Oak Leyden

06/17/2026

We hosted our annual Oak Leyden Board Retreat this week at Gibsons Restaurant Group in Oak Brook. We refer to our June meeting as a retreat because it is an extended time together (four hours); we discuss and approve next fiscal year’s budget (7/1/26 – 6/30/27); we learn from a respected speaker (more to come below); and we break bread with each other (board & leadership team).

We welcomed five new members to our Board of Directors. Eileen Curran, Linda Skitka, Bob Gerstner, Jane Weber, and Lori Malinski – thank you for joining OL’s Board! Thanks to our FY26 cohort who celebrated their first year of service on the Board: Lucia Robinson, Michael Weber, Howard Japlon & Tom Jacobs. You were our largest cohort – now you’re the second largest cohort after this year’s group! Many thanks to our longest serving members: Craig Volpe, Laura Gerstner, Cory Wesley, and Cathy McClendon. You have served on the OL board for years, ensuring continuity and a commitment to the mission. Thank you for your partnership and thought leadership!

Special thanks to Heather Eddy and Jamie Sheffler from KEES/Alford Executive Search for sharing knowledge about the nonprofit sector; context & perspective about nonprofit boards; the most effective ways boards and leadership teams work together; and handing out gold stars!

Shoutout to our leadership team – they and their teams get it done! Melissa Ehmann, Sandy Vanoskey, Nancy Thomas, Ken Cheatham and James Michael.

Very grateful to be part of this team and excited to be in the arena with these talented, committed, and thoughtful leaders!

06/15/2026

Bring your child to meet an actual firefighter as part of “Don’t Fear the Gear” educational programming on Wednesday, July 1st at 5:30 pm in our playroom. You and your child will have the opportunity to socialize with other Oak Leyden families and our themed activities provide lots of opportunities for developmental skill-building! Register to attend at the link in our bio!

06/10/2026

✨ Supporting Language Development from the Very Beginning ✨

Our very own SLP, Chloe Latka, recently presented “Modeling Language to Your Baby and Toddler” for families in our community. The session focused on using child-directed speech and simple ways to narrate everyday routines to build language skills naturally.

Families explored how language learning can happen anytime, anywhere—through interactive examples, videos, and discussion. We’re grateful to the Collaboration for Early Childhood for the opportunity to share this important work and connect with local families.

Missed the workshop? You can still watch the recording here: https://vimeo.com/1198608748?share=copy&fl=sv&fe=ci

We love opportunities like this to support and empower families in our community! 💙

06/09/2026

Oak Leyden was happy to take part in Oak Park's Day In Our Village celebration last weekend. As we often do, OL provided a much-appreciated 'little kid rest stop' for tired families; a carpeted area under the trees of Scoville Park, loaded with toys and activities. These games and learning tools are often used by our therapists working with kiddos requiring Early Intervention services, but they are fun for everybody. ; ; ; ;

06/05/2026

Hey folks, the sun is coming out for real these days and it is definitely time to dust off the driver! Join Oak Leyden for a walk around the links at Ruffle Feathers Golf Course on Wednesday, July 22nd--plenty of time to get your excuses for HR ready! Please see below for all the important info about how to register or even become a sponsor of this event. If you have questions, please contact Jim at [email protected] for answers.

Email from Oak Leyden You're invited to meet us at Ruffled Feathers!     Oak Leyden Golf Event Wednesday, July 22nd, 2026 In partnership with Willing to Hunt   Event Details Greetings! We're getting e

06/02/2026

Today the Summer Adventure group launched for this year’s edition. Our group explored the Trailside Museum at Thatcher Woods in River Forest. We spied turtles, dug in their sand table and met new friends! Trailside Museum is a great place to play and explore the great outdoors. Our friends enjoyed meeting each other while exploring a new place. What a great start!

05/26/2026

Yesterday Oak Leyden was honored to participate in the Memorial Day parade held in River Forest. It couldn't have been a more beautiful day for a walk, and we were happy to have an enthusiastic crew of marchers. Thanks to Martin, Laura, and David Becker, and my colleagues TJ, Katie, and Tenika for making this possible. , &Equal,

05/21/2026

“Advocate, advocate, advocate.”

Oak Leyden CEO RJ McMahon was in Springfield fighting for higher wages for DSPs and stronger support for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The work is essential, and so are the people who do it.

🔗Join the fight: https://www.theydeservemore.com/take-action

05/18/2026

Folks, if you are going to be in town next week, join us for a fun event that will raise awareness of our mission while celebrating our veterans. Oak Leyden will be marching in River Forest's Memorial Day Parade on Monday the 25th, and we really hope you will join us. It's important for our residents and program participants to get out into the community and meet our neighbors. As you can see from some of these photos, they have a great time whenever they can meet and interact with folks. Let's get a big group together and celebrate our mission! Feel free to contact Jim at [email protected] for details.

05/13/2026

Spring is here, and the way we know that is that everybody's calendar is filling up fast with festivals, concerts, ballgames, yard parties...you name it, as long as it's outside. Oak Leyden also has several events coming up fast, and we don't want you to miss them!

This Saturday, May 16th, volunteers will be participating in 'Spring Into Service', our yardwork service event taking place at 6 of our Community Integrated Living Arrangements (CILAs) in Melrose Park, Franklin Park, Forest Park and Berwyn. Thanks to our partners at Hoy Groundskeeping, these houses will be spruced up so that our adult residents and staff will be able to enjoy their yards, entertain guests and neighbors, and feel a strong sense of dignity and pride in their homes. (It's not too late to take part! See below)

Staying in town for the holiday weekend later this month? Then join us in marching in River Forest's Memorial Day Parade on Monday, May 25th. There is nothing to it! We'll tell you where to meet up with us, and join Oak Leyden staff, program participants, families/guardians and supporters as we take a stroll through some of River Forest's loveliest streets, waving like crazy and throwing candy. Friends welcome--the more the merrier.

Also coming up fast...Oak Leyden will be taking part in A Day In Our Village on June 7th and Thursday Night Out on June 20th, both in Oak Park. If you are planning on attending either of these events, stop by and say hello. And, lastly, tickets go on sale next Monday for the Banker's Charity Golf Classic benefitting Oak Leyden. This premier golf event takes place on Wednesday, July 22nd, at Ruffled Feathers Golf Club.

For details on these and other upcoming events, please keep an eye on our Events page on our website.

For more details or questions, contact Jim at [email protected]!