Author Archives: Admin

Take action on nursing home care in Champaign County

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As you know, the former Champaign County Nursing Home has been totally shuttered. The County Board sold the nursing home to Avi Rothner and his company, which then renamed it University Rehab. Mr. Rothner was to operate the nursing home – as a nursing home – for a minimum of 10 years. Four years into the operation, Mr. Rothner shut down the nursing home, after also failing to pay the bank loan, interest, and taxes for the purchase of the nursing home (despite providing proof from his bank at the time of purchase that he could have paid cash for the purchase of the nursing home).

The bank that issued the loan for the nursing home now wants to sell the nursing home, but needs the County Board to lift the deed restriction in order to allow the sale.

The sad story of this valuable community health asset continues, and the most tragic aspect is that Champaign County is severely underserved in terms of nursing home beds. Too many individuals in need of long term care or post-hospitalization rehab care are having to travel to communities far away in order to get the care that they need. This is a hardship for them and their families, as ease of visiting and supporting a loved one in a nursing facility is made more challenging by distance.

An amazing group of advocates, activists, health care providers, and local agencies have banded together to form a group called Advocates for Aging Care (AAC) and are working to create solutions for this health care crisis in our county. CCHCC is proud to be a member of the AAC. This is community health planning at its best!

To try to address the problem of lack of nursing care and aging care resources in our community, AAC has created a survey to try gather information on our community’s needs, and they will also be participating in the County Board’s Study Session, to be held TOMORROW at 6 p.m.

If you would like to help with , there are a couple of ways to do so.

READ ON!

A Birthday and Anniversary Wish – Remembering Rev. James B. Holiman

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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 27th 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

Thank you! Urbana City Council approved our Hope Village application!

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January 3, 2024

It is with deep gratitude that I write again on behalf of Champaign County Health Care Consumers (CCHCC) to thank you for your support for Hope Village!
 
We issued a call to action on December 28, in anticipation of last night’s Urbana City Council meeting, when City Council members would be voting to approve the Hope Village application for a Planned Unit Development.
 
Many of you responded to the call to action and took time to contact the Urbana City Council via email to express your support for Hope Village.
 
CCHCC staff, along with our partners from Carle Health, and the UIUC, and Hope Village supporters sat in the audience for the 2-hour meeting. We listened as your comments were read into the record. We were humbled and gratified by your support.
 
We needed five City Council members to vote YES to the Hope Village application in order for it to pass.
 
The Urbana City Council voted 5 to 1 to approve the Hope Village application for the Permanent Planned Unit Development!
 
There is a great deal of work ahead of us to bring Hope Village to life and to build the homes and house the people who need it most. We are not waiting a single moment to start this work! In fact, today started with a meeting among the partners and various city officials for us to plan the next steps for Hope Village.
 
Please stay tuned – CCHCC will keep you informed along the way!

Thank you for your support! You made a difference!

Sincerely,

Claudia Lennhoff
Executive Director
Champaign County Health Care Consumers

There’s hope for community’s most vulnerable residents

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Published in the News-Gazette
January 2, 2024

At 7 tonight, the Urbana City Council will have the opportunity to help advance a desperately needed housing solution for our community’s most vulnerable and medically fragile individuals who are experiencing chronic homelessness.

The project is called Hope Village. It is not a shelter, and it is not transitional housing.

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 Champaign County’s continuum of housing for individuals experiencing homelessness.

Individuals in this population typically have lifespans that are significantly shorter than the general population, 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 health care”.

Hope Village will provide an array of intensive services to its residents, on site. These will include intensive case management; legal and financial counseling; assistance in applying for and accessing public benefits such as Medicaid/Medicare, SNAP and disability benefits; health care case management; access to health services via the Carle Mobile Clinic; and access to fresh produce via the Carle Mobile Grocery.

Some of these services will also be available to the residents of the surrounding neighborhoods, as well.

READ ON!

Urgent! We need your help one more time for Hope Village!

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December 28, 2023

Thank you to each and every one of you who responded to CCHCC’s call to action earlier this month to support Hope Village! Your efforts made a difference!
 
We are now at the final hurdle, and, with your support, we can clear it!
 
Where things stand:
 
We are seeking the Urbana City Council’s final approval of a permanent “Planned Unit Development” for Hope Village. Earlier this month, on Monday, December 18, the Urbana City Council’s Committee of the Whole (COW) met and considered the Hope Village Planned Unit Development application. Thanks to an outpouring of support, the City Council voted 6 to 1 at its COW meeting to recommend the approval of the Hope Village application to the City Council at its upcoming meeting on Tuesday, January 2, 2024.
 
Your support is needed to help make Hope Village a reality!
 
Right now, we are seeking final 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 Tuesday, January 2, 2024 at 7 p.m. and will be voting on the Hope Village permanent Planned Unit Development.

TO LEARN MORE AND TO HELP, READ ON!