan DuPage offers grant-based services, including postadoption support, intensive placement stabilization, and adoption respite. The agency also serves seniors with individual counseling to grandparents-raising-grandchildren groups to caregiver services.

Early Learning
The organization also provides Head Start and Early Head Start programming, as well as Preschool for All, at more than 10 locations throughout DuPage County.

While Metropolitan DuPage is supported through a combination of federal and state funding—with additional contributions coming from individual donors, corporations, and foundations—the increased demand for services over the past several years combined with a rapidly shifting employment market (another pandemic ripple) have made the economic picture particularly challenging for Horne and her team. “Funding stability is always what weighs most heavily on my mind,” she says. “Each of our service areas is so important to those we serve and to our community. So even though the past few years have been quite a struggle with the worldwide staffing crisis, I work hard to think strategically and to keep all of our programming a priority.”

With that focus in mind, Horne says Metropolitan DuPage is investing in three primary areas to close out 2024 and head into next year: specialized training for leadership, extended reach into the community, and program evaluation to ensure the agency’s services and resources continue to align with the changing needs of its clientele. “We want to continue to make every effort not to be the provider that just simply holds up a menu of service choices and refers you out if you don’t fit our mold,” she says. “We always want to try to figure out what we can do for people, whether that’s helping to build confidence, providing a warm handoff to a more appropriate service, or even just being a friendly face for support in a difficult moment. Whatever it is, we just want to continue to reduce barriers to our programs and to be a friend to this community.”

The intake line for Metropolitan Family Services DuPage Center is 630-784-4802. Victims of domestic violence in need of shelter or support can call the 24/7 domestic violence hotline directly at 630-469-5650. For more information, visit metrofamily.org/community_center/dupage.

Photos: Metropolitan Family Services