Metropolitan Family Services (Metropolitan) is one of Chicagoland’s oldest and largest human service providers, operating an annual budget of $74M, reaching 53,000 families annually. Founded as the Chicago Relief and Aid Society in 1857 Metropolitan is the only organization of its kind in the state having been directly incorporated by the Illinois State Legislature. Today, Metropolitan is an independent operator strengthening families and communities in Chicagoland through counseling, legal aid, academic and learning supports and workforce development. It serves more than 72,000 families and individuals, as diverse as the communities in which they live, with 81 percent being part of the working poor or lower-middle class.

Bolster Mission worked with Metropolitan on the roll-out of a new, agency-wide continuous improvement plan built upon the Lean and Six Sigma professional development training and tools. Metropolitan is the first major non-profit in the state to have put these change management tools into practice.