About the Center: Illinois, Indiana Adoption Agency

The Center is a non-profit adoption agency licensed in both Illinois and Indiana. We offer a safe, caring atmosphere for birthparents and adoptive parents. We have a wonderful staff of specially trained counselors. Most of the staff have had experience with adoption in their own lives, giving them insights into the issues facing our clients.

We are a team of dedicated counselors specializing in Adoption.

Each birthmother has her own Advocate committed to helping her through a difficult situation.
Prospective Adoptive Parents also have an Advocate to educate and guide them through the adoption process.

The Adoption Center was first licensed in 1996 as one of several Illinois adoption agencies. Two years later, the Center was licensed as an Indiana adoption agency. We are an outgrowth of Adoption Resources, founded in 1987 by Tobi Ehrenpreis, a social worker and adoptive mother of two. Tobi was later joined by Maggie Gill Benz, also a social worker and adoptive parent. Today, our team of professionals is comprised of counselors, an office manager and administrative assistant.

Adoption Center for Family Building


	*Meet our Staff*

	Directors:

			Tobi Ehrenpreis, M.A, MPH is Executive Director of the Center. Tobi has a Bachelors Degree in Social Work from the University of Michigan. She also holds a Masters Degree in Social Work from the University of Chicago, and a Masters Degree in Public Health from UIC. Tobi founded the Center in 1996. She oversees all financial, marketing and administrative services and counsels families waiting to adopt. Tobi and her husband Bob have two daughters by adoption. In 2001, Tobi founded On Your Feet Foundation, a charity providing post adoption counseling and small grants to birthmothers for education and job training.


			Maggie Gill Benz, LCSW, LMFT is the Clinical Director of the Center and co-founder of the agency. She holds Masters Degrees in Psychology and Social Work from the University of Illinois. Maggie has over 25 years of experience in the adoption field, and is both a licensed Clinical Social Worker and Marriage and Family Therapist. Maggie oversees all home study services, counsels adoptive families and supervises the counselors. She has two sons, one through adoption.

	Counselors:


			Cher Pollock, LCPC is a Birthmother Advocate and a birthmother herself. Cher is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor with a Masters Degree in counseling from National Lewis University. She has been with the Center since l998, working with birthparents in Central and Southern Illinois and Central Indiana.


			Carol Nightingale, LCSW, is an Advocate, providing homestudy services to adoptive families. Carol has a Masters Degree in Social Work from the University of Illinois. She has worked in the counseling field for many years. Carol's personal life has been touched by adoption; her husband is an adoptee and they have two children together—one through adoption.

			Sue Stewart, LCSW is an Advocate conducting homestudies in the greater Chicago area for the past twenty years. Sue has been with the Adoption Center for the past eight years. Sue holds a Masters Degree in Social Work from the University of Chicago.


			Christy Kall, M.Ed, is an adoption counselor and birthmother advocate in the greater Chicago area. She earned her Master's Degree in community counseling from DePaul University in Chicago. Christy previously worked as a counselor with sexual assault survivors.


			Vicki Twomey, BA is a Peer Counselor and Birthmother Advocate. Vicki is a birthmother herself who enjoys mentoring women considering adoption. She has her Bachelors degree in psychology from Columbia College of Missouri and many years experience in the adoption field.


			Mary Seddon, MPH is an Adoption Advocate, providing outreach, education and counseling to birthparents in Northern and Northwest Indiana. Mary has earned a Masters Degree in Public Health from the University of South Florida and she has worked in the counseling field for many years. Mary has two children through adoption.

	Administrative Services:
			Nancy Feldman, AA, is Office Manager. With over 20 years administrative experience, Nancy coordinates all day-to-day administrative functions, and keeps the office running smoothly. Nancy holds an Associates Degree in Child Development, and is the mother of two teenagers through adoption.

			Nelly Maldonado, MA, is Advertising/Administrative Assistant. She graduated from TEC de Monterrey with a Law Degree and got her Masters Degree in Arts Education from the UANL in Mexico. Nelly was a volunteer at a Mexican orphanage for many years.


	Center policies and practices: Grievance Procedure Non-Discrimination Policy Policy Regarding Preferential Treatment Report

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