In the late 1970’s, a group of people from the Christian community led by Dr. Martin Doot and Dr. Alexander DeJong met together to discuss what could be done about the problem of alcoholism and chemical dependency that was devastating many families in the Chicago area. An association called the “Christian Care Center” was formed to address this need. The association combined professional mental health treatment with caring pastoral insight.
Early work as an agency focused on education, prevention and intervention in churches and community agencies regarding chemical dependency and other family problems. Volunteer Family Outreach Teams were trained to do planned interventions to get families to work together.
Gradually the staff and services grew to meet the needs of other issues such as grief, loss, marriage, divorce, step families, sexual addiction, gambling, depression, anxiety, parenting, attention deficit, life adjustments and transitions. The original narrow area of service had expanded to serve a diverse community with various needs. In 1996, the Board of Directors changed the agency’s name to “New Leaf Resources” to better reflect the diversity of services provided.
Today, New Leaf Resources still has expertise in various addictions which is our historical strength. We also serve people with a wide spectrum of emotional, mental and relational problems. Our diversified staff is trained to provide counseling, consulting, education and prevention services to individuals, families, churches, businesses and organizations.
