It's Time to Connect the D.O.T.S.

Our communities include individuals facing significant health and wellness challenges. For many, these challenges affect nearly every part of daily life. To help address these complex needs, we are leading an initiative call Connect the D.O.T.S., which stands for Doors of Team Support.

Connect the D.O.T.S. brings together partners across the community—from first responders and transportation providers to social service agencies whose missions align with providing  the expanded support  these individuals need.

Extensive research, conducted in collaboration with community partners, helped identify key areas of focus for this initiative. We are beginning by addressing the following priority needs within our communities:

  • Health and well-being
  • Chronic disease management
  • Barriers to health care
  • Poverty and the economic burden of disease

These areas are further focused on the following specific needs:

  • Transportation
  • Supportive care for individuals coping with congestive heart failure, COPD, and cancer
  • Medical management of chronic diseases such as asthma, diabetes, renal failure, and dementia
  • Child nutrition and disease prevention

Our goals
The community-wide goals of Connect the D.O.T.S. are to promote well-being by helping individuals meet their basic physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs. We also aim to strengthen partnerships and improve processes that connect organizations, foster communication, and support shared success in our respective missions.

One way we support this collaboration is by sharing the collective resource and capabilities of participating organizations in a common database that is accessible 24/7 to all.

We have already begun working with our community partners to Connect the D.O.T.S., starting in the Freeport area, with plans to expand support into additional communities as the initiative grows. Early partners include:

  • Amity Daycare and Learning Center
  • Boys & Girls Club of Freeport/Stephenson County
  • City of Freeport
  • Church organizations
  • Freeport Fire Department
  • Freeport Police Department
  • Freeport School District 145
  • Joseph’s Pantry
  • Mt. Calvary Church of God
  • New Jerusalem Church of God
  • NICAA Head Start
  • North Central Illinois Council of Governments (NCICG)
  • Pretzel City Area Transit
  • Salvation Army
  • Senior Resource Center
  • Star Ambulance
  • Stephenson County Farm Bureau
  • Stephenson County Health Department
  • United Way of Northwest Illinois
  • YMCA

By working together to Connect the D.O.T.S., we can provide meaningful support to individuals who may otherwise struggle to improve—or even maintain—their well-being. As the saying reminds us, it really does take a village.