Shore Adult Services Program finds new home in Skokie

September 27, 2016, Skokie, IL Years of uncertainty have finally ended for Shore Community Services.

In 2009 the nonprofit learned its long-term lease on the Lois Lloyd Center in Evanston, which housed its program for adults with moderate to severe and profound disabilities, was going to expire. They needed to relocate.

This was a major problem, as Shore relies completely on private donors for all non-operational funding. A new building would be expensive. Add in the constraints of location — the adult program serves people with disabilities in Skokie, Evanston and Morton Grove, so it couldn’t venture too far — and Shore had a difficult task to achieve.

With some luck, and a great deal of hard work, Shore officials found the perfect home: an empty building at 8350 Laramie Avenue, Skokie — the former site of the Skokie Police Department. “At first I thought, ‘Why would a police station be interesting to us?’” recalled Natalie Romano, President of the Shore Board of Directors. “But because it was a unique space, we realized we could utilize it for this program, and it had the administrative space that allowed us to sell our existing administrative building and use the proceeds to renovate the second floor.”

Shore bought the former police headquarters in December 2014 and moved its administrative offices to the second floor that February. In December 2015, renovations began on the first floor. By July of this year, the Adult Services Program staff and clients were able to move in.

A quick walk around the premises will show any visitor the creativity Shore’s staff and Architect Raffi Arzoumanian of Arzoumanian & co. had in redesigning the space. The entire first floor was gut-renovated to create nine group rooms, which each have a color-coded sign and a number to help Shore clients — most of whom cannot read — navigate the area. The Sally ports with garage doors were turned into glass windows and doors, and that area became a multi-purpose room. There is also an accessible kitchen, sensory room, nurse’s office and gated garden area.

The new facility is the culmination of years of work by devoted staffers.

“It’s a relief and it’s almost — because it was such a struggle — it’s hard to believe it happened,” Romano said. “Construction moved according to plan, and once we got started everything fell into place. It’s just surprising to look back and say ‘Wow we did it.’ That is a testament to the staff that did it.”

Fulfilling a vision

In the late 1940s, Evanston residents Lois and Thomas Lloyd were told their daughter Patricia, who had severe disabilities, would have to live in an institution.

The Lloyds thought they could do better. They believed Patricia should have the same opportunities as anyone else her age, so they opened up the North Shore School for Retarded Children in the early 1950s. It would ultimately become Shore Community Services and serve thousands of people across the spectrum of intellectual and physical disabilities.

As society grew more accepting of people with special needs, so did the educational opportunities. It was no longer financially viable for Shore to operate its school, since children could get support from local schools.

But opportunities for adults with moderate to severe and profound disabilities were still few and far between.

Shore’s Adult Services Program began in 1983, serving those adults who needed a middle ground between Shore’s school and vocational services programs.

“For some of our clients we are a stepping stone for them to move on to the training center, but for the majority of our clients this is the most appropriate place,” said Debbie Shulruf, director of the new Lois Lloyd Center.

More than 80 clients use the program, without which they might not have access to social events like the holiday parties, fashion shows and cooking classes that Shore puts on. Most of the clients cannot live by themselves — the majority live in Community Integrated Living Arrangements, or CILAs, staffed 24/7 with trained professionals. During the week they come to Shore to get training in prevocational job and adaptive daily living skills.

Keeping the Adult Program afloat means keeping the Lloyds’ legacy alive, and Shore officials are more than happy to continue serving this vulnerable population.

“Certainly the whole planning process, to have it all come to fruition, is just a huge sigh of relief,” said Mary Matz, Director of Development.

But such an impressive building inevitably comes with a cost. Shore is currently in the middle of a $5 million capital campaign to cover the acquisition and renovation costs and build up its endowment. The new building will also need to be maintained and improved. The basement still needs renovating, Matz said. It could be turned into a space for social events if Shore meets its fundraising goals.

If Shore staffers have learned anything in this ordeal, it’s that they remain steadfastly committed to their mission: serving adults with the greatest needs.

“We don’t turn people away,” Romano said. “We always want to be in a position where we can take on anyone.”

Shore will have a general open house on Oct. 6 from 5-7 p.m., during which the public can visit the new space.

For information on how to donate, call Mary Matz at (847) 982-2030 ext. 221 or email

mmatz@shoreservices.org. For additional information on Shore, visit www.shoreservices.org.

By: Matthew Yan

Picture Caption: (l. to r.) A person served by Shore, George Van Dusen, Mayor of Skokie, Representative Robyn Gabel, Natalie Romano, Shore Board President, Representative Laura Fine, Marilyn Glazer, Niles Township Supervisor and Dan Lloyd, son of Shore's Founders Thomas and Lois, at the Ribbon Cutting Reception of Shore's new home at 8350 Laramie Avenue in Skokie on September 22nd.