New Lenox Agency Speaks Up for the 'Forgotten Population'

For aging parents of a child with disabilities—one who still lives with them and is dependent on them for everything—there’s always the nagging question: What will happen to the child when the parents die?

One answer to that question is provided by Trinity Services Inc., an agency based in New Lenox that has grown over 60 years to include a school for K-12, residential services, adult learning and vocational programs for more than 700 individuals with developmental disabilities. Supplementing Trinity’s services to this population is the Family & Friends Support Group, which provides everything from clothing and eyeglasses to joyful holiday parties.

John and Pat Slack of New Lenox have worked for 20 years to support Trinity clients. When they started out with the group, there were 35 active members. Today there are eight, with many members having died or moved away. Over the years the group has conducted garage sales and other fundraisers to raise money to provide things for Trinity clients that they can’t afford. 

They have many stories about needs fulfilled. “Once, we welcomed a young man in the middle of the night with only the clothes on his back,” Pat Slack recalls. “It was an emergency situation, and he had brought nothing with him.” Another time, they encountered a young man with a $400 dental bill that he was trying to pay off with $10 per month because his resources were so limited. The support group paid off his bill, allowing the young man to use his scarce funds for other of his needs. Over the years the group purchased outdoor grills and picnic tables for each of the 45 to 50 Trinity group living houses in the region. They also built a community pavilion at a Trinity location.  Several clients needed recliners to put their feet up for medical reasons, and the support group purchased those. Other clients needed eyeglass repairs. “We do what we can to enhance their lives,” she said, “including providing social situations for them to have fun and meet new friends.”

As Trinity clients grow older, their circle of family and friends tends to shrink, she noted. Grandparents and parents die, siblings move away, friends move on with their lives. “When children come to live at Trinity, they are there for life. This is their home now. If we don’t do these things for them, there is no one,” she said. “People with developmental disabilities are living longer now, just like the general population. Children with Down Syndrome used to live to age 12 or so,” she said, “but now they live well into their 50s and beyond.”

People with developmental disabilities are a kind of forgotten population, she said. “They don’t vote, they can’t advocate for themselves, and they outlive much of their families.” 

For Pat Slack, the mission is very personal. Her sister Kelley lives at Trinity. Kelley developed normally until age 2, Pat said, when she suffered from a respiratory infection and high fever. The virus caused damage to Kelley’s brain, and her development became impaired. “That probably wouldn’t happen today, but back then it was not unusual for such an illness to impair a person’s development,” said Slack, who was 12 when her little sister became ill. She recalls vividly how Kelley quickly became a very different child, one with permanent disabilities.  

The Trinity support group is recruiting younger members to help with fundraising activities. The group hopes to raise money in a May 7 Bingo Party to continue funding client needs. It will be at Jenny’s Steakhouse/One91 in Mokena, and will serve a secondary purpose of collecting a much-needed grocery item for the food pantry at Together We Cope in Tinley Park. Tickets are $25 and include a dinner buffet featuring gourmet pizza, pasta, salad and soda. A cash bar will be available. There will be 10 games of bingo with prizes, as well as various raffles with other prizes. The event begins at 6 p.m. May 7 at Jenny’s, 10160 191st Street in Mokena. Those who bring in a regular size jar of jelly for Together We Cope’s food pantry will receive one free raffle ticket for every jar donated. Tickets and information are with Pat Slack at 815-485-7264 or at www.friendsoftrinity.org, which has a link to online registration for the event.  

—Story submitted by Together We Cope