Meadows Community Services

Our Vision

Our vision is to provide social services, with Christ-like compassion, to meet the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of low income immigrant individuals and families regardless of race, creed or color.

Our Faith, Philosophy and Beliefs

• We strive to effectively integrate the Christian faith and professional practice in all agency services.
• We value the right of each individual or family to live a life of dignity and respect.
• We believe that our clients are best served when given the opportunity to improve physically, mend emotionally and grow spiritually.
• We believe that our clients are empowered with programs that educate them and assist with their integration into the community.
• We strive to assist individuals or families with the transition to a new culture and environment.
• For those clients who require immigration remedies, we provide assistance.
• These philosophies and beliefs are based on our Christian faith: that Jesus Christ has called us to love our neighbors as ourselves and to care for them.  This is the calling we at Meadows Community Services try to live.

Our History

Meadows Community Services - mcs was founded in 1986 by a woman who saw a need and felt that someone should do something about it.  Elssy Fabela was working as a nurse at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights, Illinois.  There she met many new immigrants who had multiple needs and did not know where to turn for assistance.  Elssy recognized the great challenge of helping these people to become useful citizens, as well as to meet their emergency needs.  She discussed these needs with her pastor, Rev. David Brown of Meadows Baptist Church in Rolling Meadows.  She asked for and received an office at the church so that she could counsel and serve people on her day off.  Every Wednesday Elssy was at the church providing services. The word of her services spread.   She contacted other churches to provide volunteers and help. Meadows Baptist Church donated the space, all the supplies (telephone line, office supplies, etc.), and included mcs as one of its mission ministries for funding.  mcs continued to grow, as did the number of needy clients, volunteers and funding. 

In1990, when Elssy had to move to another state, a person was needed to continue the ministry.  Thelma Talamantes, a volunteer for mcs who helped with office work and visited families in crisis, was asked to take the position.  She became the first paid, full -time director of mcs, and  served as Executive Director until Irene Rodriguez-Folley joined mcs in February 2004. Until her departure in May 2006, Irene sprearheaded a public relations campaign that has increased our visibility in the community and enabled us to reach out to more clients.

Before Elssy left, three major goals were successfully met: 

1. A Board of Directors was formed. 

2. Articles of incorporation under the laws of Illinois as a not-for-profit corporation were filed. 

3. Continuing financial support to pay the salary of the new director was secured from several churches.

Today mcs has approximately 5,000 clients in its files and serves about 250 people a month.  People are helped with services in the following categories:  general assistance, health programs, education, spiritual guidance, and special programs.  Our Board Members do presentations to churches and organizations to raise funds.  The Board of Directors oversees the office and approves the programs for the center.  mcs reaches out to any in need, but the most identifiable community of clients is the growing Hispanic population, which, because of its language and educational barriers, is constantly facing pressing needs. 

After almost 20 years of service to Rolling Meadows and surrounding communities, the work of mcs still reflects Elssy Fabela's dream - to help people with their physical, emotional and spiritual needs and thus empower them to become self-sufficient, contributing citizens of their communities.

 

Meadows Community Services  Ÿ  2401 Kirchoff Road  Ÿ  Rolling Meadows, IL 60008 Phone  (847) 255-6338  Ÿ  Fax  (847) 590-9290