For Lake County residents needing help from social service agencies, the lack of affordable housing and public transportation to reach help creates additional hurdles.
And many social service agencies find that the community’s needs far exceed available assistance.
“We have a lot of people earning minimum wage,” said Ted Byers, an associate in planning and fund development distribution at the United Way of Lake County, an agency that funds 109 programs at 48 agencies. “Finding an affordable place to live is incredibly difficult.”
A recent study by Illinois Kids Count 2001 reported that the average rent for a two-bedroom house in the county–one of Illinois’ wealthiest–is $800 a month. To afford that, a person would have to earn $15 an hour–far above the minimum wage of $5.15, Byers said.
Even worse problems arise in trying to buy a home, Byers said. Of the 5,152 new home sales in Lake County in 1999, only 770 sold for less than $100,000. More than one third of the homes were priced at or above $250,000, with $300,000 being the average price. To afford a $108,000 home, a family would have to earn $55,000 annually, Byers said.
Women, children suffer
This lack of affordable housing can be difficult for women and children escaping from domestic violence, said Phyllis DeMott, executive director of A Safe Place/Lake County Crisis Center, the only domestic violence program in Lake County. It provides emergency shelter for victims of domestic abuse for six weeks, and it offers non-residential programs for people in abusive relationships, support programs for victims and community education programs.
Women leaving abusive relationships “have a terrible time finding affordable housing,” DeMott said.
After seeking emergency shelter, these women and their children need transitional housing as they try to become independent, DeMott said. But the county lacks this type of housing, she said.
“Victims of domestic violence have big problems with issues of power and control,” she said. “They don’t know how to be independent. They require a lot of supportive services. They don’t succeed in other types of housing situations” where they need to be independent.
Affordable housing concerns also affect senior citizens, including those who are on fixed incomes.
“Some people get $1,000 a month, some only get $800 a month” in retirement income, said Wendy Seifert, division manager for senior services at Catholic Charities, the county’s largest provider of elderly services. “The cost of housing is just terrible.
“Even if they own their own home and it is paid for, the maintenance costs are high.”
Taxes, too, are high in Lake County compared with other areas, Seifert said. “An older person can fall to the bottom of the economic ladder,” she said.
Homeless shelter needed
Another type of shelter needed in Lake County is for the homeless, said Jay Simala, program director for PADS–Public Action to Deliver Shelter. PADS, which started in 1987, offers emergency shelter and food from Oct. 1 to April 30 for up to 110 men, women and children nightly. A network of 18 shelters work together, with two or three open every night.
Many of Lake County’s homeless are in the Waukegan area, where half of the shelters are located. But to reach the other shelters in the county, the homeless must be bused, Simala said.
Transitional housing also is needed for those who are trying to move off the streets and back into society, he added.
One county program is doing something about providing more affordable housing for families. Habitat for Humanity has built 52 single-family homes since 1989, primarily on the south side of Waukegan, said Jeanne Kelly, Habitat development director.
Supported by large and small businesses, organizations and individuals, Habitat selects families who meet the following criteria:
– Have an income of $25,000 to $35,000 a year and can afford to pay a small mortgage.
– Can provide 500 hours of “sweat equity” working on their home’s construction.
– Currently live in substandard housing.
“Habitat holds the mortgage for these homes and charges no interest on the loan,” Kelly said. “We have less than 1 percent default on our mortgages, and the money from mortgage payments is recycled back into the program.”
Habitat will soon begin construction of duplexes in North Chicago.
“The land would have provided for just seven single-family homes,” Kelly said. “With duplex designs, we can build 14, allowing us to help more families.”
Transportation, whether to shelters or to other social service programs, remains another area of concern in the county, agency personnel said.
“This is a spread-out county, some of it rural,” said Catholic Charities’ Seifert. “Getting around can be difficult for the elderly.”
For Hispanic immigrants, the dearth of public transportation around the county presents challenges to finding work and reaching social service programs, said Betsy Lazerow, executive director of Family Network, a family social service agency that provides support, social and educational programs and child development activities for families with children up to age 3. Among those programs is Right from the Start, which provides bilingual services for Spanish-speaking families.
“There is a huge gap” for Latino immigrants, Lazerow said. “We need more public transportation to allow them to get to programs and work.”
That lack of transportation can become critical, especially in reaching health care, counseling and support groups, she said.
“A lot of them are depressed because they are separated from their families of origin,” she said. “They face so many barriers, and there is also domestic abuse.”
Services hard to reach
Highwood, located in southeastern Lake County, is 38 percent Hispanic. However, the social services are located in other areas of the county. Without more public transportation, getting to those services is problematic if not impossible, she said.
“Highwood is surrounded by very affluent areas such as Lake Forest and Highland Park,” Lazerow said. “These people are almost invisible. It’s more challenging than where there are lots of services. Their future is in getting the tools for future growth.”
