SPARTA – Caritas Family Solutions, a local nonprofit social service agency committed to strengthening the social and emotional well-being of individuals and families in order to create healthy relationships, loving homes and strong communities, opened a new office in Sparta six months ago, and is already seeing tremendous growth in the families it serves and the number of employees it plans to hire.
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The new office, which opened in January, primarily handles foster care case management as well as licensing for people interested in becoming foster parents. Caritas Family Solutions CEO Gary Huelsmann said Caritas decided to open a location in Sparta to help support its Belleville and Carterville locations and create a central location between the two. The office, which is running at full capacity, started with four case managers and is currently looking to hire two more in addition to other support staff positions.
“Caritas is the largest provider of foster care services in Southern Illinois and in the last several months the need for our services has continued to grow,” said Huelsmann. “Right now, our agency is serving approximately 1,700 children in foster care on a monthly basis. We are actively looking to hire additional case managers and support staff throughout our service regions who care about kids and want to make a difference in the communities we serve. We’re also exploring other growth opportunities which could offer even more support for the families we serve.”
Foster Care Supervisor Courtney Hagen, who works in the Sparta office, said she hopes the flexible, hybrid office and work-from-home schedule, in addition to the benefits Caritas offers, will entice people to apply. The agency offers up to $3,000 in tuition reimbursement in addition to other employee benefits and opportunities for growth. Hagen said that while Caritas has been active in the Sparta community for several years, having a physical location in town is helping the nonprofit expand its community partnerships.
“I think Caritas is always good at supporting the communities we serve and work in,” said Hagen. “It’s exciting for us that Sparta and the surrounding counties have been very willing to help us find new and innovative ways to support our mission. As a nonprofit, unifying families and creating loving homes is why we do what we do, so it’s been very gratifying to have the community’s support with that.”
Those interested in applying for a job at Caritas can go to caritasfamilysolutions.org/join-our-team/ or call 618-213-8700.
About Caritas Family Solutions:
Founded in 1947, Caritas Family Solutions strengthens the social and emotional well-being of individuals and families in order to create healthy relationships, loving homes and strong communities. Caritas provides services across Southern Illinois from offices located in Belleville, Carterville, Sparta, Mount Vernon, Olney, East Alton and Effingham. For additional information, visit www.caritasfamilysolutions.org.
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