Arden Shore moves into new Waukegan quarters
By Judy Masterson jmasterson@stmedianetwork.com June 2, 2011 10:52PM
Arden Shore Child and Family Services vice president Mark Dybas (right) of Gurnee gives a tour of the service providers new home on Genesee Street with president and CEO Dora Maya (left), Pam Bailey and her mother, Maya Peterson.
Downtown site will house
45 employees
Arden Shore Child and Family Services
329 N. Genesee St., Waukegan
(847) 623-1730
www.ardenshore.com
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Updated: August 2, 2011 12:15AM
The long-vacant Swank insurance building in downtown Waukegan will come to life Monday when it opens as the new home of one of the county’s oldest social service providers — Arden Shore Child and Family Services.
The unusual, vertical wood-sided building at 329 N. Genesee St. was home to Swank Insurance for more than 30 years until 2004, when its partner Statewide Insurance was liquidated in a bankruptcy. Arden Shore purchased the property for $1.4 million from NorStates Bank.
“We are 113 years old and we wanted a place to spend the next 100 years,” said Dora Maya, Arden president and CE0. “We’re very, very excited. It’s our legacy to the community and we’re hoping to bring economic development downtown.”
Formed in 1898 by members of the Glencoe Congregational Church as a summer camp for Chicago’s impoverished mothers and children, Arden Shore has grown and changed with the times — through large and small group homes for troubled youth, through moves from Chicago to Lake Bluff to Vernon Hills, through an all-volunteer effort by wealthy women to a $3.5 million payroll.
Its current mission includes providing community health and prevention services to 1,525 people a year.
The new, 24,000-square-foot headquarters, which offers plenty of room for expansion, will house 45 employees. It includes offices, dedicated meeting and children’s rooms, and a family counseling center with separate entrance. It also features a kitchen/classroom, where families will gather for meals and mentoring.
“We don’t see ‘problem’ families,” Maya said. “We see families with challenges but also strengths (that) we can help move forward to self-sufficiency and independence.”
Arden Shore also provides mental heath services to families and abused and neglected children sent by DCFS. A family counseling center inside the building has a separate entrance.
The Dec. 31 purchase of the property was funded through a $720,000 state grant and a $50,000 gift from the Grainger Family Foundation. The agency, which talked to 70 community leaders and invested in a feasibility study deciding to buy, has invested nearly $900,000 in improvements.
“This is a good place for us to be,” Maya said. “Sixty-five percent of our clients live in Waukegan and a lot of our staff live here. This is where we can see what the community needs are.”
Waukegan Mayor Robert Sabonjian said the move is a “plus” for the city, noting that employees will eat downtown. He said the Swank family is happy the building will be once again occupied.
The Waukegan school district signed a lease with option to purchase the building in 2006. But the deal fell through after renovation costs were calculated.
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