Coupled with a lack of public transportation is the centralization of social service programs in geographic pockets. For example, many agencies are concentrated in Waukegan and other parts of eastern Lake County because larger numbers of people who need services live there.
However, with little east-west public transportation, those living outside Waukegan may find it difficult to reach needed programs.
The solution, some social service agency personnel said, is to have satellite programs in local communities.
“In every community we need to have a family support agency as an integral part of the community, just as the community has a public library,” said Family Network’s Lazerow. “We need to focus on the family and provide programs supporting the family.”
Lake County also needs more substance abuse treatment, youth mentoring and counseling, said David Lyke, director of prevention and community services with Omni Youth Services, based in Buffalo Grove.
“We need more service around low-income areas and with immigrant populations,” Lyke said. “More is needed in prevention and collaboration [among agencies]. Lake County is so large.”
Among the social service agencies that do seem to provide needed programs in smaller geographic areas are the special recreation associations, serving children age 3 and up, and adults with mental and physical disabilities.
The Warren Special Recreation Association, for example, is based in Gurnee and provides recreational and social activities for the disabled in Warren Township. The programs are held throughout the township.
A swimming program for children with disabilities and their families is held on Wednesday evenings at Laremont School in Gages Lake. Other programs include bowling, gymnastics, golf and basketball; all programs attract about 100 participants and their families.
Need far outstrips available assistance in mental health services and counseling, and in substance abuse treatment for children and adults, say officials from some service agencies.
“The problem is overall capacity rather than of quality service,” said Dave Schanding, director of behavioral health services with the Lake County Health Department. “Some of the drawbacks are the amount of time psychiatrists have [to work with patients] and the number of case management staff helping [the patients] learn how to function. There are more needing that assistance.”
Insufficient staff is also a problem when the mentally ill are jailed, Schanding said. “Five to 15 percent of inmates in penal institutions are there because of behaviors to do with their illnesses. There are not sufficient staff. We need more mental health workers working with judges and district attorneys.”
Schanding said the same is true for inmates who have substance abuse problems. “Fifty to 70 percent of inmates have drug and alcohol issues,” he said. “If you don’t deal with the underlying problem, you can’t hope to change things.”
Affordable counseling needed
Finding affordable mental health and substance abuse counseling is also a problem, said DeMott of A Safe Place. “It’s still very, very difficult to get women in for mental health assessments,” she said. “There’s also a need for more substance abuse programs that accept kids and programs that accept women on an emergency basis.”
Schanding said that although counseling programs usually have a sliding fee scale based on income, “that fee of $30 or $40 still may be too much for some to pay.”
Inpatient programs for mental health counseling and substance abuse are also waning at a time of greater need, said Phyllis Frankel, associate professor of psychology at Lake Forest College and director of its counseling center.
“One of our biggest difficulties is not having inpatient treatment for adults with psychiatric problems,” she said. The closest hospitals now for residents in south Lake County are Provena St. Therese in Waukegan or Evanston Hospital in Cook County.
“Lake County–in this area at least–is going to be without the availability of an adult psychiatric unit,” Frankel said.
Condell Medical Center in Libertyville closed its 20-bed adult inpatient psychiatric unit in March, and Highland Park Hospital recently switched its 18-bed adult unit to one that serves adolescents only.
Officials at both hospitals said the decisions were economic. The adult units at Highland Park Hospital and its affiliated Evanston Hospital were “poorly occupied,” said Dr. Frederick Miller, chairman of the department of psychiatry and behavioral services for Evanston Northwestern Healthcare, which owns the Highland Park and Evanston hospitals. Since the change, the Evanston adult unit and the Highland Park adolescent unit have been full or almost full, he said. Condell also had few adult psychiatric patients: “Four, at its height, and a full staff,” said Ina Albert, director of public relations at Condell. She noted that “psychiatric patients are being treated very differently now,” with more group sessions and visits to doctors’ offices, rather than inpatient service.
There is also a great need for inpatient alcohol and drug treatment, she said.
Where to find help, support
Following are some agencies that help Lake County residents.
A Safe Place/Lake County Crisis Center, P.O. Box 1067, Waukegan, 847-249-5147. Provides emergency shelter for victims of domestic violence and their children for six weeks; helps those in abusive relationships who don’t need shelter; provides support for victims; and sponsors community education programs, including some for abusers.
Boys & Girls Club of Lake County, 405 Belvidere Rd., Waukegan, 847-360-0770. Offers recreational, social and educational programming for children ages 6 through 18, as long as they are in school.
CASA of Lake County, 24647 N. Milwaukee Ave., Vernon Hills, 847-808-9154. CASA, which stands for Case Appointed Special Advocates, is part of a national organization that uses volunteers in court to represent the interests of abused and neglected children.
Catholic Charities, 721 N. LaSalle St., 5th floor south, Chicago; Lake County number 847-782-4000. Provides services for the elderly and other groups. Center for Enriched Living, 1321 Wilmot Rd., Deerfield, 847-948-7001. Works with children and adults with developmental disabilities. Services include an after-school program and a social skills development program.
