Part 2: Drive to Serve
Oak Park loved and supported me and my family - I benefited from a culture that prioritizes grace and dignity.
Another reason I feel compelled to serve is that I haven’t just benefited from having family in Oak Park - I have benefited from the services that our collective community has in place to support each other. I was offered grace and dignity at a time when life was not ideal, and that’s an element of Oak Park I am incredibly grateful for.
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THE SECOND SLIDING SCALE
I had my oldest son soon after moving back to Oak Park. We’d sold the bakery as I was pregnant with Jack. An odd time in a woman’s life to look for a job. My spouse and I decided that I would just get things settled with Ruin, our oldest, then four years old, and I would be “at home” for a few years. Daycare costs would be replaced by me being home to shuttle the kids.
A few years in, when Jack was 2.5, we started him at the Oak Park River Forest Day Nursery. He loved it. We loved it. The yard was amazing even before the new playground.
And then Jim was laid off.
All at once, we were worried about what we were going to do. Ruin was at Lincoln Elementary - his education was secure. But Jim’s salary was paying for Jack to be in preschool. I scheduled the hard-to-have conversation with then-director, Dr. Catherine Hart. I went in thinking maybe if I asked to go down to two days a week we could maintain Jack’s place until Jim found a new job. Or maybe she would let us take a few months off and come back.
I explained the situation. Dr. Hart looked at me and said she had a better idea — the Oak Park River Forest Day Nursery had a sliding scale for just this reason. I had no idea that was the case. Nothing would change for his schedule. She’d arrange for our fee to scale back while Jim was unemployed, and then when he was back at work, we’d bump it back up. Jack would be able to stay in school.
Jim was out of work in late September and back to work by Christmas when we resumed full-price tuition payments.
THE FIRST SLIDING SCALE
While attending OPRF High School, I had the occasion to need crisis counseling. I was struggling. At the time, my Dean, Dean Goodwin, recognized that my behavior could go in a few directions. He referred me to Thrive Counseling Center. If I think about it, I bet I made the first appointment from the phone in his office.
I didn’t want my parents to know. I love them, and they are nothing but supportive, but like many teens, I was unsure how to speak with them. I wanted and needed to do this on my own.
I figured I was babysitting, and I had a part-time job at Bruce & Ken’s pharmacy. So I’d pay my way. Somehow.
As I arrived for my first appointment, they explained that I was able to receive counseling based on a sliding scale.
I could do this independently.
I went once a week. I started to work things through.
Eventually, I told my parents, and we moved the visit payments over to our health insurance. I saw my therapist through to graduation.
OFFERING GRACE AND DIGNITY
I don’t know where my life would be had I not had access to that kind of intervention at Thrive. And I’m ever grateful to the model of care at the OPRF Day Nursery - I think it is still the only preschool that offers a sliding scale for parents.
When I freelanced and represented local nonprofits such as Thrive, Sarah’s Inn, and Housing Forward, and later when I worked full-time for Beyond Hunger, and now as a volunteer for Beyond Hunger and PFLAG Oak Park Area, I was/am grateful that I can use my talents, my expertise, for organizations that offer people compassion.
As a municipal entity, our government does that too - our Village of Oak Park budget (check out Community Development Block Grants) supports community-centric nonprofits that, in turn, support community members. We support the arts and human services. That’s part of what makes us a desirable community.
And I’d be grateful to be able to use my talents for our wider village - to help continue our collective history of working to offer people grace and dignity from corner to corner.
