The Junior League of Champaign-Urbana began as the Service League in 1932 when a group of women identified needs in our community as going unmet. By 1936, the first real project was underway as the Infant Welfare Clinic was established. Soon after came the area's first prenatal clinic. As the organization grew, an interest in health and infant care brought action in establishing a visiting nurse service, prospective parent training, an area youth home and our community's first volunteer bureau. Merging with the Junior Aid Society in 1959, the Junior Service League continued to have impact in Champaign-Urbana.
A radical idea in the fifties, the Day Care Center was established (now the Bradley Street Daycare) and the Champaign County Rehabilitation Center became a reality (now the Developmental Services Center, DSC). In 1972-73, the organization became part of the national Association of Junior Leagues. Fundraising and projects continued, as the new JLCU became active in every corner of the community with projects serving infants, youth and adults focusing on mental and physical health, the arts, education, substance abuse, and historical preservation. As the organization celebrated its 50th anniversary, our efforts continued in child welfare advocacy, leadership training and the arts. By the mid-eighties, the groundwork had been laid for the Crisis Nursery with Burnham Hospital as our partner. This project served as a model throughout the country to service children and families in critical need of emergency care for their young children.
Following Crisis Nursery, Food for Families was established in partnership with the Eastern Illinois Foodbank. In 1986, 84,000 pounds of food was raised along with $10,000.00 to feed the hungry. By the late eighties, we began our involvement with the Women's Emergency Shelter (Now known as the Center for Women in Transition.), designed the HELP! Book for Family Services, became instrumental in the Childcare Resource Center and collected over 200,000 pounds of food for Food For Families. The nineties sees JLCU continue its involvement with the community and its development of the leadership skills of its members.
