DeKalb has been named a 2015 Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation. (Image courtesy Arbor Day Foundation)

Get smart about money during Money Smart Week

Are you struggling to budget your household expenses? Estimate retirement needs? Pay for college tuition? These and other financial concerns plaque Americans and cause many a restless night.

Check out a plethora of lectures, workshops and other events planned during Money Smart Week DeKalb County, April 23-30. The Financial Wellness Collaborative is bringing the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s national Money Smart Week program to communities in DeKalb, LaSalle and Lee counties. This collaboration is bringing together many organizations across these three counties including businesses, financial institutions, schools, libraries, not-for-profits, government agencies and the media.

All programming is free and covers all facets of personal finance from establishing a budget to first time home buying, estate planning, couponing and more. Students, faculty, staff as well as community members are welcome to attend sessions, which are open to the public.

For a full calendar of free financial education events, find a plethora of programs in the following 14 topics at www.niu.edu/moneysmartweek/Topic.shtml.

• Budgeting
• Business Strategies
• Charity/Non-Profit Giving
• College Planning
• Credit and Cash Management/Credit Scores
• Green Initiatives
• Healthcare
• Healthy Habbits/Wellness
• Identity Theft/Shred Day
• Job Searching
• Kids’ Programming
• Retirement
• Savvy Shopping
• Special Events
• Wealth Management

KishHealth offers scholarships for health care, nutrition careers

KishHealth System, now part of Northwestern Medicine, offers several scholarships each year for DeKalb County residents pursuing health care studies.

Kishwaukee Hospital Auxiliary, Valley West Hospital Auxiliary and the KishHealth System Foundation are accepting applications for their 2016-17 scholarship opportunities. Scholarships are offered for students pursuing careers in health care studies, including nursing, radiology, pre-med, medical, and ancillary health services professions, and also those pursuing nutrition studies.

All scholarship forms are accessible at www.kishhealth.org/scholarships.

The Valley West Auxiliary offers scholarships to any student who lives in a community served by Valley West Hospital. This includes Earlville, Sandwich, Plano, Somonauk, Leland, Yorkville, Bristol, Sheridan, Serena, Newark, Millington, Millbrook, Big Rock, Hinckley and Waterman. The student must be a high school graduate and show proof of acceptance into a post-secondary health-related program. 

Application forms, transcripts, and test scores must be completed and returned by June 1 for the subsequent fall semester. To apply,  download the PDF form on the website and send all documents to Valley West Auxiliary Scholarship Committee, Valley West Hospital, Attn: Deanna Francis, 1302 N. Main St., Sandwich 60548.

The KishHealth System Foundation maintains three scholarships for students pursuing degrees in medicine and diagnostic imaging and encourages donations to these funds. 

If you’d like to donate to the funds, please call the KishHealth System Foundation at (815) 748-9954.

Applications for the three scholarships must be submitted by May 1 for the subsequent fall semester. Please send completed applications to: KishHealth System Foundation, 1 Kish Hospital Drive, DeKalb 60115.

James J. Feeney, MD, Memorial Scholarship was established by Dr. Feeney’s widow and daughters to award an annual scholarship to a DeKalb County student accepted in a college-level, pre-medical curriculum or enrolled as a full-time student in an accredited medical school curriculum.

Floann and Hallie Hamilton Diagnostic Imaging Scholarship was established by Floann and Hallie Hamilton, longtime members of the Kish Hospital Auxiliary. The annual scholarship benefits a DeKalb County student enrolled in a diagnostic imaging curriculum.

Kishwaukee Hospital Physicians’ Medical Education Scholarship was spearheaded Photine Liakos, MD. Since its inception in 2004, the fund has received more than $7,000 in donations. Students from DeKalb County who are currently enrolled full-time in accredited medical school curriculums are eligible to apply for this scholarship. The scholarship is intended to assist and encourage young people to join the medical and ancillary health services professions.

DeKALB

State Funds sought to repair Peace Road

DeKalb is asking the Illinois Department of Transportation for $4 million to help fund the $13 million widening of Peace Road from two lanes into four.

The City Council recently approved the proposal to proceed with the funding of this project. The widening of Peace Road will be from Interstate 88 to just north of Lincoln Highway, making Peace Road a four-lane highway from Interstate 88 north to Route 64.

City staff determined that Peace Road needs to be widened after DeKalb Police data showed the Peace Road and Lincoln Highway intersection is one of the most accident-prone intersections in DeKalb. By expanding the road into four lanes, it is expected that the traffic will be spread out and decrease the amount of accidents.

The Metropolitan Planning Organization measured the increase in traffic on Peace Road from 2014 to 2015, and it showed an increase from 12 percent to 37 percent in truck driving traffic and an increase from 3 percent to 18 percent in average daily traffic.

Alderwoman to hold  5th Ward resident meeting

Residents of DeKalb’s Ward 5 are invited to meet with Alderwoman Kate Noreiko 10-11:30 a.m. April 23 in the Friends Room of the Barb City Manor, 680 Haish Blvd. An information session followed by a question-and-answer period are planned.

Ward 5 residents live in precincts DK01, DK02, DK19, DK20, DK21, DK22, DK23 and DK25.

City is honored as 2015 Tree City USA

DeKalb has been named a 2015 Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation in honor of the city’s commitment to effective urban forest management. The honor was recently announced. DeKalb is one of more than 3,400 Tree City USAs designated by the Arbor Day foundation.

DeKalb achieved the recognition by meeting the program’s four requirements: a tree board or department, a tree-care ordinance, an annual community forestry budget of at least $2 per capita and an Arbor Day observance and proclamation.

–DeKalb County News Briefs–