Lake County agency lauded for food stamp program

It's the last place anyone wants to visit, yet a necessary cushion in harsh economic times.

The agency responsible for keeping Lake County's underprivileged residents from going to bed hungry was lauded Wednesday for its efforts.

The Lake County Family Community Resource Center in Park City was named a 2008 Hunger Champion Mentor by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It's the first Illinois agency to receive the award since its 2006 inception.

Each year, the award goes to one or two Department of Human Services offices in the nation that perform outstanding community service in administering federal food stamps, now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Lake County was chosen from among 81 nominees.

The recognition comes at a time when the Department of Human Services is serving the highest number of food stamp recipients in history due to the national economic crisis.

"We are approaching the 30 million mark, the number of people per month that are on the program nationally, which is an all-time high," said Tim English, SNAP director for the Department of Agriculture's Midwest regional office. "Illinois is over 1.1 million a month, highest they have ever seen."

The Lake County center has 18,295 cases of individuals or families from throughout the county receiving food stamps. That's a jump from 16,293 in November 2007, said Vicki Kanellis, the center's administrator.

"We've never had this many before," she said. "Even our total caseload continues to grow."

The agency also administers medical assistance and temporary assistance programs for needy families.

A significant number of the new cases are first-time food stamp users who have been laid off from jobs or their homes have been foreclosed.

English said the Lake County agency was selected because it provides residents greater access to the food stamp program through partnerships with various community groups. He also lauded the center's outreach efforts through Spanish and Russian bilingual case workers.

The center works closely with College of Lake County in Grayslake to provide English as a Second Language and GED classes at its offices.

"It's kind of a one-stop service," English said. "One of the reasons that their nomination really stood out is the quality customer service they are providing and their welcoming environment."