Building Strong Community Partnerships: Making Connections for the Future of the Community
North Lawndale Symphony of Services Through a Concert of Care (NLSSCC)
The Need
A good start in life makes a huge difference. Proper nutrition, nurturing and
loving care, and basic health care in the first few years of life are critical
to healthy development. Research shows that early identification and treatment
of developmental problems is critical for healthy outcomes. For new parents,
determining the services they need and finding those services is often a daunting
task. New parents need support and assistance--especially just after the baby
is born.
A coordinated community approach to maternal and child health is necessary to ensure that our most vulnerable children are receiving the full complement of services they need for healthy social, emotional and physical development. In North Lawndale, this issue was addressed 5 years ago through the creation of the North Lawndale Symphony of Services Through a Concert of Care (NLSSCC) Birth to Three Network-- a comprehensive, coordinated system of services for the birth to three population. The Network has grown to include services for children up to five years old.
How SCI Helps
North Lawndale Symphony of Services through at Concert of Care (NLSSCC)
is collaboration with the Chicago Department of Public Health, the Illinois Department
of Human Services, SCI and over 50 community-base maternal and child health service
providers. The goal of this five year collaboration is to ensure that parents
of young children residing in North Lawndale have easy access to health and social
services, and that quality services are available to meet the needs of our most
vulnerable population—our newest members of society.
We’ve created network partnerships with over 50 provider agencies including but not limited to:
- Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Programs which provide nutrition education and food items to eligible families
- Child care resource and referral (connecting parents to day care homes and centers)
- Early Intervention Services
- Hospitals and Clinics (to meet the health needs of young children);
- Family support and social services (e.g., drop-in centers, mom and tot groups etc)
- Housing Services
- City services (such as police, fire, streets and sanitation, lead prevention; and
- Specialized Services (for ex-offenders, substance abusers, child welfare programs etc.)
