Everyone Deserves the Choice Where They Live and Who They Live With

Highland Park IL

14 June, 2022

5:21 PM

Description

HIGHLAND PARK, IL – June 1, 2022 – Throughout the month of June, Collaborative Community Housing Initiative (CCHI) is the featured organization on the Ruth Fell Wander Community Art Wall at First Bank of Highland Park. The exhibit highlights their mission of bringing people of all abilities together to support a vibrant new kind of inclusive community. They accomplish this through collaboration with like-minded partners to create shared spaces to live, work, play, and serve our neighbors. CCHI is a unique concept in community building. They believe you cannot create a community by building a brick-and-mortar house or apartment. A community is a group of people who share life experiences. CCHI is a community, where everyone is committed to building a future that welcomes all people. They are a grassroots movement that unites people and helps them create solutions for inclusive living options, specifically for individuals with developmental disabilities. Established in 2019, CCHI collaborates with other organizations who service individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (“I/DD”), for the joint purpose of creating customized I/DD housing options. They partner with community leaders, disability advocates, and real estate professionals to address the lack of inclusive community housing and programming for young adults with disabilities. They envision communities where individuals of all abilities live collectively, each determining their own path to a meaningful life. Laurie Williams is the founder and president of Collaborative Community Housing Initiative. Laurie and her husband Rick have one adult son Zachary, who inspired them to form CCHI. "CCHI means that Zach can live with friends, in his community with people he knows,” says Laurie. “He will still have help with cooking, making plans, getting where he needs to go, and living his life to the fullest. He wants to live as a "grown-up" and he deserves the right to live however he wants, wherever he wants.” The CCHI exhibit is located in the First Bank of Highland Park lobby and will be open to the public during regular business hours throughout the month of June. For more information about Collaborative Community Housing Initiative or to sign-up for their newsletter, visit https://thecchi.org/ or on Facebook and Instagram. ABOUT RUTH FELL WANDER COMMUNITY ART WALL The Ruth Fell Wander Community Art Wall was created in 2002 in memory of Bank Director, Ruth Fell Wander. The art wall showcases novice artwork from local non-profit organizations and provides visibility to the various resources and services offered throughout the community. For more information call 847-432-7800 or visit www.firstbankhp.com. ABOUT FIRST BANK OF HIGHLAND PARK First Bank of Highland Park provides full-service banking solutions for commercial and consumer clients throughout Chicagoland. With over 65 years of banking history, First Bank ranks as one of the five largest privately held banks in Chicago. Our experienced bankers utilize our personal service model to provide customized banking solutions without the bureaucracy of the megabanks.  First Bank’s deep culture of caring includes giving time, talent, and resources to all corners of our community.  Our bank has been named as one of the “Best Places to Work” by Crain’s Chicago Business in 2018, 2019, 2020, a