Respond Now Celebrates 50 Years of Social Service

CHICAGO HEIGHTS, IL — Social service agency Respond Now will celebrate 50 years of serving local families at a fundraiser Sept. 19 at Flossmoor Station Brewing Company. The organization offers services like assistance with bills, funds for prescription medications and weekly grocery supplies to south suburban families in need.

“This 50th anniversary celebration is very important to the clients we serve, our supporters and our staff,” Director of Development Cassandra Cooke said. “The Board of Directors is using this opportunity to reflect on the past 50 years in order to plan for the next 50. It’s recognizing everyone and their contribution to our community. It’s an acknowledgement of our neighbors in need and our commitment to helping them.”

Attendees can purchase raffle tickets with an option to be “brewmaster for a day” at Flossmoor Station. The restaurant and brewery is selling a signature Respond Now beer during September, with a portion of the sales going directly to the social service agency.

Respond Now has assisted families with “housing, hunger and health issues” since September 1969. It now provides these essential services to 14,000 families annually in 22 South suburbs, ranging from Park Forest to Crete. These areas have “a higher rate of poverty than the rest of Chicagoland,” according to Executive Director Carl Wolfe, “so the service we provide gives extra stability to the community.”

Founded by six parishes as a “referral and emergency care center” to help struggling families in six suburbs, the organization was originally staffed by a single Catholic Charities employee and several volunteers. Respond Now is run today by the generous contributions of area businesses, churches, grants and individuals, with more than 6,000 volunteer hours contributed every year.

“Right now the only thing that is holding Respond Now back from growing is the size of our building,” Cooke said. “We are literally busting out at the seams, but the need for our services is growing.

Board President Patrick Gallagher praised the support of the communities the agency serves. “We are part of the community, and we were started by the community. The continued support gives us the flexibility to do the work the community entrusted to us 50 years ago, because all of our neighbors matter.

Cooke, who recently moved from St. Louis specifically to work for the agency, echoes this official Respond Now slogan: “Our organization does amazing work for the clients we serve. The need for the wrap-around services that Respond Now provides our community is what gets me up in the morning.”

Tickets for the 50th anniversary event can be purchased at https://respondnow.org/events.