- Headquarters
- Peoria, Illinois
- Employees
- 450
Why CYFS chose Empathy to support their non-profit’s Work-life integration
Background
The Center for Youth & Family Solutions (CYFS) is a nonprofit serving communities across central Illinois, from the Quad Cities to Danville, Springfield, and LaSalle. With roughly 450 employees in roles that include foster care, adoption, foster home licensing, behavioral health counseling, community outreach, and residential programs, the HR team at CYFS is built around a single priority: take care of the people who take care of others. That philosophy shows up in how the organization approaches benefits - beyond the traditional health, dental, and vision - to a broader set of supports that meet employees where real life happens.
Challenge
Social work is highly demanding, emotionally complex, and historically prone to burnout. With that as a baseline, dealing with personal loss becomes even more of a challenge for CYFS employees. The organization has an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) in place, but leaders saw that referrals rarely went deep on grief and loss, or on the practical, family-level logistics that follow a death. Supervisors were often the first to hear about a team member's personal loss and needed a confident, consistent way to support employees while maintaining privacy and continuity for the rest of the team. CYFS wanted a resource that combined compassionate guidance with clear, step-by-step help - something employees and their families could actually use in the moments that matter.
“We tailor our benefits to the hard parts of life our teams face. EAP helps, but it doesn’t really dive into grief and loss. We needed something our employees and their families could turn to right away, not another referral that leaves them on their own.” - Sammi Lord, Human Resource Director
Solution
CYFS partnered with Empathy to offer Loss Support and, later, added LifeVault. Implementation was straightforward and respectful of nonprofit realities - from right-sized pricing to an easy contract and billing process. Once live, CYFS wove Empathy into familiar channels: a weekly internal newsletter, all-staff emails, and regular supervisor update calls. The team also built an automatic trigger so that any time bereavement leave is used, employees receive a note that gently highlights Empathy as a resource. Empathy complemented these efforts with ready-made materials - seasonal resources, awareness-day toolkits, and training sessions that supervisors could put to work immediately.
“We try to find ways to successfully integrate what our employees are doing at work into their lives, and help them navigate challenging times. We call that Work-life integration, which is a better fit to our line of work than Work-life balance. Empathy is playing a central role in enabling this approach." - Sammi Lord, Human Resource Director
LifeVault quickly became a favorite. Employees appreciated how quickly they could create wills and powers of attorney, update them over time, and invite a family member to collaborate - all without the cost or intimidation of hiring an attorney. The organization also saw another layer of value: in rare and difficult moments when an employee passed away, Empathy’s planning resources were available to their immediate family, extending care beyond the workplace.
“LifeVault took the fear out of estate tasks. It’s simple, accessible, and families can be included. Our staff keep telling us how grateful they are for that.” - Sammi Lord, Human Resource Director
Impact
On the frontline, employees have voiced appreciation for a resource that blends emotional support with practical next steps. Supervisors report feeling more confident with manager-focused content to help them better respond to employees experiencing a loss. This was reinforced by Empathy-led sessions on how to respond when a team member experiences a loss, how to communicate with sensitivity, and how to balance privacy with the information colleagues need to be supportive. Engagement is measurably higher when CYFS hosts lunch-and-learns and live walk-throughs; employees value seeing the platform in action more than a static email, and Empathy’s ongoing stream of turnkey educational content helps CYFS keep awareness high without adding work for HR.
“Our supervisors now have language, tools, and a plan. They know how to support the person who’s grieving, keep the team steady, and respect privacy - exactly what we needed.” - Sammi Lord, Human Resource Director
What’s next
CYFS plans to keep expanding access and awareness. The team will continue live sessions and supervisor trainings, integrate Empathy into more touchpoints where it makes sense, and use automated communications to surface the resource at the right moment. The goal for the coming year is straightforward: help more employees and families benefit from what CYFS already knows works.
Quiet ROI
Grief is personal, and CYFS treats it that way. Still, the organization sees practical benefits from making support easy to find and simple to use. Employees spend less time stuck on paperwork and more time focused on what matters. Supervisors spend less energy improvising policies and more time leading with confidence. The result is steadier teams and healthier returns to work - protecting productivity without compromising compassion.