July 09, 2026

We at Champaign County Health Care Consumers (CCHCC) get many calls and questions about the availability of mental and behavioral health services and how to access those.

Our friends at Promise Healthcare offer a variety of Mental/Behavioral health services that are affordable, and accessible in a timely way.

We want to share information with you about their services, and how to access those.

Promise Healthcare Mental/Behavioral Health Services: Promise Healthcare offers the following services:

• Psychiatric care, including with psychiatric nurse practitioners
• Individual Counseling
• Group Therapy
• Family Therapy
• Crisis Intervention
• Substance Abuse Counseling
• Case Management

Promise Healthcare’s Behavioral Health Groups include:

• Addiction Recovery
• Mothers Pregnancy Group
• Fathers Group
• Anger Management
• Life Transitions
• LGBTQ+
• Domestic Violence
• Sexual Abuse

READ ON!

June 16, 2026

One of the greatest hardships that someone can face is a health event that leads to a disabling condition that leads to an inability to work, which, in turn leads to a loss of income. If that disabling condition is long-term, a person should be able to apply for Disability benefits and start receiving monthly income.

But getting approved for Disability benefits in the State of Illinois is notoriously difficult:

• High initial denials: Approximately 65-70% of initial applications in Illinois are denied, requiring applicants to go through the lengthy appeals process;
• Long wait time: Illinois is facing severe backlogs, with some studies ranking Illinois at the bottom of the 8 states with the worst processing times, sometimes exceeding 200 days for initial decisions;
• Long waits for the last level of appeals with an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ): Once a person’s disability application has been denied at the appeals stages, the last appeal is with an ALJ, but people may have to wait for 12-18 months for their ALJ hearing.

These statistics are grim. The people who are waiting for disability benefits – sometimes waiting years for their cases to wind their way through the process – also have no income for their living expenses. Many people end up in dire situations where they are losing their housing, selling off possessions to survive, and becoming homeless. Many of us are only one illness, injury, or accident away from needing disability benefits.

CCHCC is here to help our community members get through the Disability application process as smoothly as possible, and as quickly as possible – and we are good at it! Over the years, we have been able to build a team of Disability Application Specialists who are available to serve anyone in Champaign County. And, as with all of our other services, our Disability Application Services are free!

And, we are very happy to announce that one of our Disability Application Specialists is now an attorney! Babatunde Amao, CCHCC’s Director of Health & Disability Policy, is now a licensed attorney in the State of Illinois. As such, Babatunde is able to represent his disability clients at the ALJ level. In a few short months, Babatunde has already received three approvals from the ALJ level, including one case involving a child!

READ ON!

April 30, 2026

Our friends and neighbors who depend on SNAP (food stamps) are entering a difficult period starting tomorrow, Friday, May 1, 2026, as a result of new “work requirements” for SNAP benefits.

SNAP stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

CCHCC is here to help Champaign County residents to maintain their benefits! Please read below for important information, and see the link to a WCIA TV news story featuring CCHCC’s Chris Garcia discussing exemptions to the SNAP work requirements.

What do SNAP beneficiaries in Illinois need to know?
On July 4, 2024, Trump signed a budget bill that included massive changes to SNAP, and those changes take effect tomorrow, on Friday, May 1, 2026.

The Trump Administration is now imposing “work requirements” for SNAP beneficiaries. At CCHCC, we refer to these as “paperwork requirements” because the reality is that most SNAP beneficiaries who are able to work, are already doing so. It is important to remember that many low-wage jobs or part-time jobs do not pay enough for people to be able to afford nutritious food.

Still, complying with the new documentation requirements can be challenging. CCHCC can help!

Further below, we outline the circumstances under which someone can be exempt from the new requirements.

But first, some facts.
Governor JB Pritzker and IL Department of Human Services recently held a press conference to remind Illinois residents about the new SNAP requirements. Here are some key points from that press conference:

– Due to Trump’s budget bill, around 150,000 Illinoisans are at risk of losing food assistance beginning May 1, 2026.

– Illinoisans on SNAP are encouraged to use the state’s screening tool to check their status: https://aberp.illinois.gov/screener/ABAWD?lang=EN

–  The State of Illinois has resources for work and volunteer opportunities through Job Ready IL and Serve IL: https://www.dhs.state.il.us/?item=177800

To learn more, read the full press release: https://gov-pritzker-newsroom.prezly.com/trump…

Who is eligible for a Work Requirements Exemption?
Anyone who can answer YES to ANY of the questions below, and provide proof if asked to do so, is considered “Exempt” from the SNAP Work Requirements:

READ ON!

March 23, 2026

Getting housed in Champaign County should not require a miracle – especially if someone has income. But increasingly, finding affordable housing – and especially physically accessible housing for people with mobility impairments – sometimes feels like it requires a miracle. Many homeless individuals in our community have income, but still cannot afford housing.  This situation contributes to the growing crisis of homelessness. It shouldn’t be this way.

A client story – the search for affordable housing: Our clients, an elderly disabled couple whom we will refer to as the Smiths (not their real name), contacted us late last year with a desperate plea for help. The apartment where they had lived for many years was not renewing their lease (for no fault of theirs), and they had nowhere to go despite searching for a new, wheelchair accessible apartment. Despite their best efforts, they were on the brink of homelessness. 

At the time, CCHCC had a small grant to help pay for hotel rooms for individuals experiencing homelessness who are also medically fragile. So the Smiths put their household belongings in storage, and CCHCC put the Smiths up at a hotel for what was supposed to be a two-week stay. CCHCC paid for their hotel room so that they could save enough of their own funds to pay application fees, deposit, and first month’s rent at a new apartment. Two weeks turned into two and a half months. The challenges the Smiths were facing were two-fold: a) finding an apartment they could afford; and b) finding an apartment that was accessible for someone using a wheelchair. CCHCC worked with the Smiths for two and a half months, paying for their hotel room, and helping find leads for apartments. Subsidized senior housing was not an option for the Smiths because of the long waitlists. Finally, at long last, the Smiths were able to move into an affordable and accessible apartment!

