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10 | January 24, 2019 | The highland park landmark NEWS hplandmark.com North Shore School D112 School board considers severing ties with Family Focus Ronnie Wachter Freelance Reporter The North Shore District 112 School Board is considering ending its 15- year relationship with a local provider of before- and after-school services. Before its final vote, though, the board members say they want a more clear definition from their superintendent of why he strongly favors switching to a much larger firm. “If we’re going to make a decision,” board Join us Tuesday member Adam Kornblatt told superintendent Michael Lubelfeld near the end of the board’s Jan. 15 meeting, “there needs to be something behind the decision.” The decision revolves around the district’s before- and after-school offerings, which for 15 years they contracted to Family Focus, a Chicago non-profit. Lubelfeld lobbied heavily during the meeting for the board to expand how many school buildings offer before and after services, and pushed for a switch from Family Focus to Innovation Learning & Education, a firm based in a Denver suburb. Currently, the district pays Family Focus to produce a before-school program for Oak Terrace Elementary, and after-schools for Red Oak, Indian Trail and Oak Terrace elementaries; Lubelfeld wants to expand that to both before and after, for all seven elementary buildings. The existing arrangement through Friday Closed Sunday & Monday Froggys French Cafe Monthly Special for January Available for Lunch or Dinner $16 per person BEFORE 6:30pm CHOICE OF Soup: Lobster Bisque, Mushroom Creme, Butternut Squash or Mixed Green Salad ENTREE CHOICE OF... Steak with french fries or Cassoulet Toulousin or Alaskan Scrod with Lobster sauce All main courses are served with three vegetables and a starch FOR RESERVATIONS CALL 847.433.7080 WWW.FROGGYSRESTAURANT.COM 306 GREEN BAY ROAD, HIGHWOOD Not available for parties of 6 or more. Monthly Specials not valid on Holidays. leads to extra bus expenses and risk for the district — it transports kids at the four elementaries with no before or after programs to facilities that do have them, then back to the buildings where their school day takes place. In hopes of expanding its before- and after-school programs, the district requested proposals from interested groups; Family Focus, the Highland Park Park District, Innovation Learning and six other private companies responded. From that field, Lubelfeld spoke at length about the virtues of Innovation Learning. A three-and-a-half-hour meeting ensued, focused primarily on the merits of TUESDAY January 30, 2019 5:30-6:30 p.m. How can Ianticipate care needs? So many choices to make about help - where do Ibegin? The building blocks of empowerment as acaregiver This 30 min presentation will touch upon topics such as personality changes, changes in walking and balance, and home safety. Time for Q&A. Light refreshments will be served Danielle Arends APN., GNP Alzheimer’s &Dementia Care Experts Innovation Learning and Family Focus. Founded in 1977, Family Focus operates in seven locations around Chicago, for 17,000 students. Innovation Learning took off about two and a half years ago, and now serves nearly 150 schools in Arizona, Colorado, Missouri and Illinois. During his presentation, Innovation Learning founder Brett Prilik said they would hire instructors who speak both English and Spanish. Bobbie Hinden, Family Focus’s center director, said she has tried to expand in District 112, but been disappointed by what she felt was a lack of response from the administration. “Your decision is devastating,” she told Lubelfeld. “We will savor every day, until the end of the school year.” Genevieve Levinson, a freshman at Highland Park High School who spent years in Family Focus’s programs, could not hold back tears while speaking to the board. “I wouldn’t be crying if it didn’t mean so much to me,” Levinson said. “Please listen to us.” Board member Yumi Ross asked Lubelfeld and his staff for more information before their first chance to take a vote, on Jan. 29. “I just want to make sure we’re making the best decision possible.” ADAPTING TO THE EVER CHANGING CARE NEEDS IN DEMENTIA Please RSVP by Jan. 25 (224) 261-8352 northbrook inn Memory Care Community 99 Pointe Drive, Northbrook, IL 60062 (224) 261-8352 northbrookinn.com
hplandmark.com news the highland park landmark | January 24, 2019 | 11 Stepping Stones provides home for sex trafficking victims Katie Copenhaver Freelance Reporter National Human Trafficking Awareness Day was Friday, Jan. 11, with all of January being National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. These events have been established within the last couple decades to bring attention to this growing problem in the United States. Up to 25,000 people in the Chicago area alone are being sexually exploited through various forms of human trafficking. The Stepping Stones Network is one of the organizations trying to put an end to it. “It’s ugly. People want to think it happens somewhere else,” said Colette Mendelson, co-director of fundraising for Stepping Stones. “We’re in between Chicago and Milwaukee, and there’s a lot of activity right here in Lake County.” The Stepping Stones Network has been operating for five years, with meetings taking place at Christ Church of Lake Forest, which has been a major supporter of the group’s efforts. Executive Director Suzanne Baker Brown, along with Janet Kenny, established the organization after learning about the problem through her work in women’s ministry. The organization has numerous volunteers including Highland Park residents Rachel Cutler and Deb Dean. Up until now, the organization has provided rescue assistance for women and their children trying to escape from bondage and provided educational programming to the general public about how they can combat the problem. This year, Stepping Stones is moving to a new phase with the establishment of a residential program at an undisclosed Lake County location. They are in the middle of a capital campaign to raise $125,000 to open the home with 24/7 staff. According to Baker Brown, they have about $85,000 toward that goal and hope to meet it by April. There are three phases of rescuing someone: 1) The assessment phase 2) Long-term residential recovery 3) Placing survivors in subsidized housing with follow-up therapy. “We will be giving them stability, healing and life skills, and will help restore their dignity,” Baker Brown said. “When you have gone through what these young women have gone through, your dignity has been stolen.” Mendelson explained that pornography is one of the root causes of current sexual slavery. “Because it’s so accessible [on the Internet], so many people have become addicted, and that creates a demand for sex slaves and prostitution,” she said. “Men who pay for the services believe the women are doing this willingly, which is not the case. These women are tricked by blackmail or fraud into doing this.” Mendelson said they have a male volunteer who attends men’s events and conferences to speak about the issue of sex trafficking and how to avoid it. Both Baker Brown and Mendelson explained that Nonprofit Humble Design provided furniture to local nonprofit Stepping Stones Network to fill housing in Lake County for sex trafficking victims photo Submitted the perpetrators and pimps who coerce women into slavery develop a manipulative relationship with them. They recruit women at malls and schools as well as over the Internet. They buy them nice things, give them food and sometimes a place to live. When the women are recruited from other countries, the pimps will take away their passports and any other identification in order to keep them indentured, Mendelson said. “We run into a lot of challenges in helping women leave the scenario,” Baker Brown said. They are often threatened if they try to leave the bondage. Healing takes a long time, she explained. To contribute to the Stepping Stones Network’s capital campaign, visit its website at www. steppingstonesnetwork. org/donate. To learn more about its activities and human trafficking in general, follow it on Facebook. This story has been condensed. For the full story, visit HPLandmark.com. TAKE THIS NEW CAR WASH FOR ASPIN. THE TOWELS ARE TWIRLING IN HIGHLAND PARK. See what all the excitement is about at the NEW Waterway ® Carwash. Techny Road Willow Road Dundee Road 64 Skokie Valley Rd Highland Park Waukegan Road 2300 S. Waukegan Road Northbrook, IL 60062 Skokie Valley Road Lake Cook Road Interstate 94 Green Bay Road 64 Skokie Valley Rd., Highland Park, IL 60035 –Located just north of Lake Cook Rd. VISIT US TODAY
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