URBANA — Champaign County's first social services agency was organized 100 years ago in Champaign County, called United Charities of Champaign and Urbana.

The mission of the group of concerned citizens, led by University of Illinois sociology Professor Edward C. Hayes, was to address poverty and provide assistance to families. Its annual budget was $2,000, and it served an average of 60 people a month.

Today the $1.7 million agency, known as Family Service of Champaign County, serves more than 12,000 people a year with nine programs and a staff of 75 people.

To celebrate its first century of service, Family Service is offering the community free ice cream this afternoon at Lincoln Square in Urbana.

The event is scheduled for 1 to 3:30 p.m. at 88 Broadway at Lincoln Square, with live entertainment, activities, door prizes and free fixings for ice cream sundaes. The idea is to thank the community for 100 years of support, Executive Director Sheryl Bautch said.

"One of the reasons Family Service has been around for the past 100 years is that we really do change, based on what the needs of the community are," Bautch said. "It looks really different from decade to decade."

In 1918, after ravaging polio and Spanish flu outbreaks, Family Service hired a nurse who made home visits to the critically ill. She often arrived on foot, with no paved roads in rural areas.

The board later coordinated with area hospitals and doctors to staff three part-time clinics for infant welfare, mental health and orthopedic care.

With a quarter of Americans losing their farms in the 1920s, Family Service started a job counseling program to help the unemployed and displaced farmers.

In the 1930s and 1940s the federal government's New Deal programs provided financial help for the poor, and Family Service shifted its emphasis to social work and other services, such as helping soldiers returning from war.

With the advent of the Civil Rights movement, Family Service partnered with the Urban League on Project Enable, emphasizing self-help for low-income families.

In recent decades, in response to changing demographics, the agency began to provide more services to seniors. With a more mobile society and more women working outside the home, demand for in-home services grew.

The Senior Resource Center provides 11 services for people age 60 or older to help keep them independent, including Meals on Wheels and transportation programs. The Retired & Senior Volunteer Program matches and coordinates more than 130,000 volunteer hours by people age 55 or older in our community each year.

Family Service has also adapted to emerging technology, with a website and online Help Book.

Like other agencies, Family Service has been affected by delays in state funding, Bautch said. At one point this year, the delay was as long as nine months for some grants. The state is more or less caught up now, just a few weeks or months behind, she said.

But there have also been funding cuts, including 20 percent in one program, requiring some reductions in expenses and shifting of staff, she said. The RSVP program has had to cut back on mileage reimbursements and the annual recognition event for volunteers, and two part-time staff members had their hours reduced.

"So far we've been able to absorb the cuts without having to cut services," she said.

There are still cuts pending in the senior home-care program, which will mean clients could see fewer hours of services per week, she said.

"Obviously it's very tight," she said. "But for right now we're OK."

At the same time, it continues to see more and more clients, both families hurting because of the recession and a continuing need for more services for seniors, Bautch said.

"I'm hopeful that Family Service will be around for another 100 years. In the short term, as I'm sure is true for all social services agencies, particularly in Illinois, we're in some trying times. We're hanging in there and we're continuing to provide services for our clients."