Housing is healthcare. Safe, affordable housing is a cornerstone of a thriving and healthy community, and it is a key factor in each person’s health and well-being. For people experiencing homelessness, housing is healthcare. Housing is the foundation from which we build our lives. We spend most of our lives in our homes. The affordability, quality, and stability of our homes is directly linked to our health and well-being. People who experience homelessness have a harder time managing their health – it is harder to keep up with doctors’ appointments, maintain medications, and get preventive and primary care. People experiencing homelessness are more likely to seek care through hospital Emergency Departments, which is the least efficient and most expensive way to manage chronic health conditions. And of course, being homeless is detrimental to one’s health, even if it is for brief periods of time. Studies tell us that individuals experiencing chronic homelessness have lifespans that are 20-30 years shorter than people who are consistently housed.

How much should hosing cost you?  Experts say that housing costs – rent or mortgage, plus utilities – should not cost you more than 30% of your monthly income. At the very most, it should not cost you more than 50% of your monthly income. But 50% is a huge proportion that limits a person or household’s ability to deal with unexpected expenses such as car repairs, etc.

Too many homeless people in our community have incomes, but cannot afford housing. CCHCC has had great success in helping people apply for disability benefits, including individuals experiencing homelessness. Disability benefits provide monthly incomes. One disability benefit program is the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. SSI provides monthly payments to people with disabilities and older adults who have little or no income or resources. But in 2026, SSI provides a maximum monthly federal payment of $994 per month for an individual, and $1,491 for a couple.

READ ON!

SUPPORT CCHCC!

February 10, 2026

The end of January each year marks my birthday, followed by my anniversary of when I started working at CCHCC.

This year, I have just turned 60 years old, and marked my 29^th anniversary of being on staff at CCHCC. I feel so deeply grateful to have landed in this community and at this amazing organization!

Next year, CCHCC will be celebrating our 50^th anniversary! And I will be celebrating my 30^th anniversary with the organization. It is amazing to think of this!

The work we do at CCHCC is difficult, and never more so than right now as healthcare and housing and public benefits are being eroded right before our eyes. All too often, we are encountering clients who are in very desperate situations or who are experiencing crises. 

But every single day at CCHCC, we are doing the work that transforms people’s lives, and I could not be more proud of our organization and the amazing staff members I get to work with every day, and our very supportive Board Members.

As an example of how the work we do transforms people’s lives, I want to share a client story with you from Ashley Buckley, our staff member who helps homeless individuals qualify for Medicaid and SNAP. Ashley goes far beyond her job description and often ends up helping homeless individuals apply for housing opportunities, helping them complete applications and navigate the housing “system” in order to reduce the barriers they might encounter if they are left to do it on their own.

Please see Ashley’s story below:

“I met J when I was tabling at the Daily Bread. He is a very kind men who needed assistance with housing and had been referred to several places for assistance, but was confused on where to start. He just turned 56 and was looking for senior housing. I invited J to come to the office when he had time and I would help him go through applications that would place him on the waitlist for several subsidized housing locations. Typically, it’s difficult to get people in to the office after meeting with them at Daily Bread, but he showed up later that evening and had his ID and SSI information ready to share. I could tell that he had a long day, but he was still smiling and happy to get the assistance that he needed.

We went through several applications, and he needed assistance reading some of the documentation and filling out the information, which I was happy to help with. After we finished I gave him additional resources to other locations, such as Promise Healthcare and PACE. He had a knee that had been bothering him, and sleeping on friends ’ sofas or at the shelter had caused it to swell and become more painful. He declined any emergency services and said that he would manage.

READ ON!

“They gave me hope again. You’re next!” – Mr. S

December 10, 2025

2025 has been a brutal year, and more pain is ahead as people face the prospect of losing benefits that are essential to their daily lives and survival. The partisan budget bill (the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”) that was passed and signed into law on July 4, 2025 is already causing harm and chaos nationally, and in our own community, with much worse to come. 

But Champaign County Health Care Consumers (CCHCC) is on the front lines, delivering the services that are essential for the lives and well-being of our community members, and advocating and organizing against harmful federal policies.

Over the years, CCHCC has grown in our ability and expertise to help community members from diverse backgrounds enroll in a wide variety of health insurance and public programs because we saw the need for these services in our community. CCHCC is the only organization in Champaign County that can help enroll community members in all forms of health insurance – whether that be Medicaid, Marketplace, or Medicare and Medicare-related programs. Beyond health insurance, CCHCC also helps with public benefits such as Medicare Extra Help, Medicare Savings, SNAP, Township General Assistance, LIHEAP, hospital financial assistance, and Disability benefits (SSI and SSDI). And, our services are free! 

Among the most vulnerable in our community are people who literally have nothing – no home, no income, no regular healthcare, no food, no support. The lives of people in these circumstances can be improved! But it takes hard work, special skills and knowledge, and the ability to establish trust with people who are disenfranchised. CCHCC does this work every day, in our office and out in the community.

This client story from Babatunde, CCHCC’s Director of Health & Disability Policy, gives a small window into the work that we do: “I began working with Mr. S in April. He had already applied for Social Security Disability benefits five times before, all unsuccessfully. By the time he reached out to our office, he was completely discouraged. He openly expressed that he had zero hope and was already mentally preparing for yet another appeal before we had even submitted anything.

