Human Resources Center of Edgar and Clark Counties

06/16/2026

☀️ Our Summer 2026 Newsletter is here! ☀️

Grab a cold drink and catch up on what is happening at HRC across Edgar and Clark Counties. 💚

This issue is a good one:
📖 Living the Dream: Trey's journey to his own apartment, a job he loves, and life on his own terms.

🛋️ A big update on our Living Room Program: new summer hours, and how the community is helping keep its doors open.

🎉 Summer events: Bingo for a Better Life (July 11), Marshall's Night Out on the National Road (August 14), and Feelings Island Summer Camp.

🙌 A heartfelt thank-you to the donors and partners who make it all possible.

📄 Read the full newsletter here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Pg4BG54hZ6K29yH5F_s0126loZLwp2h_/view?usp=sharing



📞 HRC Main: 217-465-4118
💚 Living Room Program: 217-712-9766 (free and confidential · Monday to Friday, 8 AM to 7 PM)
📞 Crisis Line: 988 (call or text anytime, day or night)

www.hrcec.org

06/16/2026

Save the date, Edgar County. Our summer is about to get a little brighter.

We are glad to share that our Summer Mental Wellness Day Camp will now begin on Monday, June 30, and run through the end of July. We moved our start date so families would not have to choose between the good things already happening around town this June. Now there is a seat for every child who wants one.

This camp is a place where children across Edgar County can play, make friends, and find their footing in a season that can feel heavy for young hearts. From Paris to Kansas, we are making sure transportation is covered so no child gets left behind. Our caring team will be there to walk alongside every camper with patience and warmth.

Would you like to be part of this blessing? Your gifts help cover the snacks, supplies, and activities that make these long summer days something special.

Give today: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/edgar-county-mental-wellness-summer-camp--2026

And if your family could use a little support this season, please know you are not alone. We are here, and the door is always open.
📞 HRC Main: 217-465-4118 (primary gateway to all HRC services)
📞 Living Room Program: 217-712-9766
📞 Crisis Line: 988

www.hrcec.org

When the school year ends, a lot of kids lose more than their classroom. For students who count on HRC's school-based therapy, summer can mean losing the steady support and connection that gets them through the year. This summer, HRC is changing that.We are running a therapeutic day camp at Lake Rid...

06/16/2026

Summer has settled in across Clark County. The fields are green, the days run long, and for around 60 children in Marshall, Casey, Martinsville, and the surrounding towns, those days are about to get a good deal brighter.

This season, our Clark County summer camp opens its doors for fellowship, learning, and the kind of belonging every young person deserves. Gatherings like these do not happen on their own. They happen because neighbors with a heart for service decide to step up for our kids.

We are humbled and grateful to share that Shore-Murphy & Associates Insurance has come alongside us as a sponsor of the Clark County Summer Camp. Their generosity helps provide the supplies, snacks, and activities that turn an ordinary summer day into something a child remembers for years.

To the team at Shore-Murphy & Associates: thank you. This is what neighbors helping neighbors looks like.

Would you like to be part of it too? Every gift toward our Clark County camp is matched dollar for dollar, up to the first $5,000, thanks to the generosity of Gerald Forsythe and the Yargus Foundation. Right now, your blessing goes twice as far.

💚 Give and double your impact: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/clark-county-mental-wellness-summer-camp--2026



📞 217-826-6212 (Forsythe Center / Clark County)
📞 217-465-4118 (HRC Main — the primary way to reach HRC services)
📞 217-712-9766 (Living Room Program)
📞 988 (Crisis Line, 24/7, free, confidential)

Web: www.hrcec.org

06/15/2026

Some of us call it Community Day Services. Brandon calls it school.

Most weekday mornings, Brandon knows exactly what day it is. When his wheelchair reaches the door, he knows he is going, and he gets happier and more cooperative. On a weekend, when his mom tells him there is no school today, he gives her a look.

For Brandon, school means time out of his chair so he can stretch. It means hot meals and trips to the park, the museum, and the theater. It means swimming at the pool. It means the day the group went to see the penguins he loves from the movie “Happy Feet,” and he was so engrossed that the staff still talk about it.

It is also the people. A driver who can turn a rough morning around with a single teasing question. Staff who know him by name, and know exactly what he likes.

That is what Community Day Services is. A place to go, something to look forward to, and a community that meets each person right where they are. For Brandon, it is the best part of the day.

