Promising Practices - Illinois

Illinois – The Lake County Family Community Resource Center (FCRC) depends upon collaboration with other government and community organizations in order to effectively conduct outreach. “Our most successful outreach strategy is hosting a monthly Quality Council meeting with community organizations where information is shared and partnerships are developed to meet the needs of the community.” As a result of their collaboration, township offices throughout the county accept and forward applications from potential clients, job centers provide office space for eligibility workers to be on site four hours a week, community organizations help clients meet the work requirement by providing community service, and a local college teaches GED and ESL classes at the local office which creates opportunities for potential clients and staff to help one another as well as build trust. FCRC is a recipient of the 2008 Hunger Champion Award. For more information, contact: Victoria Kanellis, Local Office Administrator, Lake County Family Community Resource Center, 3235 Belvidere Road, Park City, IL, victoria.kanellis@illinois.gov, 847-366-8961.

Illinois – The Department of Human Services (DHS) in collaboration with community organizations and the Food and Nutrition Service, organized two events between October 2004 and April 2005 called “Link Days” referring to the name of the Food Stamp Program EBT card in Illinois. Targeted to specific low income neighborhoods in Cook County, the events took place on a weekday morning. Publicity appeared in neighborhood newspapers and was posted by neighborhood businesses. On the day of each event, guests were welcomed by community, DHS, and FNS dignitaries, were given printed materials about the Food Stamp Program in their language, had their questions answered in their language by DHS interpreters, and were able to sit down with either a caseworker and interpreter or a bi-lingual caseworker who took their applications. Of the 95 people who attended the first event sponsored by the Chinese American Service League, 24 applications were taken in Chinatown. The second event sponsored by the Indo-American Center was attended by 85 people and 34 applications were received.

FSP participation has increased beyond these numbers in these neighborhoods due to the presence of interpreters at the events. The bilingual speakers let non-English speakers know they may qualify for benefits and assured them that applying will not be detrimental to their citizenship status. In addition, active participation of the community organizations was essential to the success of the event. There are plans to hold additional events throughout the state. For more information, contact: Greg Diephouse, Project Manager, Illinois Department of Human Services, Chicago IL 60607, DHSE073@dhs.state.il.us, 312-793-8634.

Last modified: 04/30/2009