Adoption Center for Family Building
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The Adoption Center is a private, non-profit adoption agency licensed in both Illinois and Indiana.  We offer a safe, caring atmosphere for birthmothers, birthfathers and adoptive parents.  Our staff consists of specially trained adoption counselors.  Several staff have had experience with adoption in their own lives. 

A team of dedicated adoption professionals working with birthparents and adoptive parents.

Adoption Center for Family Building
Directors:
  
Tobi Ehrenpreis Tobi Ehrenpreis, M.A, MPH               Founder and Executive Director. 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 the University of Illinois. She oversees financial, marketing and administrative services and counsels families waiting to adopt. Tobi has two daughters by adoption.  In 2001, Tobi founded On Your Feet Foundation, an Illinois not-for-profit that assists birthmothers following an adoptive placement. 
   
Maggie Gill Benz
   		 Maggie Gill Benz, LCSW, LMFT        Clinical Director and co-founder of the agency. Maggie holds Masters Degrees in Psychology and Social Work from the University of Illinois, and DePaul University. 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 birth parent counselors. She has two sons, one through adoption.

 Counseling Team:
   
Cher Pollack 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 for over eleven years, working with birthparents in Central and Southern Illinois and Central Indiana. 
   
Carol Nightingale Carol Nightingale, LCSW works with both adoptive families-- providing homestudy services-- and with birthparents. Carol has a Masters Degree in Social Work from the University of Illinois. She has worked as a middle school counselor for many years. Carol's personal life has been  touched by adoption, too; her husband is an adoptee and they have two children—one through adoption.
   
Sue Stewart Sue Stewart, LCSW is an Adoption Advocate conducting homestudies in the greater Chicago area for over twenty years. Sue has been with the Adoption Center for the past nine years. Sue holds a Masters Degree in Social Work from the University of Chicago.
  
Shay Cunningham Shay Cunningham, MSW, is a birthmother advocate for the metropolitan Chicago area and Northwest Indiana. She earned her Master's degree in social work from Loyola University Chicago. Shay has several years  experience working with both international and domestic adoptions. She really enjoys helping birth parents navigate their way through the adoption process.
  
Mary Seddon 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 worked in the counseling field for many years before joining the Adoption Center staff. Mary has two teenage children through adoption.
 

   

Administrative

   
  
Nancy Feldman Nancy Feldman, AA  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.  After working in Corporate America for many years,  Nancy is enjoying being part of a social service agency  helping to create families through adoption. 
 

 
     
 

 
   

Our History

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 several adoption counselors, an office manager and an advertising assistant.

The Center has an all volunteer Board of Directors including a clinical psychologist, a neonatologist, a college professor, business people, an adult adoptee and adoptive parents.

Adoption Center policies and practices:

The Adoption Center offers a full range of personalized services to its clients.  Our staff and Board recognizes that every adoption is unique, as are the individuals involved in the process.  All adoption agencies are licensed by the state(s) in which they operate and are required to follow certain rules and procedures. At the same time, Adoption Center for Family Building is a small agency, striving to maintain flexibility and offering services tailored to the individual. 


 

Illinois birthmother? Ask about adoption services in: Aurora, Joliet, Chicago, Chicago suburbs, Peoria, Rockford, Springfield, Kankakee, Belleville, Bloomington, Waukegan, Plainfield, Moline,  Crystal Lake, McHenry, Dupage County and elsewhere in Illinois.

Indiana birthmother? Ask about adoption services in: South Bend, Fort Wayne, Lafayette, Indianapolis, Evansville, Bloominton, Terre Haute, Kokomo,  and Northwest Indiana -- Hammond, Whiting, Highland, Michigan City, LaPorte, Valparaiso.

 

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