General Resources
The St. Louis Dental Center offers comprehensive special care dentistry for patients with intellectual, physical and emotional disabilities and other special healthcare needs. It is a partnership of A.T. Still University (ATSU) and Affinia Healthcare.
The center’s special care suites include a wheelchair lift. The center accepts Medicaid and most dental insurance plans. Discounts are available to uninsured patients.
St. Mary’s Food Pantry in Moline
St. Mary’s Food Pantry provides food to anyone living below 12th Avenue in Moline and between 53rd Street in Moline and 39th Street in Rock Island. Active members of St. Mary’s, Sacred Heart, Christ the King and St. Ann’s in Moline can also pick up food regardless of their address. Residents in the service area can pick up food once a month by providing a photo ID (such as a driver’s license) or a piece of mail with a current address.
St. Mary’s Food Pantry is at 412 10th St., in Moline. It is open on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
For questions, please call (309) 764-1562.
St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry in Rock Island
St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry is at 2502 29th Avenue in Rock Island. The pantry is open on Monday and Thursday mornings from 9 to 11:30 a.m.
St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry is provided by volunteers from St. Pius X Church in Rock Island. For more information, please call (309) 793-7373.
Stepping Stones Bereavement Camp for Children in Eureka, Missouri
BJC Hospice hosts Stepping Stones Bereavement Camp each year for children and teens who have experienced the death of a family member or close friend. The weekend-long, overnight camp provides a safe place for campers ages 6 to 15 to explore their grief and emotions.
The camp usually takes place in August and is free for all children who have lost loved ones, not just families served by BJC Hospice (service areas include Macoupin, Montgomery, Jersey, Madison, Bond, Fayette, Clinton, St. Clair, Monroe, Calhoun, Marion, Greene and portions of Pike and Perry counties).
Storyline Online features famous people reading books aloud to kids – no login needed
STRIVE for Independence offers driver evaluations and training for all ages, disabilities and medical conditions for the Chicagoland area. STRIVE for Independence serves clients with a wide variety of driver rehabilitation needs. Their team of specialists includes occupational therapists, certified driver rehabilitation specialists and state of Illinois certified driving instructors (CDI) for adults and teenagers.
Visit the STRIVE for Independence website for more details.
Suburban Cook County Homeless Prevention Call Center
If you need financial assistance with mortgage, rent payments, rent deposits, utility payments or other housing issues, please call the Homeless Prevention Call Center at 1-877-4-Cook-15 (1-877-426-6515).
Listen carefully to the prompts to choose which kind of help you need.
The Summer Meals Program and Illinois No Kid Hungry collaborate with national and state partner organizations to provide free meals during the summer for children and youth who depend on school lunches during the school year. Meals are available throughout Illinois for children and youth ages 18 and under.
To find a meal site near you:
- Visit Summer Meals Find Food Map or No Kid Hungry’s Free Meals Finder
- Call (800) 359-2163
- Text “Food” or “Comida” to 304-304
There is no income requirement to participate in open-site summer meal programs.
Certain summer meal sites, such as camps or closed programs that require an application to participate, may ask about income during the application process.
The Sunshine Foundation helps make dreams come true for children ages 3 to 18 who have severe or profound illnesses or conditions. Referrals can come from anywhere in the United States for children with severe or profound physical/developmental/intellectual challenges or trauma from physical/sexual abuse and whose families have limited income.
Dream requests can include:
- Staying at the Sunshine Foundation Dream Village and visiting area theme parks and attractions
- Funding towards a special gift or item of interest
- Funding towards medical or adaptive equipment that insurance may not cover
Supporting Children With Limited Verbal Skills Tip Sheet
This Supporting Children With Limited Verbal Skills tip sheet from the Illinois Early Learning Project provides strategies that are helpful to all children but are particularly helpful for those with limited verbal skills.
IEL offers a wide variety of one-page, easy-to-read tip sheets covering a wide range of topics for parents and teachers of young children.
All tipsheets are available in Spanish and English. Selected tipsheets are available in Polish, Korean, Chinese, Arabic, Russian and French.