Goodwill Industries of N. IL & The Northern IL Center for Nonprofit Excellence Receive Grant from Community Foundation of Northern Illinois

CFNI’s second year of support allows for scaling up of case management initiative

Rockford, IL – Goodwill Industries of Northern Illinois and Northern Illinois Center for Nonprofit Excellence (NICNE) on behalf of the Rockford Area Case Management Initiative were recently awarded a grant in the amount of $14,700 from the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois (CFNIL). This funding, the second year of support, allows the Initiative to scale up implementation of the comprehensive case management system and community of practice for human service agencies, creating a radical system change.  The Rockford Area Case Management Initiative is a community-wide approach to deliver strength-based case management and support services that participants achieve specific, self-defined outcomes leading to a healthy self-reliance.  Pam Clark Reidenbach, NICNE Director, notes that:

“The generous support from the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois is helping our community continue to move from a system where hundreds of agencies are working independently with individual agency outcomes to a continuum of care, where agencies work together using the same language, philosophy, and best practices.”

The continuum of care provides case managers with intentional, effective referral practices that move the needle on community outcomes by ensuring participants do not fall through the cracks of our service delivery system.  The Initiative trained over 120 case managers during the first year of funding.  The second year of support will allow the initiative to build a community of practice among case managers ensuring common practice and language to professionalize the field, expand the number of trained case managers, and develop specialized training modules for continued professional development.

More about NICNE: Northern Illinois Center for Nonprofit Excellence (NICNE) has been providing capacity building, training, technical assistance and resource support to nonprofit organizations within our region since August 2004. NICNE is the region’s primary resource for nonprofit management and leadership development. NICNE strengthens nonprofits by providing education, training, technical assistance, and assessments, and encourages collaboration resulting in a strong, vibrant nonprofit sector critical to a healthy community. Our Mission: Promoting innovation and excellence in the nonprofit sector.

More about Goodwill:  Goodwill Industries of Northern Illinois is a community-based not-for-profit organization whose mission is to create opportunities for individuals with barriers to enhance their lives.

More about CFNIL: The Community Foundation of Northern Illinois has been a regional leader in philanthropy since 1953. CFNIL serves as a catalyst for giving in order to attract, grow, and preserve an endowment for the needs of Northern Illinois. Since its founding, CFNIL has granted more than $63 million for charitable purposes.