And it is not only the people who attend who feel it. For the families and caregivers who love them, those hours matter every bit as much. Brandon’s mom, Kim, is his guardian and his around-the-clock caregiver, and she says the program is what helps her keep her sanity. That break is not a luxury. It is what lets her keep doing everything else, every day, for the son she loves.

We are proud of the people in our CDS program, and of everything school means to them.

If you are caring for a loved one with a developmental disability, whether you are in Marshall, Chrisman, or anywhere across Edgar and Clark Counties, reach out. We will walk alongside you and help you find the right next step, including getting your loved one on Illinois’ PUNS list, the state’s planning list for disability services.

To learn more about Community Day Services at HRC, visit www.hrcec.org.
📞 HRC Main: 217-465-4118
📞 I/DD Services: 217-463-3076

06/13/2026

Four weeks from today: Bingo for a Better Life.

Saturday, July 11 at the VFW in Paris. $25 a player. Real prizes. Real fun. Real impact for I/DD Services in Martinsville, Casey, and across Edgar and Clark Counties.

June is also Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness Month, a reminder that our brains, like the rest of us, do best with connection, purpose, and good company. A bingo night with friends checks all three.

Grab tickets early and bring a friend.

🎟️ zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/bingo-for-a-better-life-july-11--2026

📞 HRC Main Line: 217-465-4118 (your gateway to all HRC services)
📞 HRC I/DD Services: 217-463-3076

🌐 hrcec.org

06/12/2026

💜 Edgar County ROSC Council Meeting 💜

Join us as we continue working together to strengthen recovery support, reduce stigma, and create positive change in our community!

🗓 Tuesday, June 23, 2026
⏰ 5:15–6:15 PM
📍 Horizon Health Conference Room A & via Zoom

We would love to have your voice at the table!
📧 For more information: [email protected]

06/12/2026

A loud sound. A familiar smell. A song from another life. Sometimes the past barges into the present without warning.

For folks in Brocton and across our two counties living with PTSD, the right kind of support can change everything. Therapy works. EMDR works. Trauma-focused approaches work. People who once thought they'd never feel steady again do find their footing.

If you or someone you love is weary of carrying it alone, HRC is here. Reaching out is the start of finding your way back.

📞 HRC Main Line: 217-465-4118 (your gateway to all HRC services)
📞 Living Room Program: 217-712-9766 (24 hours, free, confidential)
📞 988 Su***de & Crisis Lifeline (Veterans: press 1 or text 838255)

🌐 hrcec.org

06/11/2026

There is hope in Vermilion. There is hope in Redmon. There is hope in every place where a person decides today is the day to try again.

HRC's substance use team has walked alongside hundreds of neighbors in the past year. Counseling, peer support, the Living Room Program, recovery navigation. Restoration is real, and we get to witness it daily.

If our work matters to you, would you consider a blessing to keep it going? Every gift helps a neighbor begin again.

💝 Give online: zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/help-us-create-life-changing-experiences
✉️ By mail: HRC, PO Box 1118, Paris IL 61944

📞 HRC Main Line: 217-465-4118 (your gateway to all HRC services)
📞 Living Room Program: 217-712-9766 (24 hours, free, confidential)
📞 988 Su***de & Crisis Lifeline (call or text, 24/7)

🌐 hrcec.org

06/10/2026

🌟 Congratulations to Sharon Johnson — HRC’s Employee of the Month! 🌟

When Sharon got the text, her first question was: “Do you mean for the rest area? Because we don’t even have one of those out here.” 😄 Nope — for ALL of HRC!

Sharon is a job coach on the crew that keeps the Cumberland Road Rest Area on I-70 spotless. After 20 years managing a restaurant in Paris, a progressive vision impairment ended that career — but it didn’t end her work life. At the rest area, she found a team where everyone’s strengths cover everyone’s limitations. She helps coworkers learn routines and handle change; they fill in the paperwork boxes she can’t see and call out “Hey Sharon, it’s Kelly!” when they pull up. As Sharon puts it: “We make a good team. I feel like we are a work family.” 💚

And when a person at the rest area was in crisis earlier this year, Sharon stayed calm, sat down, and listened — for half an hour — reminding them they were worth something and that help exists. That’s above and beyond. That’s Sharon.

“It’s not degrading work — it’s meaningful work. The world is run by people that do those kinds of things.” — Sharon Johnson

Interested in meaningful work with a team like Sharon’s? Visit hrcec.org/employment.

📞 HRC Main Line: 217-465-4118
💚 Living Room Program (confidential): 217-712-9766
📱 988 Su***de & Crisis Lifeline (call or text, 24/7)
🌐 hrcec.org