Despite his doubts, we moved forward with his case. I worked closely with him to gather the necessary documentation, build a strong application, and ensure every detail was in place. This month, Mr. S was approved for SSI, and he received a significant backpay award.

When he got the news, he was in disbelief. He kept repeating how he never thought he would be approved, and that this was truly going to be his last attempt. The approval has not only brought him financial relief, but it has also restored his hope.

In fact, he was so moved by the outcome that he immediately referred his best friend, who is also in need of SSI support, to our office. He told his friend, ‘They gave me hope again. You’re next.’

It’s moments like this that remind me of the impact our work has—not just on individual clients, but on the people and communities connected to them. What began as a case filled with discouragement and doubt turned into a powerful reminder of the importance of persistence, compassion, and support.”

DONATE NOW!

READ ON!

December 02, 2025

There is a feature in today’s The News-Gazette on page B3 where some community members were asked for their comments about “What to do with Strides?”

CCHCC’s Executive Director, Claudia Lennhoff, was asked to submit comments on behalf of CCHCC.

You can read her comments below.

The News-Gazette – Tuesday, December 2, 2025 – “The Great Debate: What to do with Strides?”

Champaign County Health Care Consumers (CCHCC) would like to see the Strides shelter continue because it is a vital resource in our community. But Strides needs robust funding to meet its staffing needs and its monthly expenses.

Without the Strides shelter, the number of unsheltered homeless individuals would increase dramatically.  More people would suffer from the devastating effects of being unsheltered, and the community impact would be immense. The strain on our social services systems, first responders, hospital ERs, food banks, public health, and the locations where people might try to shelter themselves overnight would be devastating.

Closing Strides would not make the increasing problem of homelessness go away. It would just make it much worse.

The number one cause of homelessness in our community, and around the nation, is the cost of housing. We need far more affordable housing than what we have in our community. In fact, part of the crowding and overflow at Strides is due to this fact alone. CCHCC works closely with Strides and we have helped many of the Strides residents apply for, and be approved for disability benefits. But due to the lack of affordable housing in our community, individuals who are homeless but who do have income from disability benefits, cannot overcome the financial barriers to housing. And that is why there is a “bottle neck” at Strides in terms of people being able to move out of the shelter and into their own housing. The lack of truly affordable housing in our community is, in and of itself, having a devastating impact on the Strides shelter because people who are ready to be housed simply cannot find housing they can afford.

Unfortunately, the lack of affordable housing is about to get much worse, as the Trump Administration is calling for states to slash the numbers of people who are receiving housing vouchers through programs like the Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) vouchers. These PSH vouchers help pay the difference in rent between what the tenant can afford and what the market rate for rent is. The federal government is telling communities that they will have to reduce the use of housing vouchers down to a third or less. This means that currently housed people who are using PSH vouchers might end up losing their homes, as landlords lose income from the vouchers. This is a recipe for disaster and tragedy, and local communities will be left picking up the pieces.

READ ON!

November 12, 2025

Champaign County Health Care Consumers (CCHCC) Executive Director, Claudia Lennhoff, will be on WDWS radio tomorrow morning for a discussion about the health care issues affecting our community. Please tune in at 9 a.m.! WDWS offers community members the opportunity to call in and ask questions of the guests.

Claudia will be on at the 9 a.m. hour with host Brian Barnhart, and the conversation will focus on all the hot healthcare topics going on right now:  Medicare Open Enrollment, ACA Marketplace Open Enrollment, Medicaid, changes at OSF, etc. – and whatever callers to the show want to talk about.

WHAT: CCHCC’s Claudia Lennhoff joins Brian Barnhart on WDWS to talk about healthcare.

WHEN: Thursday, November 13, 2025 at 9 a.m.

WHERE: WDWS Radio AM 1400

Sincerely,
Champaign County Health Care Consumers

September 16, 2025

On Thursday of last week (Thursday, September 11), CCHCC hosted a community meeting to help explain the provisions of the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”, which includes massive spending cuts to healthcare and food programs, among other programs that people rely on.

Thank you to everyone who attended this meeting, and who helped spread the word about the meeting!

As promised, CCHCC wanted to share the materials that we developed for this meeting, to help our community understand the devastating impacts of the budget bill on health and food programs. We are also sharing the video recording of the meeting. Please see below for the links to the materials and the video:

Our PowerPoint Presentation
https://www.healthcareconsumers.org/files/2025-09-11_OBBA_Presentation.pdf

Our handout on the impacts on health and food programs, nationally and in Illinois:
https://www.healthcareconsumers.org/files/2025-09-11_OBBA_Impacts.pdf

Our handout on the harms of work requirements and why work requirements do not work:
https://www.healthcareconsumers.org/files/2025-09-09_Medicaid_Work_Requirements.pdf

And, the video from the community meeting for those who want to watch and hear the presentations:
https://youtu.be/S-dxsT1l-CA?si=2Dz22COLmGLuK7jY

Please stay tuned to CCHCC’s email list in order to see more updates and information about the impacts of the budget bill on the programs that affect people’s lives.

If you are not yet on CCHCC’s email list, you can sign up here:
https://www.healthcareconsumers.org/join-the-cchcc-email-or-mailing-list/

READ ON!

December 30, 2024

On behalf of Champaign County Health Care Consumers, I want to share with you some brief client stories from Shea Belahi, our Disability Application Services Coordinator. Shea (pronounced “Shay”) is a former CCHCC Board Member who has now been working at CCHCC for a year and a half. Shea primarily works with homeless individuals or individuals who are at risk of becoming homeless. Her main responsibility is to help clients with disability applications for SSI and SSDI. But the clients she encounters have so many additional and pressing needs, that Shea often gets involved in helping with those needs as well.

