Elmhurst Park District wins Best of the Best Award for Intergovernmental Cooperation with City of Elmhurst

  • Metropolitan Family Services DuPage

Elmhurst Park District was honored to receive a 2022 Best of the Best Award from the Illinois Association of Park Districts (IAPD) last week. The Park District was awarded IAPD’s Intergovernmental Cooperation Award for a collaborative effort between Elmhurst Park District and the City of Elmhurst, which resulted in Metropolitan Family Services of DuPage moving to Centennial Recreation Center in June. The move has brought higher visibility and access to valuable programs for seniors in the community.

Centennial Recreation Center, located at 155 E. St. Charles Road, opened in June and is the new home for adult and senior programming at Elmhurst Park District. The facility’s expanded space and central location also opened up opportunities for collaboration with other organizations and agencies.

With this in mind, this summer the Park District and City of Elmhurst announced that, through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), Centennial Recreation Center would also be the new home for Metropolitan Family Services DuPage in Elmhurst. Both the Elmhurst City Council and the Park District Board of Commissioners approved the MOU authorizing the move.

The City of Elmhurst contracts with Metropolitan Family Services to provide counseling and other support services to seniors and senior caregivers. Metropolitan Family Services was previously located at an office in City Hall. The location at City Hall lacked easy access and good visibility for those who were unaware of their services.

With the move to Centennial Recreation Center, seniors can attend a monthly luncheon or fitness event while checking out the resources Metropolitan Family Services offers, all in one spot. The new location also puts the services front and center with the audience they want to reach – seniors and their caregivers.

“The Park District is honored to have received this award,” says Executive Director, Jim Rogers. “It represents the culmination of a years-long effort to bring both recreational and social services under one roof for seniors in our community and we are pleased to have partnered with the City of Elmhurst to make that happen.”

Under the terms of the agreement, the City of Elmhurst continues to contract with Metropolitan to fund clinical and administrative supervision of two licensed social workers. The Park District provides work space for Metropolitan and enable the organization to use the facility’s programming and conference rooms for Adult Social Service offerings.

Learn more about Centennial Recreation Center and its recreational opportunities.