Infant Welfare held its 95th Annual Meeting at the Union League Club in downtown Chicago.  Remarks were made by Board president, Anna Igoe, Executive Director, Dr. John Wilhelm, Auxiliary president, Marge Tresley, and Board treasurer, Colleen Creighton.

The recipient of Infant Welfare’s Champion for Children Award was Sr. Catherine Ryan who is currently the executive director of Maryville Academy based in Des Plaines, Illinois but with eight service sites scattered throughout the Chicago area.  Sr. Catherine was introduced by friend and professional colleague Cook County State’s Attorney Richard A. Devine.

Sr. Catherine Ryan is a graduate of Northwestern University School of Law and served for many years as Assistant State’s Attorney and Chief of the Juvenile Justice Bureau in the Office of the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office before accepting the position at Maryville Academy in 2005.  In accepting the award she recognized the similarity of missions between Infant Welfare and Maryville Academy and the importance of nurturing our youth in a respectful and hopeful environment.

Special recognition was given to Mr. James H. Stacke of Stein Roe Investment who has served for 34 years on the Board of Directors for Infant Welfare.  Mr. Stacke accepted a position on the Society’s  Honorary Board.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Dr. Wilhelm presented awards to his CFO Stanley Jewell, Senior Accountant Orkun Ozkaymak, and Billing Manager Marisol Mendez as Employees of the Year. 

This year’s meeting was attended by several Advisory and Honorary Board members.

July and August were special months for me.  It felt great to be accepting kudos from people who were recognizing our successes this past fiscal year (July 2005 – June 30).  The number of patients increased (a base of 8,930) as did the total number of patient visits (40,884). This represents 5,350 more patients than the previous fiscal year. And, very importantly, our revenue covered expenses. You, the staff, as well as the Board and Auxiliary should be proud of how well we worked as a team to bring about these successes. And this was against a background of major changes in both systems and personnel.  I am grateful for your hard work on behalf of the patients we serve. This sense of focus has always been Infant Welfare’s strength. 

Because we are a not-for-profit organization, the challenges never stop.  It’s like turning the pages of next year’s calendar.  Everything we dealt with last year will come around again.  Our challenge is to maintain what we have and hopefully do better. From the data we have for July and August, it looks as though our growth will continue.

As we finished our first fiscal year on Fullerton Avenue, I am very confident about the quality and efficiency of our clinical care much of which is now being provided in English, Spanish and Polish — pediatric dentistry, child and adolescent mental health, pediatrics including Healthy Steps, ophthalmologic services, prenatal, family planning, women’s health, triage — all with the improved support of medical records, the appointment desk, front desk and financial interviewing staff.  You may not realize it but this menu of services being offered in a single building is unique in the city of Chicago. Our clinical management team (Kisti Gibbs, Julia Foust and Joanne Leck) will continue to seek your input on how we can provide an even better experience for our patients so that our patients will become our promoters in the community.

Because our clinical care is so good, I am looking forward to spending a great deal of time this fiscal year raising money by “marketing” our product.  Already some members of the Board of Directors have made significant contributions because they have confidence in what we are doing.  One recent donation will be used to challenge the Board and Auxiliary to raise an equal amount between November 1^st and the end of the year. If we meet the challenge, we will receive a match up to $30,000.  

Among the staff joining us, I want to draw your attention to our Director of Development, Denis O’Keefe, who will begin on September 19.  Filling this position will go a long way in securing our immediate fundraising goal and also in building our investment account which will secure our long-term viability as an organization.

And finally, I want to recognize the accomplishments of our finance team.  Not only have they managed our money to assure prompt payment of our bills but, with their additional efforts on some weekends, we are well on our way to completing the audit.