The brief stories below illustrate the life-changing nature of the free services that CCHCC provides to some of our most vulnerable community members.

Here are Shea’s stories about a few of her clients:

I met Mr. H during one of my visits to STRIDES shelter. He was living in his car near the shelter, and he needed help applying for disability benefits. Because of his medical conditions, I was able to help him get into a hotel program so that he would not have to be living out of his car. Shortly after he got into the hotel program, I helped him apply for a housing voucher. He qualified for the housing voucher, and I am happy to say that he is now living in his own apartment! We are still waiting on a determination for his disability application, and that can take some time. But Mr. H is very happy that he does not have to worry about being in the shelter or his car this winter.

READ ON!

DONATE NOW!

December 19, 2024

On behalf of Champaign County Health Care Consumers, I want to share with you this special client story from Nicole Mitchell, our Senior Services Specialist. Nicole has been working at CCHCC for a year and a half, and she often encounters very daunting situations, where the answers are not easy or obvious. But Nicole is deeply compassionate and committed to her clients, and she works tenaciously to help her clients get the resources they need. This often involves collaborating with other organizations, and helping to facilitate “warm” referrals to those organizations.
 
A ”warm” referral is one where our staff contact the staff at another organization and help introduce the client to that organization, and help explain the client’s needs. This helps ensure that no one falls through the cracks.
 
This story illustrates the life-changing nature of the free services that CCHCC provides to some of our most vulnerable community members.
 
READ ON for Nicole’s story about her client:

CCHCC is a one-stop-shop for health insurance and public benefits!

Mr. E has renal failure and is on dialysis, but had no income, no health insurance, and no way to afford food, and he was on the brink of losing his housing because of it. He was in a very desperate situation and any security he had in life was gone once he lost his ability to work due to his kidney failure. Mr. E was referred to CCHCC by his dialysis facility. Three different staff members stepped up to help Mr. E. with multiple public benefits. Each staff member who helped Mr. E specializes in a particular area of public benefits. Thanks to the efforts of Paulette, Adani, and Nicole, Mr. E was approved for disability income, as well as SNAP (food stamps), and Medicare and Medicare Savings. Mr. E’s life has stabilized now that he has income, health insurance, secure housing, and can afford food. Mr. E was grateful to CCHCC and was thrilled that CCHCC could provide a “one-stop-shop” for all of these benefits!

Over the years, CCHCC has grown in our ability and expertise to help community members from diverse backgrounds enroll in a wide variety of health insurance and public programs because we saw the need for these services in our community. CCHCC is the only organization in Champaign County that can help enroll community members in all forms of health insurance – whether that be Medicaid, Marketplace, or Medicare and Medicare-related programs. Beyond health insurance, CCHCC also helps with public benefits such as Medicare Extra Help, Medicare Savings, SNAP, Township General Assistance, and Disability benefits (SSI and SSDI). And, our services are free!

In the process of working with our clients, we often encounter other needs – some being very dire, such as impending evictions and the need for housing assistance and navigation. For example, Shea, a CCHCC Disability Specialist, met Mr. S at the STRIDES shelter when he was living in his car at the shelter parking lot, and needed help applying for disability. While Shea was working with him on his disability case, she helped him enter a hotel program for temporary housing. While he was at the hotel, she helped him apply for a housing voucher. Mr. S is now in his own apartment! He will not have to worry about being homeless this winter. Shea will continue working with him on the disability application process.

CCHCC is one of the only non-profit community-based organizations in the nation that provides help with Disability applications. Disability programs such as SSI and SSDI are incredibly difficult to apply for, and the rates of approval are dismal. But once someone qualifies for these benefits, they will have guaranteed monthly income to live on, and greater stability with housing and basic needs. In some cases, like the one below, an entire family can benefit. CCHCC is the only organization in Champaign County that provides this free service to the public at large.

DONATE NOW!

READ ON!

December 5, 2024

On behalf of Champaign County Health Care Consumers, I want to share with you this incredible client story from one of our Disability Application Specialists, Babatunde Amao. Babatunde has been working at CCHCC for a year and a half, and he is very skilled and patient with his clients, and highly effective.
 
This story illustrates the life-changing nature of the free services that CCHCC provides to some of our most vulnerable community members.
 
Here is Babatunde’s story about his client:
 
When I started working at Champaign County Health Care Consumers, Michael Stone (a pseudonym for privacy) was one of the first clients I assisted with the daunting Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) application process. Michael’s journey was anything but smooth. He faced not only numerous medical and mental health challenges but also significant barriers in trusting others, particularly those in positions of authority. This distrust often led to tense meetings where our conversations felt like interrogations (he was interrogating me).

READ ON!

Stories from the Front Lines – please support CCHCC!

June 2024

“D” – a young adult male – was sent to live in CU with an older relative who promised to look after him. Instead, “D” was isolated, used, and abused, and left with no prospects for improving his life. “D” and his adult relative became homeless and were living out of a broken down car with the relative’s dog, who was also mistreated. CCHCC’s involvement turned everything around for “D” and for the dog.

Dear Friends,

We at Champaign County Health Care Consumers (CCHCC) encounter many incredibly difficult situations when we work with individuals and families to help them get the health care and the resources that they need to improve their health and their lives. Our work – whether it is helping people get health insurance or prescriptions, or applying for public benefits such as Disability – can literally help save lives, stabilize people’s health, prevent homelessness, and increase economic security for our most vulnerable community members.