COOL, 121-129 W. Water St., Waukegan, 847-662-1340 for transitional housing and 847-662-1230 for the food pantry. Provides transitional housing for homeless families with children. Families must apply and meet certain criteria, including having a job, saving money, going to counseling and learning life skills. The agency also operates a food pantry five days a week, providing four days of food per family member once every 30 days.
Ela Township Senior Bus Service, 99 E. Main St., Lake Zurich, 847-438-6677. Provides door-to-door service within the township for people age 55 and older, and for the disabled. Reservations must be made at least 24 hours in advance. Cost is 65 cents per ride.
Family Network, 330 Laurel Ave., Highland Park, 847-433-0377. Provides parent support, social and educational programs and child development activities for families with children through age 3.
Foglia YMCA, 1025 Old McHenry Rd., Lake Zurich, 847-438-5300. Offers programs and services for children, youths and adults, including a fitness center and before-and after-school care for children in Lake Zurich Community Unit School District 95. Need-based scholarships are available.
Habitat for Humanity, 315 N. Utica St., Waukegan, 847-623-1020. Builds affordable homes for families with incomes of $25,000 to $35,000 who can put in 500 hours of construction work on the homes and who are living in substandard housing.
I-PLUS of Lake County, 109 S. Genesee St., Waukegan, 847-662-1145. This agency, which is part of Lake County’s Families Plus program, provides training in budgeting, social skills and other life skills for public aid recipients moving into the work world.
Lake County Council for Seniors, 414 S. Lewis Ave., Waukegan, 847-244-1720. Provides seniors with information and education on politics, cultural activities and social events in and around Lake County. Also offers seminars and lectures on topics of interest to seniors. The group maintains a list of low-cost housing in the county. Dues are $6 per person or $10 per couple.
Lake County Health Department, 3012 Grand Ave., Waukegan, 847-360-6700. Provides case management services, housing, vaccination assistance, medical care and counseling. Also sponsors mental health and substance abuse programs.
Northpointe Achievement Center, 3441 Sheridan Rd., Zion, 847-872-1700. Provides social, residential and career support for mentally and emotionally disabled adults.
Omni Youth Services, 111 Lake Cook Rd., Buffalo Grove, 847-353-1700. Offers youth and family counseling, juvenile justice assistance, substance abuse programs, youth mentoring and community programming for youths ages 10 to 18 and their families.
PADS Crisis Services, 3001 Green Bay Rd., Building No. 5, Buffalo Grove, 847-689-4357. Public Action to Deliver Shelter offers emergency shelter and food for homeless men, women and children from Oct. 1 through April 30. Has 18 shelters in Lake County, with two or three open nightly.
Save-A-Pet, 31664 N. Fairfield Rd., Grayslake, 847-740-7788. A no-kill animal shelter that rescues cats and dogs and offers them for adoption.
Special Recreation Services of Northern Lake County, 732 N. Genesee St., Waukegan, 847-360-4760, www.waukeganparks.org/specrec.html. Provides year-round recreational activities for individuals with disabilities or special needs. Programs are designed for those age 3 through adult who are in special education classes and sheltered workshops or who have physical disabilities, mental handicaps, learning disabilities, emotional difficulties, hearing or visual impairments and developmental delays.
Tri-County Pregnancy & Parenting Services, 100 S. Atkinson Rd., No. 110, Grayslake, 847-231-4651. A non-profit agency that performs free pregnancy testing and promotes alternatives to abortion. Offers teen mother support groups and parenting classes, as well as post-abortion and adoption counseling for all women.
United Way of Lake County, 2020 O’Plaine Rd., Green Oaks, 847-816-0063, www.uwlakeco.org. A non-profit organization that mobilizes thousands of people annually through corporate, academic, government and non-profit sectors. The programs and services supported by donations to United Way of Lake County help about one in three county residents.
Vista ElderCARE, 1324 N. Sheridan Rd., Waukegan, 847-360-4004. A community-based program that matches trained volunteers with homebound elderly to help them maintain their independence. Volunteers offer a variety of services, including house cleaning, yard work, transportation to shopping or doctors’ offices, and in-home visits.
Warren Special Recreation Association, 17801 W. Washington St., Gurnee, 847-244-6619. Provides recreational and social activities for disabled children and adults in Warren Township. Programs include swimming lessons, family swims, golf, basketball, gymnastics and bowling.
YWCA of Lake County, 2133 Belvidere Rd., Waukegan, 847-662-4247. A non-profit agency offering services, classes and support groups for girls and women. Programs include Encore Plus, which provides free mammograms and breast cancer seminars and workshops; Viva Mujer Latinas, a Spanish-speaking support group for breast cancer survivors; health education for middle school girls; and TechGYRLS in Action, an after-school program for middle school girls to help them learn about and feel comfortable with math, science and technology.
— Compiled by Lu Ann Franklin and Maggie Sieger
