From Naperville to Elgin, our neighbors are in need
Lest anyone doubt there is a growing abundance of people in need, even in the relatively affluent suburbs, consider these statistic from Loaves & Fishes Community Pantry in Naperville:
It just completed its busiest week ever, serving 764 families, putting the agency on pace for another record month. In October, the pantry served 9,244 people, helped 704 single moms feed their families, provided food to 768 seniors, 568 disabled residents and 4,050 children.
Overall, Loaves & Fishes has seen a 60 percent increase in family visits to its food pantry compared to last year. Officials say they hope the community will respond by pitching in more than ever to make ending hunger a priority.
It also might help to put a face on the people, our neighbors, who can use some help. To do so, we profiled three families or individuals who are relying on the generosity of strangers. They include: a family that lost their home, their jobs and has been befriended by Loaves & Fishes; a Hoffman Estates woman who is the sole breadwinner for her daughter and two grandchildren, and a Batavia couple working but making too much to qualify for food stamps.
‘We've been blessed'
Gina James lost her 20-year job as a property manager when the market crashed. Her husband Farren, a former security guard, was shot and remains on disability as the bullet that shattered his pelvis remains just above his rectum.
Two years ago, they lost their home in Berwyn due to flooding and resultant mold issues. The couple and their seven children, ages 17 to 4, were able to find a home in Naperville that was approved for Section 8 subsidized housing.
“People heard our story and came out of the woodwork to help us,” Gina said. “People who had never met us gave us blankets and clothes for the kids and a computer for our home. And Loaves and Fishes connected me with the People's Resource Center in Wheaton, where I've taken classes to improve my job skills.”
In the meantime, Farren's disability check and money they receive for cashing in scrap metal helps keep the essentials in the home. Still, the family has to decide which children will get boots or a winter coat that fits this year.
They visit the pantry, they say, only when they are desperate. They get items to make healthy meals, as well as personal hygiene and grooming items.
“We only take what we need to keep our family fed,” Gina said. “We know there are hundreds of other families in our same position so we don't want to be a burden or take what someone else needs.”
Despite the family's struggle to get back on their feet, Gina said she still believes it is important to give back. She's a PTA volunteer and helps organize food and annual back-to-school clothing drives in the community.
“We have been blessed as a family,” she said, “so we don't mind sharing what little we do have to help those who have even less than we do.”
Food or church?
After two years of unemployment, Beverly Brewster knows she's one of the lucky ones to find a job this summer.
Yet, even with the security of a regular paycheck, the 50-year-old Hoffman Estates mother and grandmother found catering to her family's basic needs is still a daily struggle.
“I'm grateful to be working again, and having a job definitely helps ... but it's difficult,” said Brewster, a counselor for Lutheran Social Services of Illinois' substance abuse treatment center in Elgin. “After I get paid, it's like I have to make a decision who I'm going to pay this pay period. I'm really not making ends meet. I'm just kind of like juggling a lot.”
Brewster is the sole breadwinner in her household, which consists of her 23-year-old daughter, who was recently laid off from her job as a customer service representative, and her two grandchildren.
With high gas prices, Brewster often has to choose between driving to the store to buy food for her family and driving to her church in Carpentersville.
“Sometimes it's just a matter of not being able to do things that I need to do, like going to school, go to church or go to the store,” she said. “Just yesterday I was thinking about how are we going to do something for the children for Christmas.”
Brewster's focus is on taking care of the necessities like paying the gas and electric bills, for which she had to get help from Schaumburg Township.
Brewster said she would never forget the feeling the first time she had to buy food with food stamps.
“It was humbling ... a little embarrassing actually, even though it wasn't anything anyone did to make me feel that way,” she said. “If it wasn't for that, we probably wouldn't eat a lot. There have been times when I've had to go to food pantries. I try not to go unless we absolutely need to go.”
Brewster said during these tough times, it's her faith that keeps her going.
Brewster was among the early casualties of state budget cuts when her position as a counselor for the SHARE program in Hoffman Estates was eliminated in 2008.
She made the most of unemployment and applied for financial aid to get her bachelor's degree in behavioral science from National Louis University in Chicago. Brewster will be finishing her remaining elective courses at Harper College in Palatine next month.
“I think I was kind of burned out because I had been doing substance abuse counseling for 16 years at that point without a break,” she said.
Ironically, returning to counseling others has helped Brewster to take her mind off her own financial troubles.
“For me, it kind of is an opportunity to not even think of that stuff,” she said. “Paradoxically, you help yourself just by helping somebody else.”
One last visit
Without help from the Batavia Interfaith Food Pantry, Bonnie and her fiance would have had to uproot their family of five.
Bonnie, who asked that her last name not be used, lost her job in June 2010 as a home health aide for a private home health care company and her fiance started putting in overtime at his job as a machine shop operator.
But his income put them just above the threshold to receive aid through the state's food stamp program, and they were faced with moving from a home they rent on Batavia's east side.
So Bonnie, 28, turned to the pantry in November 2010 to help put food on the table for the couple and their three sons — a 7-year-old first grader, a 3-year-old with special needs and 1-year-old.
“He started working overtime, which in the long run made it worse,” Bonnie said.
She goes to the food pantry once a month for a two-week supply of milk, bread and other goods.
Last November, she was pleasantly surprised when offered a choice of turkey or ham for Thanksgiving and noted how friendly volunteers were in making herself and others feel at ease. The pantry even gave her kids surplus Halloween candy this year.
“They always have a huge line when you show up so you show up early,” said Bonnie, adding she's not embarrassed to seek help from the pantry. “It's just something you have to do. If you have to feed your kids, you have to feed your kids.”
Bonnie recently landed a full-time job in customer services, but it doesn't start until early January. She hopes to visit the pantry one more time in December and is thankful for all the help she and her family's received.
“I'm very excited (about the job),” Bonnie said. “It's been a long time coming.”
How you can help
<b>Who</b>: Batavia Interfaith Food Pantry, 100 Finn Drive.
<b>What</b>: A nonprofit agency operated by community and church volunteers residing throughout the greater Fox Valley. The pantry is a member of the Northern Illinois Food Bank Cooperative.
<b>What's needed</b>: Cereal, detergent, fruit juice, spaghetti sauce, sugar, canned fruit, paper towels, toilet paper, bar soap and gluten- and sugar-free foods.
<b>Hours</b>: 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Monday and the first Thursday of the month, 1 to 3 p.m. Tuesday, 10 a.m. to noon Friday.
<b>Contact</b>: To donate or volunteer, call (630) 879-3784.
<b>Info</b>: bataviafoodpantry.org