“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.”

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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.

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