West Peoria’s Heading Avenue
home to many service agencies

By Monica Neiss

Nestled at the end of West Heading Avenue lies West Peoria’s largest secret. This little known street remains home to several agencies including Crittenton Centers, Franciscan Recreation Complex and Guardian Angel Home. The thriving force of West Peoria, these services include everything from a crisis nursery to garage sales.

One of the first places you will come to after turning out of the booming traffic of Western Avenue is Crittenton Centers, a private, non-for-profit social service agency started back in 1892 by Charles N. Crittenton. Mr. Crittenton originally started a pharmaceutical business with just sixty dollars, but started focusing on the care of teen mothers and their children after the death of his daughter. Originally named Florence Night Mission, the Crittenton Centers include a Crisis Nursery; Center for Pregnant, Parenting and Adolescent Females; Center for Teen Parent Support; and Child Care Center.

“The Crisis Nursery provides emergency, 24-hour support for children in need,” said Crittenton Centers Director, Frank Shetke.The Nursery is for children ages 0-6, but can be extended to ten years of age if a younger sibling is in the nursery. Parents also get services including parenting education and counseling. Though the services are short-term, long-term counseling is provided. “This service is a community-based program, which is great for the kids,” added Shetke. Shetke encourages anyone who might be interested in receiving services from the Crisis Nursery to call 674-4125.

The Center for Pregnant, Parenting and Adolescent Females houses 12 females under the age of 21. These females receive individual counseling, parenting education, child care, and educational support. The Center also helps the mothers find jobs and secure housing.

Closely related is the Center for Teen Parent Support. This Center gives free support to teen parents under the age of 20 from 7:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. The parents receive services from obtaining their high school diploma to guidance in becoming self-reliant.

The Child Care Center, located at McKinley Community Center, supports 110 children from six weeks to six year of age. The Center focuses on the development of the children and provides a place of transition for families going from welfare to the work force. Crittenton Centers welcomes all the help they can get including cash donations, volunteers, and donated items the children can use such as diapers or bottles. Many of the services would not be available if it weren’t for the support of volunteers and help from the community.

If you walk across the street from the Crittenton Centers, you run into the Franciscan Recreation Complex (FRC). Run by the Peoria Park District, FRC is comprised of a multi-purpose room, kitchenette, dance studio, soccer field, two baseball fields and outdoor playground. These facilities provide fun for all ages and can be rented out for birthday parties, meetings or even weddings. “The Franciscan Recreation Complex is a major asset to West Peoria because it provides the community with such diverse activities from youth camps to physical fitness classes,” said FRC Manager, Amy Aldridge.

Are you the athletic type? For just three dollars per visit you can play volleyball most week nights from May 6 - August 29. If basketball is more your sport, three dollars will get you in the door on Tuesday nights to shoot hoops. If you are too young to know how to play, you might consider attending the Summer Sports Camp for ages 7 - 14.

The FRC also hosts fitness programs for people just wanting to get in shape and learn to relax. Many weeknights one will find classes of aerobics, Taekick and Yoga in action. The world’s largest dance fitness program, Jazzercise, can also be seen on Monday and Wednesday nights. Even though sports may not be your favorite past time, the FRC hosts events from city-wide garage sales to pajama parties.

If you continue walking down West Heading Avenue you pass the administration office for Catholic Social Service’s and wind up in the parking lot for Guardian Angel School. The administration office is home to the foster care program and Jesu Children Enrichment Center. Though all of the programs seem to be thriving at the moment, Gov. George Ryan’s 500 million dollar state budget cuts may force Catholic Social Service’s to cut back on programming according to the December issue of The Catholic Post.

The next time you’re driving by West Peoria, don’t be fooled by the inconspicuous location of West Heading Avenue. Home to many of the programs that promote a happy and healthy community, West Heading Avenue is a small but vital road to the success of West Peoria.

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