Make this holiday season merrier for the individuals we serve by giving a gift to our Annual Appeal!
Our Mission is To help people with developmental disabilities work, live in homes of their choice, and enjoy community life. While the initial two facets of our mission receive support from state and federal funding, the third pillar—integral to Opportunity House—relies solely on grants and donations from our generous supporters like you. Contributions received through the Annual Appeal will help us enhance our mission, enabling us to bolster these unfunded programs and strengthen our services.
This past year, Opportunity House expanded its capacity to serve more individuals, reaching 195 adults with disabilities across our programs. Our unfunded programs, such as the Recreation, Special Olympics, and Learning For Life programs remain vital to our mission while providing enrichment and community engagement opportunities to their participants. Every donation, regardless of size, helps enhance these programs by expanding our resources and increasing our ability to support even more adults with disabilities. Read on to learn more about the impact of these programs!
Thank you for your steadfast support in promoting equal opportunities and empowering adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Wishing you a joyous holiday season!
This past year, Opportunity House expanded its capacity to serve more individuals, reaching 195 adults with disabilities across our programs. Our unfunded programs, such as the Recreation, Special Olympics, and Learning For Life programs remain vital to our mission while providing enrichment and community engagement opportunities to their participants. Every donation, regardless of size, helps enhance these programs by expanding our resources and increasing our ability to support even more adults with disabilities. Read on to learn more about the impact of these programs!
Thank you for your steadfast support in promoting equal opportunities and empowering adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Wishing you a joyous holiday season!
Recreation program
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The mission of the Recreation Department is to allow the clients we serve the opportunity to participate in leisurely activities of their choice. These activities are designed to promote the different dimensions of health and wellness and to encourage physical, social, emotional, and cognitive growth. In the last year, over 90 individuals have participated in our 'Rectivities,' including participants from Sycamore, DeKalb, Cortland, Sandwich, Elgin and Genoa.
Out & About Activities are a large part of our Recreation Department. This year, we visited the Museum of Contemporary Art, Monroe Hot Air Balloon Festival, Galena Civil War Days, Cantigny, Brookfield Zoo, Cave of the Mounds, a Chicago Sky WNBA game, and much more! Crafting is also a huge part of the recreation department. Our clients have learned to sew using a sewing machine, create sculptures from wire, experiment with stained glass, and learn to weave just to name a few. Much like OH Athletics, we like to stay active! In conjunction with Ovation Dance Studio in Sycamore, we have created our Fun & Fierce Dance group. We participate in the studio's biannual show, performing a routine we have worked on for six months. The Rec Department is known for putting on a great party! We go all out to make our holiday parties and big gatherings an unforgettable experience. These parties typically see ~110 participants from not only Opportunity House, but also many friends from the community and other agencies that serve individuals with disabilities. Just this last year, we threw a Watermelon Explosion event for clients, staff, and their families, as well as a Winter Wonderland Party, a Halloween Dance, and a Totally Tiki Luau! |
Our participants also love giving back! Our Aktion Club participants work hard on monthly projects that benefit us as well as the community. Our Aktion Club this year hosted the annual conference for the Northern Illinois/Eastern Iowa region which included over 100 participants. Aktion Club focuses on doing service projects for the community and our CILA homes. Last Christmas we made beautiful holiday wreaths for each of our group homes.
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OH athletics
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Our Opportunity House Athletics program offers 8 individual and team sports year round, each sport played in their respective season. The sports our clients participate in are basketball, volleyball, bocce, soccer, softball, cornhole, bowling, and golf. Over 60 athletes participate in at least 1 sport, with many participating in multiple throughout the year! In addition to physical fitness and athletic skill, our athletes have shown enhanced social skills, cognitive functioning, and increase self-confidence.
We host and travel to exhibition games before competing in the Special Olympics Illinois (SOILL) regional tournaments in hopes to qualify for state tournaments. In 2024, we had 32 different athletes qualify for state level competitions. At those state competitions, we had a bocce athlete win gold, a softball team win gold, and a golfer win gold! |
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learning for life
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An important aspect of our Community Day Services (CDS) program is the Learning for Life classes. Throughout the year, the individuals we serve have the choice to take classes that are designed to improve fine and gross motor skills, cognitive ability, and independent daily living. Some of the classes offered this past year were Automotive Technology, Art History, Grocery Store Math, Gemstones & Minerals, and a second level of the popular Fiber Arts & Textiles class. Not only does this significantly help the individuals we serve, they also eagerly await to take classes. This year, we had 74 participants take at least 1 class. That's 72% of the clients enrolled at Community Day Services!
After the art classes where our students stretch their creative muscles, we host an art show to display the incredible talents of everyone in the organization. Attendees come to see the art their loved ones have made throughout the year and to enjoy the company of their classmates and companions. This event has grown into a wonderful gathering that has shown to bring people from all walks of life together to support their loved one, the individuals we serve. Once the Learning for Life classes are completed and students have proven to have retained the information, we celebrate with a |
commencement ceremony at Kishwaukee College! We had 12 graduates at this years commencement who celebrated this outstanding achievement with friends and family.
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