After 18 years of accounting work for a local company, a Naperville man was told his job was being phased out.
He searched for a new job, but had a hard time finding a similar position that paid as well. After he lost his job, his health care benefits ran out, yet he needed weekly dialysis treatments for a kidney problem.
He started to pay for his medical treatments out of pocket. Within a few weeks, he had used up his savings and had no money to pay rent. In a panic, he contacted Mary Voiland, Naperville’s community social worker.
As she had done with dozens of residents that month, Voiland helped the man get in touch with several social services that would help him get his life back on track.
A local church gave him emergency rent money so he could stay in his apartment. “Without that help, he could have become homeless, which was a distinct possibility,” Voiland said.
Aides from a local congressional office helped the man through the complicated paperwork to start to collect Social Security benefits. And the Prairie State Legal Services organization began free help to see if he was justly laid off from his company.
Through the entire process, the man also received counseling from various agencies, Voiland said. “We were trying to do what helps for both the long term and the short term,” she said. “We do a little hand-holding here.”
Despite an appearance of middle-class affluence, there are many in Naperville and surrounding communities who need help with a number of life issues.
“Although there is a high standard of living in Naperville, there are people who work in grocery stories and restaurants who don’t make a lot of money,” Voiland said. “And living in an apartment in Naperville can cost a lot of money. Rents here start at $700 a month for a one-bedroom apartment, and that’s a lot even when you’re making $7 to $12 an hour.
“Many of our residents live paycheck to paycheck. If their kid gets sick, or their beater car breaks down, they’re having a crisis.”
People who lose their jobs sometimes need help. “These people sometimes have a hard time finding work,” Voiland said. “Sometimes it’s because of personal issues, other times it’s because their type of work is being phased out.”
While jobs may be plentiful in Naperville, transportation to work can be a problem for people who don’t make much money, Voiland added.
“People sometimes can’t get to their jobs because of broken-down cars and the lack of public transportation in Naperville,” she said. “We refer those folks to organizations that try to help with carpools and the like.”
For those who do work and make a healthy income, there are also “stresses and strains” associated with their lifestyles, said Bruce Anderson, vice president of Edward Hospital and chief executive officer of Linden Oaks Hospital at Edward, 801 S. Washington St. The organization provides acute care for psychiatric illnesses and substance abuse.
“A lot of people in Naperville overextend themselves financially and there’s a lot of stress,” Anderson said.
Naperville also has a growing population of elderly, who require social services. “The elderly need help because they can’t do a lot on their own,” Voiland said. “They have income but they need services such as raking their leaves or shoveling their snow.”
Voiland recently helped a longtime Naperville resident whose husband had died.
“This woman was now alone and there was no one there to do the things that her husband did for her and their home,” recalled Voiland. “We helped her work out such simple tasks as taking care of the lawn with family and friends. Sometimes, however, the elderly don’t have that sort of support system in place so we need to turn to the local churches to fill that gap.”
And there are other types of situations that cause people to seek help, she added.
“Another big group of people who need help and counseling are families of divorce,” Voiland said. “I recently worked with a woman who went through a divorce and she was a stay-at-home mom with several kids between the ages of 5 to 14,” Voiland said. “She wasn’t getting the child support she needed. And she faced a lot of challenges as far as returning to work to support her family.
“She needed affordable child care, so we linked her to services that provided that. We also linked her up with local college advisers so that she could understand what it would take to make her more marketable in the job market. We also had her work with people from the local state representative’s office so she could start a garnishment process for child support from her ex-husband.
“We even linked her with a church that helped her with Christmas presents for the kids.”
Many who seek help often face medical crises.
“There are a lot of people who lose their health care while between jobs or they never get health care benefits as part of their job. Sometimes even a minor illness can be catastrophic to them if they’re paying out of pocket. That’s when we make referrals to places where they can get free medical attention or medical attention on a sliding scale,” Voiland said.
“I recently worked with a local man who was terribly injured by an uninsured driver,” she said. “The injured man didn’t have medical insurance and he couldn’t work. The medical bills began to mount.
“We tried to get him linked up with Social Security, but that can take months, so here we had the local churches help him out until Social Security could kick in,” she added.
Because of distinct needs, the Naperville social and counseling services have become wide-ranging.
“The categories include those private social service groups that specialize in children, the disabled, job searching, language assistance, medical care and senior services,” Voiland said. “There are 125 different organizations that I use all the time.”
And then there are the churches. “There are 74 of them in the community–no less–which help out in a number of areas. They fill a lot of gaps in the community. They often pick up where the public agencies leave off,” she said.
The Naperville agencies also refer people to larger public social services organizations, such as the DuPage County Human Services Division or the DuPage Department of Public Health.
“For those who are looking for counseling, there are literally hundreds of private practicing counselors–psychologists, licensed clinical social workers, therapists, etc.–and psychiatrists in Naperville,” Anderson said. “And they all have areas of specialty. I know one practice in particular that focuses on high-level business executives.
“There are 150 doctors and therapists affiliated with our organization alone,” he added.
Nonetheless, there are still major gaps to fill in social services and counseling.
“As the town grows, there are going to be more people and more issues to address,” Anderson said.
“Transportation is a big and growing issue here,” Voiland said. “People can’t get to their jobs because of broken-down cars and a lack of public transportation. We need to address that. We need to help make them self-sufficient.”
HOW TO CONTACT SOCIAL SERVICE AGENCIES
Following is a list of some social service agencies and other organizations that serve Naperville residents.
American Red Cross of Greater Chicago: 630-801-7665, 24-hour number–312-729-6100
City of Naperville Department of Social Services: 630-420-6001, TDD–630-305-5205
DuPage County general numbers: 630-682-7000, 800-942-9412, TDD–630-682-6926
DuPage County Health Department: 630-682-7400
DuPage County Mental Health Crisis Line: 630-627-1700
DuPage Housing Authority: 630-690-3555, TDD–630-690-4278
Edward Hospital: 630-355-0450
Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS): 630-801-3400
Illinois Department of Employment Security: 630-495-4345, 312-793-5700
Illinois Department of Human Services/Office of Rehabilitation Services (ORS): 630-495-0500, TTY–630-495-2294
Illinois Department of Human Services: 630-530-1120
Linden Oaks Hospital at Edward: 630-305-5500
Naperville Township Senior Services: 630-357-8058
Prairie State Legal Services: 630-690-2130
