Warrenville, Illinois – April 2, 2021 – Little Friends, Inc. is pleased to announce the public phase of its Building Futures capital campaign. A first of its kind for the organization, the goal of this comprehensive initiative is to raise $10 million that will provide improvements to facilities, elevate programs, and build an endowment that allows the agency to address the growing need for services for individuals with autism and other developmental disabilities. The campaign has already raised $4.2 million to date.
The capstone of the Building Futures campaign is the much-anticipated move to a new Warrenville campus, which Little Friends completed in December 2020. The new 74,000sf facility brings all the agency’s school programs under one roof with room to support substantial student enrollment expansion and increased classroom innovation in the coming years. The new campus also features a 30,000sf playground, accessible for all students to enjoy.
In addition to the new building, Little Friends plans to invest heavily in educational technology for children and adults, build a vocational exploration lab, expand telehealth services for the Little Friends Center for Autism, provide facility upgrades to homes in the agency’s residential portfolio, and expand respite family services programs to include more geographic locations. Funds raised from the Building Futures campaign will significantly support the agency’s endowment program, emphasizing key strategic investments in staff development that allow Little Friends to remain the leader in the services it provides.
“We have been building towards this future and are so excited that the day has finally come! This campaign will provide Little Friends with the resources necessary for those we serve, their families, and our community in a way that we were previously unable to do,” stated Ray Kinney, Co-Chairman of the Building Futures campaign and Vice Chairman of Little Friends Board of Directors. “We hope to not only raise the necessary dollars to support our mission but also raise the awareness of how Little Friends provides much-needed services to our community.”
To learn more about this exciting endeavor, please visit our website: https://www.littlefriendsinc.org/building-futures-campaign
About Little Friends–Founded in 1965, Little Friends is human services agency operating schools, vocational training programs, community-based residential opportunities, respite family services, and the Little Friends Center for Autism, a valued resource for diagnosis, comprehensive evaluations, therapies, and training for parents and professionals. The mission of Little Friends is to empower people of all ages experiencing autism, intellectual and emotional disabilities, and their families, to live, learn, work, and thrive in their communities. Visit us at www.littlefriendsinc.org
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