We met “D” and his older relative at the Daily Bread Soup Kitchen. We learned that they, and the relative’s dog, were living out of a broken down car since the relative had lost his home. “D” was shy and withdrawn. The relative was medically fragile. We started working with them to try to find them housing and stability. In the course of working with this small family, we began to suspect that “D” was not being cared for, and we witnessed the dog losing weight. After building some trust with “D” – especially around his deep concern for the dog – we learned that “D” had no ID, no food stamps, no hope for employment or education because of lack of ID and transportation. We were able to extract “D” and the dog from the older family member. The dog had become severely underweight and we knew it would die if it stayed with this relative. One of our co-workers quickly found a loving home for the dog, and the dog is doing well and is quite happy. Our co-worker was also able to help “D” get a State ID, food stamps, a bus pass, and transitional housing. As soon as “D” got his ID, he went out and got a job. We helped him get a checking and savings account at a local bank and he started saving money from his job. “D” was able to get his own apartment and is now living independently and he is happy and secure. He refers to the CCHCC staff who helped him as his “Aunties”.

Clients come to CCHCC in need of a variety of services. In the course of working with clients to address their needs, we often encounter situations that require a deeper and more intense involvement than what appears at first glance. As a small mission-driven non-profit, we have the ability to get deeply involved and to find creative solutions to the messiness of life that can destabilize community members and threaten their health and economic well-being. Some situations seems hopeless. We do not turn away from difficult situations – instead, we dive in and do all we can. To illustrate our work, here are a few more stories from the front lines of our work.

READ ON!

May 20, 2024

Please see the information below to learn more about mental health and behavioral health services now available at Promise Healthcare.
 
Promise Healthcare’s psychiatric providers can see patients as young as 5 years of age, and up. Promise Healthcare’s Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners can provide medication prescribing, management, and monitoring.
 
In many cases, same day appointments are available, including for psychiatry.

Promise Healthcare’s Behavioral Health Programs
Information provided by Promise Healthcare’s Director of Behavior Health Services, Jim Hamilton.

Anyone can call Promise Healthcare at 217-403-5433 – if they receive a voicemail, leaving a message is best and the call is returned within 24 hours. It the need is urgent – call Promise’s main number at 217-356-1558.

READ ON!

March 2024

It has now been a year since we expanded our services to better support the needs of our community. Thanks to your help we have been able to help many more people through our dedicated homelessness benefits counselor, senior services specialist, and disability team. Having dedicated staff members for these populations means that we can increase the number of people we can serve and the services we provide!

Helping individuals who are homeless
Through partnerships with the Strides Shelter, Cunningham Township, City of Champaign Township, Daily Bread, Regional Planning Commission, the Continuum of Service Providers to the Homeless, local law enforcement, and our local hospitals, we are making sure that those dealing with homelessness have access to the public benefits that they are eligible for like Medicaid, SNAP, disability, prescription assistance, and more. Our staff members are regularly at the Daily Bread Soup Kitchen and Strides Shelter to connect with clients directly.

Providing services for seniors
Aging in our community comes with many new situations, one of the biggest being Medicare. CCHCC’s dedicated senior services specialist understands Medicare and knows about the additional programs that might benefit seniors in the area. They have provided over 180 services in the last year related to Medicare Part D, Medicare Advantage, Medicare Savings, Extra Help, and more! They can also help with applying for benefits like SNAP and the license plate discount through the Secretary of State.

Disability application assistance
After seeing the immense need for disability assistance in the community, CCHCC launched the disability assistance program. The disability team has provided over 200 services related to SSDI or SSI applications. That includes completing paperwork, requesting medical records or identifying documents, and completing appeals. These programs are very difficult to apply for, and most applicants in the state of Illinois are denied these benefits. Many applicants give up after numerous applications and appeals, only to suffer as a result of not being able to work and earn an income. CCHCC is able to help at every stage: initial application, appeals, and even multiple appeals. Regardless of the stage of your application, the disability team can help!

Health insurance enrollment work
Now with additional staff members, our Certified Application Counselors (CACs) have more capacity to help with Special Enrollment Periods for the Health Insurance Marketplace. If you have moved, lost your health insurance, or had another type of life change in the last 60 days, you might be eligible to buy a health insurance plan on Healthcare.gov. And as tax season rolls around, it is important to remember to update your income if it has changed. Income changes could affect your financial assistance and CCHCC can help make those updates.

CONTINUE READING

February 1, 2024

Every year, the last days of January into early February mark two important milestones in my personal and professional life:
 
January 27 is my birthday – I turned 58 this year.
 
And today is the anniversary of when I started working at Champaign County Health Care Consumers (CCHCC). Today marks my 27^th year of working at CCHCC!
 
I cannot ever think of my birthday, or my CCHCC anniversary, without thinking about our recently departed beloved friend and leader, Rev. James B. Holiman.
 
Not only did Jim and I share the same birthdate (just 31 years apart!), but Jim helped lead me to CCHCC, where he eventually joined the organization as a member of the Board of Directors.
 
Jim passed away on November 26, 2023, at the age of 88. And we’ve all been missing him, grieving him, and celebrating his life and his works, and the profound gifts he gave us.
 
Rev. James B. Holiman led an incredible life. I am inadequate to the task of properly memorializing such a truly great person, but I can share his obituary with you further below, and also tell you a little bit about what he meant to me, personally, and to CCHCC as a whole.
 
It is my hope that you will consider honoring Rev. James B. Holiman with a financial contribution to CCHCC. It has always been Jim Holiman’s wish (and mine) that CCHCC continues its important work and that it can be financially solid for years to come.

To that end, if you would help me honor Jim Holiman by making a special contribution to his (and my) beloved CCHCC, I would be most appreciative! You can make a contribution here:

SUPPORT CCHCC!

READ ON

Jim & Claudia

Housing for medically-fragile homeless individuals.

December 14, 2023

Your support is needed to help make Hope Village a reality.
 
