Elgin group focuses on child care for women in poverty

A group in Elgin is working hard to raise awareness about how to help women out of poverty, starting with establishing drop-in and 24-hour child care.

The goal of Women on the Brink: Elgin Area is to provide educational and financial opportunities for women in poverty, a problem that affects individuals and the community as a whole, chairwoman Jennifer Ford said.

Not having access to child care is a huge hurdle for women who can't rely on relatives or neighbors, especially if they work weekend or night shifts, or if they need to make impromptu arrangements while looking for a job, Ford said.

"It you want to take a class, go to a job interview or work on your resume somewhere, what do you do with your child?" she said.

The group includes representatives of the League of Women Voters of the Elgin Area, the American Association of University Women, Gail Borden Public Library, YWCA Elgin, Community Crisis Center and more. The idea to create the group came from longtime League of Women Voters member Myra Becker, now in her 90s.

The Elgin group takes its moniker from "The Shriver Report: A Woman's Nation Pushes Back from the Brink," a 2014 book by Maria Shriver that examines why there are 70 million women and children in poverty in the United States, and what can be done about it.

The report outlines several strategies, including tackling teenage pregnancy, encouraging continuing education and ensuring adequate child care; the Elgin group adopted the latter as it first goal, which will be followed by other goals such as providing necessary mental health services, former Chairwoman Ramona "Monie" Burns said.

In Elgin, 2,080 children up to age 6 live in poverty, according to data provided by the organization. There are 254 children enrolled in subsidized child care and another 413 children on waiting lists for that.

"I'm optimistic," Burns said. "To create a drop-in center, we have the ability to do that. I don't think that's a stretch, but it's going to take a community."

The Elgin group wants to act as a catalyst for people and community organizations to come together and make it happen, Ford said. It might seek nonprofit status in the future, she said.

The group will host a discussion about the book "Nickel and Dimed" at 7 p.m. Thursday at Gail Borden Public Library in Elgin - and no, you don't need to have read the book to attend, Ford said. Its first event, in conjunction with the group Reel Women, was a showing of the documentary "Paycheck to Paycheck" in October attended by about 65 people.

"We feel our role is to educate, to let the community know where the needs are and what's the next step. How can we help women and children avoid that poverty level and get the child care we need?" she said.

"This book talk is one more piece in the conversation about what it's like to be a woman (living) on minimum wage or less."