What are the opening hours?

Monday 8:30am - 4:30pm Tuesday 8:30am - 4:30pm Wednesday 8:30am - 4:30pm Thursday 8:30am - 4:30pm Friday 8:30am - 4:30pm

Oak Leyden

Serving children and adults with intellectual & development disabilities and delays & their families

08/24/2026

LemonAid is celebrating our 25th year of Kids Helping Kids…
And they want the Oak Leyden community to celebrate with them!

LemonAid was established in 2002 in memory of the September 11th attacks. Theirr mission is to turn lemonADE into lemonAID by raising awareness and funds for local charities that serve children.

The neighbors on 700 Bonnie Brae in River Forest felt called to remember this day by doing something positive in the community. They held a lemonade stand with proceeds going to a local charity benefiting children. More than eighty Bonnie Brae residents, mostly kids, participated in one way or another to organize and successfully carry off LemonAid event, which has become a Community-wide extravaganza!

This year, LemonAid is benefitting ALL 27 charities that have been beneficiaries of LemonAid funds since 2002 to participate this coming year on September 11, 2026.

Instead of choosing one or two charities to highlight and benefit, this amazing organization wants to look back at how our community has benefited from the funds collected

As one of their recipient LemonAid charities, Oak Leyden receive a portion of funds collected. Plus we’ll have a “booth” on Bonnie Brae Avenue in River Forest, the street where LemonAid was started, to meet with the community.

You can support this important partnership by making an online donation on our Oak Leyden website. Simply click HERE and then select the ‘LemonAid’ button on the platform.

08/20/2026

Oak Leyden is justifiably proud of our team of committed clinical professionals, who continuously add to their toolbox of certifications and skillsets. Our most recent example is Sandy Vanoskey, our Senior Director of Aduit Services, who is currently attending a 25-hour of instructor class for CPI Aggression Management.
Once her teaching certification is official Sandy will be training agency staff of all Levels on verbal De-escalation as well as physical interventions that may be needed for people in serious crisis.

This is a person-centered approach and will embody safety and security and give the staff the knowledge they need to be more effective in communication with their participants. Sandy was our instructor a few years ago and has now embraced the challenge to bring forth the most up to date training to our staff, using
real life scenarios and situations in class so that staff have the knowledge to be effective in their intervention strategies.

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08/05/2026

We've got some exciting news to share-- Oak Leyden is hosting our first-ever Halfcourt Heroes 3v3 Basketball Tournament on Saturday, August 22, at the Elmwood Park Community & Recreation Center. Our sponsorship efforts have been very successful, but we're still looking to recruit a few more teams.

Team registration is just $50 per player ($200 per team), and every participant receives a Halfcourt Heroes t-shirt, headband, and lunch. The tournament is intentionally casual and fun. Teams can be coed, games are short, players will call their own fouls, and we'll do our best to match teams with similar skill and competitiveness levels. The goal is simple: have fun while supporting a great cause.

To register, visit our Events section in our website...OR simply click in the comments below or the bio. If you don't want to play, please pass this on to someone who might!

07/27/2026

Our Oak Leyden speech therapist Cora wanted to share this speech therapy win!

"We can do speech therapy anywhere! Whether it’s the rainforest or the desert rooms of the Oak Park Conservatory, language is everywhere. We targeted

✅ Opposites: cold/hot, tall/short, wet/dry)

✅ Verbs & directional language: follow me, cross the bridge, this way, I see ___, come here, look at ___.

✅ Descriptive words: round, flat, colors, spikey, soft

✅ Utterance expansion: When this kiddo took my hand and said, “come,” I modeled a simple phrase for her to copy. I said, “follow me Cora,” and after a couple more repetitions, she began to use it herself! Or when she pointed and said, “waterfall!” I modeled back to her “look, it’s a waterfall!”

Congrats to the intrepid Ms. Cora and her little partner for this great work. 🥰

07/13/2026

Big thumbs up to 's team for hosting another fun and inspiring Disability Pride March. We had several families show up, and our group marched all through the main branch at Scoville Park on Saturday. The place was full of folks taking part in a used book sale, so we were able to raise awareness of our mission to a lot of Oak Parkers. Great job to everyone who took part!