Hope Village is a development of 30 “tiny” homes and a community center that will provide Permanent Supportive Housing to individuals who are medically fragile and experiencing chronic homelessness. Hope Village will fill a gap in our housing system for homeless individuals. Individuals in this population have lifespans that are significantly shorter, by 20 or 30 years. They get sick and often die much sooner from preventable and treatable conditions. Hope Village is an innovative model developed from the perspective that “Housing is healthcare”.
 
Right now, we are seeking approval of a  permanent “Planned Unit Development” from the Urbana City Council so that we can proceed with building the Hope Village homes and development. The Urbana City Council meets on Monday, December 18 at 7 p.m. and will be voting on the Hope Village permanent Planned Unit Development.
 
Please see below to learn more about Hope Village and what you can do to help with this exciting new development.

READ ON!

December 2023

By now, most people know that CCHCC is the only organization in Champaign County that can help enroll community members in all forms of health insurance – whether that be Medicaid, Marketplace, or Medicare and Medicare-related programs. But did you know that CCHCC does far more than health insurance enrollment work?

Over the years, CCHCC has grown in our ability and expertise to help community members enroll in a wide variety of public programs because we saw the need in our community.

Helping individuals who are homeless
In 2023, CCHCC has had a “growth spurt” – once again, to rise to the challenges of meeting the needs of our community members. This means all of our community members, including those individuals who are experiencing homelessness.

CCHCC now has dedicated staff to work with homeless individuals and the various organizations in our community who also serve the homeless. We partner with the Strides Shelter, Cunningham Township, City of Champaign Township, Daily Bread, RPC, the Continuum of Service Providers to the Homeless, local law enforcement, and our local hospitals to help deliver enrollment services. Our services include helping with Medicaid, SNAP (food stamps), Rx assistance, health care navigation, and disability applications for individuals experiencing homelessness.

We have also expanded our services to immigrants, seniors, and individuals with disabilities
In Champaign County, we have growing populations of low-income immigrants, seniors, and individuals living with disabilities who need help with health insurance, health care, and public benefits. Our work helping people apply for public benefits such as Medicaid, SNAP, Medicare Extra Help, Medicare Savings, AABD, disability programs like SSI and SSDI, and so on, is helping to create better financial stability for low-income individuals in these population groups.

DONATE NOW!

READ ON!

July 27, 2023

WASHINGTON – U.S. Representatives Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) and Nanette Diaz Barragán (CA-44) joined Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) today in introducing the Health Equity and Access under Law (HEAL) for Immigrant Families Act, bicameral legislation that removes cruel and unnecessary barriers to health care for immigrants of all statuses. The bill proposes, for the first time in federal legislation, to allow states to include undocumented immigrants in Medicaid and CHIP and remove the 5-year waiting period for Medicare benefits for lawfully-present immigrants. 

Immigrants are significantly more likely than U.S. Citizens to be uninsured, leaving them at a higher risk for both adverse health and financial consequences. In 2024, immigrants will account for an estimated 8 percent of the population yet will make up a disproportionate 31 percent of the non-elderly uninsured population.

“We must finally guarantee health care to everyone as a human right — regardless of immigration status, income, employment, or anything else,” said Rep. Jayapal. “As a proud immigrant who came to this country alone at the age of 16, I know that the HEAL Act is an urgent, necessary, and just first step to eliminating senseless barriers to health care, making our communities healthier, and ensuring all immigrants get the care they need.”

“Everyone, regardless of their immigration status, deserves access to comprehensive, quality health care,” said Senator Booker. “By creating a more equitable health care system, we can create healthier communities and a stronger, more resilient economy.” 

“Every person deserves healthcare, no matter their immigration status,” said Rep. Barragán. “Healthcare is a human right, and we must remove the unnecessary barriers that prevent immigrant families from the medical care they need to live and thrive.  The HEAL Act will help reduce racial health inequities and ensure everyone has access to quality healthcare in their communities.”  

READ ON!

CCHCC can help!

May 9, 2023

If you are – or if you know of – a low-income Medicare beneficiary, there are important programs that help reduce out-of-pocket expenses to help make Medicare, prescriptions, and food more affordable. And CCHCC can help our community members enroll in those programs!

There are helpful programs that too many people do not know about, and are going underutilized by the people who need them the most.

These programs included Medicare Savings, Medicare Extra Help, and SNAP (food stamps).

Please read below to learn more about these programs, and how to get help with these programs for yourself, or someone you know.

READ ON!

March 2023

Champaign County Health Care Consumers (CCHCC) is undertaking an enormous effort to serve even more people in our community – specifically focusing on “special populations” that are low-income and underserved in our community, and who are suffering the ravages and strain of living in persistent poverty.

CCHCC is building new programs to significantly increase services to these special populations and bring greater health and economic stability to their lives: low-income seniors, low-income people with disabilities, homeless and near-homeless individuals, and pregnant and parenting women incarcerated in the County Jail. Please read on to learn more about our exciting new initiatives, and what you can do to help support these efforts.

Hope Village – a tiny homes village for chronically and medically fragile homeless individuals: After many experiences working with medically-fragile homeless individuals in 2021 to help them get housed, CCHCC developed the idea of creating a tiny homes village with intensive case management services for chronically homeless individuals in our community. We saw first-hand how our county’s current system of housing that is available for homeless individuals does not work well for a subset of homeless people: the chronically homeless and medically-fragile homeless individuals. These are individuals who have many challenges, traumas, and health problems, who are not able to be easily housed and maintained in permanent housing.

CCHCC is excited to be collaborating with Carle and UIUC to create “Hope Village” – a tiny homes village to house this extremely vulnerable population. We believe that “housing is health”. Stay tuned for more information on this exciting new project!

READ ON!

