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.

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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.

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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).

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