07/01/2026

This month marks 36 years since the 1990 enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a seminal piece of civil rights legislation that fundamentally redefined the landscape of accessibility and inclusion in America. Join the Oak Leyden community as we acknowledge this important event by taking part in the Disability Pride March next Saturday, July 11th, at the Oak Park Public Library in Scoville Park!

Disability Pride Month also challenges us to confront deep-seated prejudices that undermine the value of individuals with disabilities, while also highlighting the substantial barriers that persist towards achieving true equality. Approximately one in four Americans navigate life with a disability, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Among these, 10% grapple with invisible disabilities such as chronic pain, mental health disorders and neurological differences that can profoundly affect daily life and interactions. Additionally, the recent COVID-19 pandemic has brought challenges like long COVID into focus, emphasizing the urgent need for evolving policies and practices.

Come join us at 10AM on 7/11 as Oak Leyden celebrates this important milestone for all Americans affected by a disability and stands shoulder to shoulder with them and their families to defend their human dignity and legal protections. , ,

06/22/2026

We're excited to once again be part of Kids Night at Thursday Night Out on Thursday, June 25! This is always one of the most popular nights of the season, and we're looking forward to a fun-filled evening for Oak Park families. We'll be there (weather permitting!) with our 'kids rest stop' tent with toys and games so kiddos and their parents can take a break from all the many activities on hand.

Thursday Night Out runs from 5:00PM to 9:00PM. For details, click here:

https://thursdaynightout.com/

06/18/2026

This week’s Summer Adventure group hit up the Randolph Tot Lot to hang out with the library professionals with the Book Bike! Our group had a great time listening to stories and songs while exploring the park and enjoying the beautiful weather. Books aren’t just for the indoors! Families are enjoying meeting each other and our friends are creating new bonds of friendship.

Oak Park Public Library

06/17/2026

We hosted our annual Oak Leyden Board Retreat this week at Gibsons Restaurant Group in Oak Brook. We refer to our June meeting as a retreat because it is an extended time together (four hours); we discuss and approve next fiscal year’s budget (7/1/26 – 6/30/27); we learn from a respected speaker (more to come below); and we break bread with each other (board & leadership team).

We welcomed five new members to our Board of Directors. Eileen Curran, Linda Skitka, Bob Gerstner, Jane Weber, and Lori Malinski – thank you for joining OL’s Board! Thanks to our FY26 cohort who celebrated their first year of service on the Board: Lucia Robinson, Michael Weber, Howard Japlon & Tom Jacobs. You were our largest cohort – now you’re the second largest cohort after this year’s group! Many thanks to our longest serving members: Craig Volpe, Laura Gerstner, Cory Wesley, and Cathy McClendon. You have served on the OL board for years, ensuring continuity and a commitment to the mission. Thank you for your partnership and thought leadership!

Special thanks to Heather Eddy and Jamie Sheffler from KEES/Alford Executive Search for sharing knowledge about the nonprofit sector; context & perspective about nonprofit boards; the most effective ways boards and leadership teams work together; and handing out gold stars!

Shoutout to our leadership team – they and their teams get it done! Melissa Ehmann, Sandy Vanoskey, Nancy Thomas, Ken Cheatham and James Michael.

Very grateful to be part of this team and excited to be in the arena with these talented, committed, and thoughtful leaders!

06/15/2026

Bring your child to meet an actual firefighter as part of “Don’t Fear the Gear” educational programming on Wednesday, July 1st at 5:30 pm in our playroom. You and your child will have the opportunity to socialize with other Oak Leyden families and our themed activities provide lots of opportunities for developmental skill-building! Register to attend at the link in our bio!

Address

411 Chicago Avenue
Oak Park, IL
60302

Opening Hours

Monday	8:30am - 4:30pm
Tuesday	8:30am - 4:30pm
Wednesday	8:30am - 4:30pm
Thursday	8:30am - 4:30pm
Friday	8:30am - 4:30pm

Telephone

+17085241050

Website

http://www.oak-leyden.org/, http://www.lnk.bio/Oak-Leyden

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