December 13, 2022

Senator Scott Bennett’s sudden and unexpected death. By now you have likely heard the very sad news of Senator Bennett’s tragic death. Senator Bennett was beloved by so many in our community, including CCHCC. He was an excellent State Senator who worked with CCHCC on several different issues, including 5th & Hill, and the Mahomet Aquifer. And he was a genuinely wonderful person who was kind, compassionate, pragmatic, and effective, and fun. In the coming days, CCHCC will write a tribute to Sen. Bennett. We, like so many, are utterly heartbroken.

READ ON FOR MORE NEWS

Health insurance and public benefits are complicated.

December 2022

By now, most people know that CCHCC is the only organization in Champaign County that can help enroll community members in all forms of health insurance – whether that be Medicaid, Marketplace, or Medicare and Medicare-related programs. But did you know that CCHCC does more than health insurance enrollment work?

Over the years, CCHCC has grown in our ability and expertise to help community members enroll in a wide variety of public programs, including SNAP (food stamps), LIHEAP (energy assistance), hospital financial assistance, disability benefits such as SSI/SSDI, as well as many other programs including Secretary of State discounts for seniors and others. CCHCC has grown our capacity to be able to provide these forms of assistance because we saw the need in our community.

However, did you know that Champaign County Health Care Consumers (CCHCC) currently does not get any  federal or state funding to help community members enroll in health insurance or other public benefit programs? And yet, even without federal or state funding, CCHCC has been doing enrollment work for Medicare, and the Affordable Care Act’s Marketplace plans, as well as other programs for years. And our services are free!

CCHCC staff are federally Certified Application Counselors, and we provide our free services to help thousands of community members get, and keep, affordable health insurance. Besides ACA Marketplace plans, our staff also help with Medicare enrollment, Open Enrollment for Medicare Advantage and Part D plans, and Medicaid and Medicaid Managed Care plans.  

How can we do this work without federal or state grants? The funding that supports CCHCC’s enrollment work comes from community support – including from individual contributions from people like you!

DONATE NOW!

READ ON!

June 2022

This year, Champaign County Health Care Consumers (CCHCC) is celebrating 45 years of grassroots organizing for health care access and justice! Thanks to your continued support and involvement, CCHCC has had a definitive and lasting impact on our local health care system and human services since 1977.

You might be surprised to know that many of the local programs and services that improve our community’s health, and that we now take for granted, came about as a result of CCHCC’s community organizing work. This includes services such as school breakfast programs in county schools, hospital financial assistance programs for low-income people, nurse-midwives programs, prenatal care for low-income women, public health for county residents, free dental care for low-income county children, and more! These, and many more programs, are lasting legacies which CCHCC, with your involvement and support, has given our community.

In addition, over the past 25 years, CCHCC has worked on significant environmental issues including protecting the Mahomet Aquifer, as well as forcing a clean-up of the toxic site in Champaign’s 5th & Hill neighborhood (our 5th & Hill Neighborhood Rights Campaign, which still continues its work). Additionally, CCHCC has helped bring the benefits of the Affordable Care Act to our community, helping to sign up thousands of community members for affordable health insurance. We have also started and continue to participate in ground-breaking initiatives to reduce incarceration rates and provide services in the Champaign County Jail, as well as working with individuals going through reentry in our community, following incarceration in prisons. And, during the pandemic, we have been working to help keep our community informed and to expand access to resources for hard-hit individuals and families, including providing direct financial assistance as a result of grants we were able to get.

From its inception, CCHCC has been committed to improving the health care system by making it more responsive to consumer needs. Often, this has required uncovering abuses within the systems and challenging unfair policies. Even though these protests have received the most media attention and fanfare, CCHCC is proudest of the program initiatives and positive developments with our local health care system that are a direct result of our work – work that involves bringing consumers together with health care providers to build enduring programs and services that improve people’s lives and health.

READ ON!

Please read below for some important health care news, brought to you by Champaign County Health Care Cosumers (CCHCC).

State of Illinois expands Medicaid coverage to ALL immigrants ages 42-54 – regardless of immigration status. Starting July 1, 2022, everyone in Illinois ages 42 and older will have a pathway to healthcare coverage, regardless of their immigration status.

This win is the result of 8 years of campaigning and thousands of hours of work by dozens of organizations and countless individuals. Congratulations to all who have made a phone call, sent an email, shared their story, and helped build this campaign. Because of you, tens of thousands of people in Illinois will have access to healthcare coverage, many for the first time in decades.

Our work isn’t done yet. We’ll keep fighting for healthcare for ALL, until every person in Illinois has access to healthcare coverage, no matter their immigration status. 

Our health is interdependent and we’re all safer when each of us has access to the healthcare we need. Thank you for supporting the fight for coverage for all!

COVID-19 has helped push the U.S. to its highest death total ever. 2021 was the deadliest year in U.S. history, and new data and research are offering more insights into how it got that bad.

The main reason for the increase in deaths? COVID-19, said Robert Anderson, who oversees the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s work on death statistics.

READ ON

March 28, 2022

The COVID Mask Mandate has ended in most of the U.S. and most of the states. And, unfortunately, and most likely due to political pressures, the CDC has changed its guidelines for measuring risk and keeping communities and individuals safe. But the pandemic is not over, and two new variants are circulating, and more are sure to come – and not all variants will be “mild”. Even so-called “mild” variants have still managed to sicken and kills thousands of people, and produce “long COVID” cases.

Champaign County Health Care Consumers (CCHCC) urges you to still continue to practice safety measures to keep yourself, your loved ones, and our community safe from COVID. Also, we want to let you know of resources that can help keep you safe.

