Category: News

Equitable-Minded Community

As Kaleidoscope works towards an equitable future for the families we serve and the dedicated individuals who do this work, we realize that this journey is not sustainable if we go it alone. We must create a community of equitable-minded supporters, donors, volunteers, and community partners. To begin building this equitable community, Kaleidoscope has taken […]

Advocating for ALL Families

Kaleidoscope is committed to following the most current guidance, best-practice standards and interventions to best serve children and families. Since our founding in 1973, we have offered staff trainings and seminars to offer the newest tools to help families. With the inception of our DEI Committee in June 2020, we made a stronger more direct […]

An Equitable Future for Our Staff

Kaleidoscope launched its staff DEI Committee in June of 2020, as the entire country felt the power, sorrow and anger of protests against racial injustice. The primary goal of Kaleidoscope’s DEI Committee is to support the children, youth and families we serve. But we cannot create equity for our families without ensuring an equitable future […]

Promoting Equity on the Frontline

https://youtu.be/sJ0pj5PjbNc As part of Kaleidoscope’s ongoing effort to promote equity within the communities and systems we work in, our teams participated in this interactive training opportunity in Spring 2021 to better understand the intersectionality of race and child welfare. Kaleidoscope team members were able to define what equity looks like at Kaleidoscope, learn new skills […]

Foster Parent Recruitment Picnic

Previous Next On Saturday, September 18th, the Chicagoland Foster Care Collaborative hosted the Foster Parent Recruitment Picnic at Dan Ryan Woods Pavilion. Kaleidoscope received funding from Impact Grants Chicago in 2019 to expand our Foster Parent recruitment efforts to meet the needs of the our community. Kaleidoscope and 6 other agencies have been working on […]

The Need for Foster Parents

Ahead of the Foster Parent Recruitment Picnic held by the Chicagoland Foster Care Collaborative, Kathy Grzelak (Kaleidoscope) and Kara Teeple (Lawrence Hall) join Fox32 Chicago to talk about the current need for Foster Parents across the state of Illinois and in the Chicagoland Area. Full interview can be found here.

National Child Welfare Appreciation Day

Yesterday, September 20th was National Child Welfare Appreciation Day, a chance to stop and thank the dedicated individuals who are committed to supporting children, youth and families in our community. Our team at Kaleidoscope shows up each day ready to face whatever challenges may be thrown at them because they know that our children, youth […]

An Update on Sylvester

Sylvester had a tough childhood, and through his involvement in so many DCFS programs, he felt as though he lived 35 different lives. We at Kaleidoscope have been very lucky to have known Sylvester in his latest life and to have watched him grow into the remarkable, motivated young man he has become. Listen to […]

Kaleidoscope featured in Greater Southwest News-Herald

“It has been a crisis prior to the pandemic. There was a huge shortage (of foster parents) already and the pandemic made it worse. There is a backlog of kids sitting in residential centers and hospitals, (waiting for home placement),” said Kathy Grzelak, executive director of Kaleidoscope, citing the difficulty of “recruiting by Zoom. Since […]

Teaser: Stories that Connect 2021

Join us virtually on Thursday, July 22 for our FREE event to support our programs for families healing from abuse and neglect in Chicago. We’ll share real life stories that showcase how our programs help children, youth and families build resourcefulness, resiliency, and supportive relationships.  See a special trailer of our event below, then register […]