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Breaking Free Receives $17K Grant From Community Foundation

For further information:
Ann E. Spehar, Director of Development
aspehar@BreakingFreeInc.org

Breaking Free announced today that it is the proud recipient of a $17,875 grant from the Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley for the purchase of new, customizable, electronic record-keeping and billing software.

As a community-based provider of comprehensive services, Breaking Free works collaboratively with a broad base of local agencies to help youth remain drug-free.  For those individuals who become harmfully involved in the use of alcohol and other drugs, Breaking Free is a licensed provider of outpatient treatment services that meet the needs of these individuals and their families.  “We have amazing, talented counselors and social workers coupled with an unmatched treatment program,” says Michael Moran, MA, CADC, Executive Director.  “This generous grant from the Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley will increase our capacity and improve our efficiency in numerous ways.  We are so very grateful.”

Breaking Free provides assessment, outpatient and intensive outpatient services at a variety of schools throughout Kane and DuPage Counties for students that have been identified as in need of substance abuse services.  By integrating the services with the school setting, this model breaks down many of the barriers to engagement in treatment by providing services on-site during the school day.

“Project SAFE,” a specialized intensive outpatient program for substance-involved women who have been charged with child neglect or abuse is also run by Breaking Free.  Through the use of intensive outreach services, gender-specific programming and parent-training services, this program provides it’s clients with the opportunity to enter recovery and regain or retain their parental rights.

Outpatient assessment and treatment services are also available for adults.  With an emphasis on long-term abstinence, Breaking Free counselors provide individual, group and family treatment to help clients begin and maintain their recovery from mood-altering substances.

In addition, Breaking Free also provides specialized substance abuse assessment and early intervention services to the Kane County Court Services Department for both juvenile and adult probationers.

These programs are examples of Breaking Free’s innovative perspective partnered with its professional staff.  “Multidisciplinary, clinical meetings are conducted on a weekly basis to review clients for purposes of admission, discharge and treatment planning, “ says Barb Goy, LCSW, CADC, who provides oversight and supervision of all clinical services, including the Dunham Student Assistance Center.  “The new software will allow our counselors, social workers and treatment providers more timely access to both active and stored records for improved continuity of care.  We are truly thrilled and looking forward to assisting more clients because of our improved technology.”

The Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley is a collection of individual funds and resources given by local citizens to enhance and support the quality of life in the Fox River Valley in Illinois.  It is a tax-exempt public charity that allows individuals, businesses, and other non-profit organizations to establish permanent endowment and temporary funds within the confines of one large foundation. Foundation funds are used to provide grants to non-profit organizations and scholarships to area students. The Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley serves the Greater Aurora Area, the TriCities and Kendall County in the State of Illinois.

More About Breaking Free

Breaking Free is the leading organization in our community providing prevention, treatment and education programs focused on alcohol and drug abuse, child abuse and mental health. We work to strengthen families one person at a time.

Challenges such as substance abuse, violence, and child abuse strike at the very heart of our community, and Breaking Free is here to meet those challenges. Located in Aurora but working in DuPage, Grundy, Kane and Kendall Counties, each month we assist more than 900 people – children, adolescents, adults as well as entire families. People who are in desperate need of our services with nowhere else to go.  Founded in 1977, we expand our continuum of care as needed to meet the ever-changing and increasingly complex needs of today’s families.

Grant funds from the Community Foundation helped provide updated technology. These upgrades were transformative. By creating new time saving processes, it turned us into a more efficient organization.

Marie Wilkinson Food Pantry

Grantee

Education is important to us. We support causes that touch our lives and align with our values. We believe in paying it forward. We are here for a short time,, and it is the next generation that will take on what we leave behind.

Michelle Emanuel

Donor and Past Scholarship Recipient

I am incredibly grateful for the generosity of the Zari Foundation Scholarship and the Community Foundation in supporting my education. I am majoring in mechanical engineering with a concentration in aerospace engineering at the Rose-Hulman Institue of Technology. In my spare time, I volunteer on campus, in the community and I’m also the principal violist in the symphony orchestra. I hope to make an impact on the next chapter of space exploration by eventually working at a groundbreaking aerospace company such as SpaceX or NASA.

Taytum Newell

Albert M. Zari Scholarship Recipient

Give your gift of time and see what it means to the people you impact. Helping others is what life is all about.

Neal Ormond

Donor & Fund Advisor

YEP has made me realize the importance of being involved in my community, and how to make a difference. There are a lot of problems in the world but if we can do everything that we can to help the world will become a better place. YEP has helped me realize this and encouraged me to help more people in the future.

Madi Porter

YEP Member

YEP was a great experience to have in high school. I became a more confident person, someone with a lot more perspective. Coming from a small school, YEP allowed me to branch out into my community, meet students from other schools, and learn about their backgrounds. I made some great friends and still keep in touch with them today.

Abby Vagnoni

YEP Alumni

Being a part of the Community Foundation scholarship committee is the highlight of my year. For many, a scholarship from the CFFRV is the reason they are able to continue reaching for their dreams and changing the future of our world. I hope each recipients knows just how inspirational they are to those of us who are lucky enough to read their stories.

Jessica Breugelmans

Scholarship Committee Member and Board Member

Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley

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