Success Stories / Homewood-Flossmore Park District

— Homewood-Flossmore Park District — Homewood-Flossmore Park District — Homewood-Flossmore Park District

— Homewood-Flossmore Park District

How Amilia helped Homewood Flossmoor ditch brochures and grow 44% in 2 years

28,000 residents served

10 facilities run by the agency

28 parks managed

44% growth in online revenue

“There has been a noticeable difference in how much less time everyone spends managing Amila vs. our legacy software. As for registrations and revenue, our gross revenue increased about 20% from our old registration system in 2022 to Amilia in 2023, and it increased about another 20% from 2023 to 2024.”

Mike Gianatasio Superintendent of Recreation, Homewood-Flossmore Park District

The challenges

Brochure:

A print brochure that needed to be finalized months ahead of time.

Changes:

Brochure inaccuracies caused by ever changing availabilities and resident needs.

Updates:

Communication issues trying to keep residents up-to-date with the changes.

About Homewood-Flossmoor Park District

Located just outside of Chicago, the Homewood-Flossmoor Park District (HFPD) brings their population of nearly 28,000 residents together through recreation. Offering programs and events at 10 different facilities and 28 different parks for residents of all ages, the district prides itself on being responsive to the evolving needs of the community.

The challenge

Before Amilia, HFPD was locked into a planning cycle dictated by their seasonal brochure. Months of prep work went into finalizing programs early enough to hit print deadlines. "We had to start programming so far in advance just to get the brochure going," shared Mike Gianatasio, Superintendent of Recreation. "And that brochure had to go to print and get delivered to households and everything."

While creating programming months in advance helped meet print deadlines, it meant programming decisions were often made long before the team had clarity on facility availabilities or participation trends. HFPD would run into scheduling conflicts with parks or facilities that weren’t anticipated months earlier. The rigid timelines made it difficult to pivot when community needs shifted.

As these needs shifted, keeping participants updated became another hurdle to overcome. Marketing and programming staff found themselves spending valuable time trying to communicate changes in an effort to maintain good customer service and keep their residents in the loop. Staff were stretched thin, leaving little room for creative outreach or community engagement. Meanwhile, the registration process for residents was clunky, leading to missed opportunities and lower participation.

The solution

With Amilia, everything has changed. Planning timelines are now shorter. Programming is nimbler. Conflicts (like a facility becoming unavailable at the last minute) are much more easily resolved. What once took days became a few simple steps. "Now, the time in which we spend preparing programming is moved closer to the dates in which those programs start," Mike shared. That means fewer conflicts, fewer changes, and a lot less stress for staff.

With the brochure out of the picture, the marketing team could breathe again. "They’re doing more marketing for us through different avenues," he said, "rather than bogging them down with this huge production." Essentially, they’re now spending time doing what they do best: promoting programs in fresh, targeted ways.

“While it is difficult to quantify the hours saved, it has been noticeable how much less time everyone spends managing Amila vs. our legacy software. As for registrations and revenue, our gross revenue increased about 20% from our old registration system in 2022 to Amilia in 2023, and it increased about another 20% from 2023 to 2024.”

Residents noticed the difference too. Registration, once clunky and time-consuming, became intuitive and accessible. “Allowing our residents and participants to easily and fluidly register online really changed the way we think about programming and operations,” Mike reflected.

Spotlight: How Pidj made communication instant

Improving operations isn’t just about making things more efficient, it’s about creating a better connection with the community. After improving the registration process with Amilia, the HFPD team turned to Pidj, an SMS communication tool designed to keep participants easily in the know. Pidj are an integrated partner of Amilia, empowering organizations to deliver timely, personalized text messages that drive attendance, foster community connections, and automate time-consuming operational tasks to free up staff time.

Pidj allows for communication with specific groups quickly and effectively. If there’s a pool closure, everyone in the swim program can be notified instantly by text. No more scrambling through email lists and hoping people check their email inbox.

Thanks to Pidj, HFPD can:

Send automated reminders for programs and membership renewals.
Alert participants immediately about schedule changes or cancellations.
Target communications to specific groups or programs
Save hours of manual outreach and follow-up

The combined power of Amilia and Pidj didn’t just improve workflows, it increased the touchpoints HFPD made with their residents’ and made their experience feel seamless, more informed, and a whole lot more personal.

The results

The impact of this transformation is clear:

Faster program setup: What once took days now takes hours.
Time saving: The team reclaimed valuable time across planning, programming, and marketing.
Better alignment: Programming is now based on real-time community needs, not a rigid brochure schedule.
Improved participation: With an easier online registration process, more community members are engaging in programs.

Let Amilia do the heavy lifting

Homewood-Flossmoor Park District’s story shows that with the right tools and the right mindset, real transformation is possible. Amilia’s platform gave HFPD the ability to adapt to what their residents needed. Pidj helped streamline communication. Together, they helped HFPD move from reactive to proactive.

If you are interested to learn how SmartRec could help you and your organization succeed like it helped Homewood-Flossmore Park District, just reach out to our team. We would be happy to discuss it with you!