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Kane County food pantries, shelters and mental health providers continue to see unprecedented demand in wake of COVID-19

The Beacon-News - 10/9/2021

Oct. 9—Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, food pantries, shelters, and mental health service providers in the Kane County area saw unprecedented waves of new people needing help. The number of residents receiving food at the Aurora Interfaith Food Pantry grew by 400% and several mental health agencies report having waitlists larger than ever.

At the Marie Wilkinson Food Pantry, people who never before had to navigate using social services found themselves in line for support, pantry employee Joseph Matty said.

"The face of hunger started to change to people who would be in a suit and tie on a Monday but coming into a food pantry on a Wednesday because the price of everything went up or from a loss of a spouse's employment," Matty said.

Throughout the last week, mental health service agencies, food providers and shelters testified to a committee of the Kane County Board about how their agency was affected. The committee is hearing testimony to decide how to use the $4 million of American Rescue Plan funding the board has earmarked to use before the end of the year.

The Northern Illinois Food Bank distributed 12.8 million meals across 13 counties. All pantries said they continue to struggle with increased costs of foods like dairy and meat. Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry Director Shannon Cameron said they had to rent additional fridge space for $10,000, spent $14,000 for gas and truck repairs from the increased number of trips for meal deliveries and spent $17,000 for COVID safety equipment.

In the mental health sector, several agencies are seeing larger waves of people needing counseling, suicide prevention and addiction services. Geneva-based TriCity Family Services Executive Director Laura Poss said that in her 25-year career, she has never seen as long of a waitlist as they have currently with 130 people awaiting family-based counseling.

The Elgin-based Association for Individual Development said it has 102 vacant positions out of a staff of more than 600, creating such a high staff burnout that injuries or accidents are more frequent, President Lore Baker said.

For local homeless shelters, the end of Illinois' eviction moratorium is already increasing the struggles, Hesed House Executive Director Joe Jackson said. Hesed House currently has 300 people facing eviction who are in a queue for emergency rental assistance, a new program.

The shelter's greatest need is for increased staffing, particularly for the case management team that handles programs like rapid rehousing and homeless prevention. In the last year, more than 1,000 people have been helped to avoid evictions, a large jump from the typical 300 people helped in a typical year, Jackson said.

"Covid has absolutely flipped our world upside down," Jackson said. "I'd like to say we've used the word pivot more times than Ross moving a couch on that episode of Friends. For us, COVID is nowhere near the rearview mirror."

The shelter typically relies on 8,000 volunteers annually but has been unable to host volunteers because of COVID guidelines. Instead, it has had to increase staffing to operate three different shelters, and some staff members have lived in the shelter themselves for up to 60 days at a time. Social distancing guidelines also prompted the need to construct a 110,000-square-foot tent, costing $400,000, to hold everyone.

St. Charles-based Lazarus House said the need for services is even higher because of a lack of affordable housing in the St. Charles, Geneva and Batavia area. The rent prices are skyrocketing because of the 0.8% rental vacancy rate in the county, allowing landlords to charge even more because of the demand, Executive Director Julie Purcell said. Lazarus House staffing also diminished at the beginning of the pandemic, and they have not been able to hire quality workers back, forcing a decrease in hours at the women and children center.

Committee chair Jarett Sanchez said $4 million won't be able to solve all the needs detailed throughout the week, but the small pilot program is a helpful start. The board could use more of its $103 million in American Rescue Plan funding after it determines its 2022 budget next month.

"It's a way to get money out there more quickly as we go through our deliberative process of how we'll spend the money on a big picture," Sanchez said. "That's going to take awhile, and the need is great out there, so I'm glad we at least have this in the short-term."

mejones@chicagotribune.com

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