State's budget problems push Elgin YWCA to 'breaking point'

The state's dire financial condition is threatening to make the Elgin YWCA a shell of its former self.

“We're at the breaking point,” said Julia McClendon, the CEO of the 109-year-old local chapter.

McClendon said the state is six months behind in contractual payments to the agency, which equates to $216,661.

The nonprofit, like many social service agencies in the greater Elgin area, has had to take measures to cut costs in the last 18 months.

McClendon said five full-time employees were laid off last fall a quarter of the full-time staff leaving it at 16. Employees also took two to five unpaid days off over the summer and some volunteered to take more. The staff can't even buy paper.

The YWCA, at 220 E. Chicago St., operates a day care for 56 students from kindergarten though sixth grade. Eighty percent of its clients are low-income residents.

It also runs an English as a Second Language program for nearly 500 adults, an afterschool mentoring program for 45 students ages 11 to 17 called Teen REACH, and the South East Asian Youth program, which aims to close the gap between immigrant generations and serves 800 adults and children a year.

These programs except for the day care, which the state is still funding will be shut down if help doesn't come soon, McClendon said.

The YWCA has 25 part-time workers, and McClendon said 30 more layoffs could be necessary if funding does not come through soon.

She also is worried that relief might not come until January, when lawmakers reconvene in Springfield for the second veto session after the Nov. 2 election. The YWCA has been chipping away at its cash reserve to make ends meet, she said.

McClendon said she has appealed to local state lawmakers for help. Banks are unwilling to give the YWCA a line of credit because 60 percent of its $1.2 million budget is from state funding.

“People can't wait. You can't expect people to work for free,” McClendon said. “This should have been solved before the election. There is very little chance we'll have any relief until after January.”

The Community Crisis Center in Elgin, a domestic violence shelter, also has had to fire workers and cut pay to help weather the budget storm.

For information on how to help the YWCA, visit ywca.org or call (847) 742-7930.