Mask mandates are over – but we at CCHCC are continuing to mask up. Although the mask mandates are over, the virus is still circulating, and we are still in a pandemic. The pandemic is world-wide, and as long the virus continues to circulate (due to inadequate vaccination rates, reduction of precautions, travel, etc.), there will be new variants, and new cycles of increases in infections.

Remember that the singular purpose of the virus is to replicate itself – this is literally its reason for being – and it can only do that by infecting people. It is a very determined virus, and we are not yet out of the woods with it.

The bottom line is that you can still get infected and sick from the virus, because it is still circulating. People who are at high-risk due to age, pre-existing conditions, autoimmune and autoinflammatory conditions, or unknown genetic conditions, can get very sick and die from this virus. Also, you might be at risk for severe illness and not even know it – not everyone is aware of whether or not they have an underlying condition. But whether you get sick from COVID or not, you can still infect others, and they can get sick.

READ ON

June 1, 2020

If you have lost work, you can apply for Unemployment benefits in Illinois. If your job loss is due to COVID-19, you may be eligible to receive additional unemployment benefits under the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program.

If you need to apply for Unemployment benefits, and/or if you’ve tried to applied but have had problems with the online portal, please read through this entire message to find information about how to apply online, or by phone, and when to apply – there is a filing schedule based on the first letter of your last name. To see the filing schedule, please see the bottom of this message.

Rental Assistance and Unemployment
Many of the rental assistance programs available right now require proof to show that you have filed for Unemployment benefits. Whether or not you receive those benefits, having proof that you have filed for Unemployment can help you apply for rental assistance. For Rental Assistance programs in Champaign County, please visit here.

Applying for Illinois Unemployment
During the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) has set up a process to help individuals gain unemployment benefits, should they experience loss of employment due to the pandemic.

If you visit the home page of IDES you will find several links. However, if you scroll down to the News and Announcements section, you can see updates from IDES. The IDES shared an announcement on May 6, 2020, that can help you understand how to apply for unemployment. Here is the link for the information.

Read More.

IL Will Cover Low-Income Uninsured Seniors Regardless of Immigration Status

*Este mensaje se repetirá en español a continuación*

Thanks to your advocacy efforts last week, we have an Illinois victory to celebrate!

Illinois will be the first state in the nation to offer comprehensive health insurance coverage to low-income undocumented seniors!

This is an important first step toward achieving universal health coverage in the State of Illinois for all Illinois residents, including all immigrants. Not only will this help the particular individuals who will gain coverage, but it will also help ensure greater public health protections for all communities, as more people gain coverage and can seek timely healthcare without fear of unaffordable medical debt.

READ MORE!

CCHCC can help!

What can CCHCC help with?
CCHCC’s Community Health Workers are experts at helping people with health insurance, SNAP (food stamps), Rx assistance, and more!

Have you lost your health insurance? CCHCC can help!
Many community members who have lost their jobs have also lost their employment-based health insurance. If you’ve lost your health insurance, CCHCC can help you apply for health insurance through the Medicaid program or through the ACA Marketplace. Our staff are federally-certified application counselors and they can help you figure out which type of health insurance you qualify for, and they can help you with the application process.

Have you lost income and can no longer afford groceries? CCHCC can help!
Illinois has expanded its Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) – also known as Food Stamps – and it has also increased the benefits of the program. Even if you’ve never used or qualified for SNAP before, if you are struggling to afford groceries, please contact CCHCC to see if you might qualify for SNAP benefits.

Do you need help affording your prescriptions, over-the-counter medications, and/or pharmacy-based medical supplies? CCHCC can help!
Times are tough and many people are not able to afford their prescriptions or other medications, or medical supplies like diabetic test strips, etc. If you need help with the costs  of prescriptions, over-the-counter medications, or certain medical supplies, please contact us for help.

If you need our services, please contact us!
Our physical office is closed, so we have a different system for how we are working with our clients and community.

Continue reading

March 24, 2020

Champaign County Health Care Consumers (CCHCC) is still available to help serve our community during these challenging times, as we work together to try to “flatten the curve” of the novel Corona Virus (COVID-19).

If you need our services, please contact us!

Our physical office is closed, so we have a different system for how we are working with our clients and community.

Here is how you can contact us, and what our process will be for working with you or anyone else who needs our help:

1. We are closing our office, but we are continuing to work with clients. Our office will be functionally closed, but we will continue to help clients who contact us. We will do our best to work with clients over the phone and/or email, to avoid in-person appointments.
2. If you need our services, please call or email us. You can call us at 217-352-6533, or send us an email at cchcc@cchcc-il.org, and we will respond as soon as we can, and we will work with you to find out what you need and whether we can work with your remotely. Please leave us a message, and please be patient – we will contact you as soon as we can. Because we are working remotely, our Staff have a little more work to do in order to communicate amongst ourselves and to coordinate our responses, but we will get back to everyone who contacts us!

Our regularly scheduled meetings are or will be canceled. Please stay tuned to our email and Facebook page for updates on cancelations of meetings and/or alternate plans for carrying out the work of our task forces and coalitions.

Now, we wanted to share some resources and articles with you, in case these can be helpful.

Read more.

In response to the Corona Virus (COVID-19) situation and the need to try to limit the spread of COVID-19 and “flatten the curve”, CCHCC is taking certain measures that we wanted to inform you about.

We are closing our office, but we are continuing to work with clients. Our office will be functionally closed, but we will continue to help clients who contact us. We will do our best to work with clients over the phone and/or email, to avoid in-person appointments. However, if someone has to have an in-person appointment, we will accommodate them, while taking protective measures.

If you need our services, please call or email us. You can call us at 217-352-6533, or send us an email at cchcc@cchcc-il.org, and we will respond as soon as we can, and we will work with you to find out what you need and whether we can work with your remotely, or if you will require an in-person appointment.

Read more.