January 23rd is Lake County Poverty Awareness Day

The Lake County Community Foundation (LCCF) and its "START SOMETHING campaign" is proud to celebrate the first year since its declaration of Lake County Poverty Awareness Day and the impact it has had driving positive change throughout the region.

Sandy Hart, new Chair of the Lake County Board Board shares her proclamation declaring January 23, 2019, as "Lake County Poverty Awareness Day"

Many municipalities declared their own Poverty Awareness Day. Here are examples of what has been accomplished as a result of the 2018 Poverty Awareness Day:

The Alliance for Human Services, a coalition of over 30 health and human service organizations across Lake County, has committed to providing hands-on professional development opportunities for its members and other community stakeholders to further understand the issues of suburban poverty and how we can work together to collaboratively address them.

Zion Township hosted its own Poverty Awareness Day activities on June 26, 2018, with Summer Work Program participants. See https://www.lakecountycf.org/2018/07/18/efforts-continue-across-lake-county-to-build-poverty-awareness/

LCCF has begun to see positive progress through its collaborative efforts to increase access to affordable, nutritious food throughout Lake County. The food insecurity rate continues to decline. More Lake County residents have greater access to fresh produce. And a focused effort has been made to target Lake County communities that have high food insecurity rates. These areas include northwest, northeast and southeast Lake County.