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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3 Representatives are pleased to congratulate the board and
4 administration of The Youth Campus on the occasion of the
5 organization's 100th anniversary of service in the City of Park
6 Ridge; and
 
7     WHEREAS, The rich history of what would become The Youth
8 Campus began in 1876, when Mrs. Delia Louise Rockwood Wardner,
9 wife of Brigade Surgeon Horace Wardner, accompanied her husband
10 to Cairo, Illinois, and soon realized the great need of the
11 many homeless and destitute children, especially girls,
12 brought to Cairo after the war; she gathered support to found
13 the Illinois Industrial School for Girls in 1877 as "a home and
14 proper training school" for girls orphaned by the Civil War;
15 and
 
16     WHEREAS, For 32 years, the Illinois Industrial School for
17 Girls operated in Evanston; in 1908, the school moved to a
18 40-acre farm in Park Ridge, completing the move in 1910; Hannah
19 Greenebaum Solomon, a civic and social welfare activist, led
20 the reorganization of the school's financial structure; her
21 considerable social connections permitted her to invite
22 generous philanthropic support, including a charitable
23 baseball game in the future Comiskey Park; Mrs. Solomon also

 

 

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1 invited her close friend Jane Addams, the founder of modern
2 social work and Chicago's Hull House, to join the school's
3 board; together, the pair brought the "English Cottage" model
4 to the school, which called for small individual homes managed
5 by a housemother in lieu of large congregate care orphanages;
6 in 1913, the name of the school was changed to the Park Ridge
7 School for Girls; and
 
8     WHEREAS, The Park Ridge School for Girls grew steadily over
9 the following 60 years, with the program's educational programs
10 improving dramatically; by the 1950s and 1960s, those living at
11 the campus attended the local high school and were afforded the
12 best schooling and opportunities for higher education; in 1977,
13 the school celebrated its 100th anniversary and the school's
14 new residential teen pregnancy care program was announced,
15 making the school one of only 2 such programs in the State; and
 
16     WHEREAS, In 1980, boys were admitted for the first time to
17 the Park Ridge School for Girls; that same year, the Teaching
18 Family model of care was adopted and the name was changed to
19 the Park Ridge Youth Campus; in 1992, foster care became a new
20 focus for the organization and prompted the opening of a
21 Chicago office from which to recruit, train, and support foster
22 families across the Chicago area; to indicate this broadening
23 of scope, the organization was renamed The Youth Campus; and
 

 

 

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1     WHEREAS, In 1994, The Youth Campus began a program for
2 Medically Complex Infants treated children suffering from the
3 effects of drug exposure, which went on for several years; and
 
4     WHEREAS, Today, The Youth Campus serves hundreds of
5 children through many programs in its facilities in Park Ridge
6 and Chicago, including adolescent Residential Treatment in
7 Park Ridge for girls 12-18 years old, Caregive Support for
8 biological and foster parents of medically and
9 developmentally-challenged infants and children in Cook
10 County, and recruiting, licensing, and training programs for
11 foster care and adoption; and
 
12     WHEREAS, The board and administration of The Youth Campus
13 serve as models of hard work, integrity, and dedication for the
14 people of the State of Illinois; therefore, be it
 
15     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
16 NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
17 congratulate the board and administration of The Youth Campus
18 on the occasion of the organization's 100th anniversary of
19 service in the City of Park Ridge and wish them continued
20 success and happiness in the future; and be it further
 
21     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
22 presented to the Board of Directors of The Youth Campus as a

 

 

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1 symbol of our esteem and respect.