Category Archives: Updates

CCHCC Guest Commentary on Tax Referendum in The News-Gazette

March 27, 2025

CCHCC is urging Champaign residents to vote YES for the City of Champaign Township Tax Referendum. The following Guest Commentary by CCHCC’s Executive Director, Claudia Lennhoff, ran in The News-Gazette on Tuesday, March 25, 2025. Please also see the WCIA TV interview on the same topic.

For a relative small amount of money – about $5 more per month on a $100,000 home – Champaign residents can support the City of Champaign Township, which provides General Assistance and Rental Assistance to Champaign residents, and also operates the Strides Shelter. The City of Champaign Township also includes the Township Assessor’s office, which is currently understaffed.

Please vote YES on the property tax referendum on the ballot for residents of the City of Champaign.

The City of Champaign Township’s current tax levy is extremely low at 0.0296%. By comparison, the levy for Cunningham Township (in the city of Urbana) is about ten times greater at 0.3015%, and Decatur Township’s levy is even higher at 0.3527%.

The City of Champaign Township property tax levy will help fund vital services provided to Champaign residents, including rental assistance to prevent evictions, and General Assistance to provide financial support to residents with disabilities while they are applying for Disability income from SSI and/or SSDI – a grueling process that can take a very long time. The Township property tax will also help fund additional personnel for the Township Assessor’s Office, which will help support timely and fair property tax assessments for Champaign residents. Lastly, but not least, the property tax levy will help support the Strides Shelter, which is currently understaffed and at risk of closing due to lack of adequate funding.

Strides Shelter opened in 2023, thanks to a $750,000 ARPA grant provided by the City of Urbana. Other local governmental bodies, including the Champaign County Mental Health Board, also contribute to services provided at Strides by funding various nonprofit organizations that deliver services there. While Strides Shelter is located in Champaign, a tremendous amount of financial support for the services provided there come from other funding streams. Many non-profits collaborate to try to help Strides clients get back on their feet, while Strides provides the shelter they need.

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CCHCC is saving lives with Social Security Disability Benefits!

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March 25, 2025

The work of CCHCC’s Disability Team is nothing short of amazing! Our Disability Team is made up of only two full-time staff members, and one part-time staff member. In terms of “dollars and cents”, here is what CCHCC’s Disability Team has accomplished in the last few months for our community members:

• Secured Disability Benefits for 24 individuals;
• Secured over $120,000 in “lump sum backpay” for local community members (the actual amount is much greater; these data are from the 16 clients who shared their backpay information with us; an additional 8 clients were approved for backpay, but did not report their amounts to us);
• Secured monthly income from Disability Benefits for 24 individuals, which amounts to $319,188 in total combined income per year, and an average monthly income of $26,599 for these individuals combined; average monthly income per individual is $1,108.

CCHCC’s Disability Team saves lives, brings income to destitute individuals who are disabled, and prevents homelessness. Many of the clients who come to us who need help applying for Disability Benefits are individuals who are at the end of their ropes, with some feeling suicidal due to hopelessness. And many are already homeless, or at-risk for homelessness.

Applying for Disability Benefits through the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, and/or the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program is extremely difficult, frustrating, and discouraging. It can take a very long time – months or even years – and during this time, the people applying are unable to work due to a disabling condition or conditions. These individuals are quite literally just trying to survive the process, hoping for income, stability, and security.

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National and Local Updates

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February 26, 2025

Thank you to everyone who took action yesterday by calling various Illinois members of the U.S. House of Representatives to advocate against the budget resolution that could involve cuts to the Medicaid program.

Below is an update on the U.S. House vote on the budget resolution, as well as an update on the local situation with Health Alliance.

U.S. House Vote on Budget Resolution
Unfortunately, the U.S. House voted to pass the Budget Resolution containing massive cuts in government spending. The Republicans narrowly voted to adopt the resolution by a vote of 217-215, with only one Republican House member voting against it – Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky.

What does this mean for the Medicaid program? Well, the way the Resolution was written does not specify the programs that will be cut – that is still to be determined. The Resolution requires that various committees will have to come up with the programs to be cut to meet the requirements of the resolution.

My personal belief is that the programs were not specified within the Resolution in order to provide “cover” for getting Republican House members to vote “yes”, given the massive opposition to Medicaid cuts. But we do know that discussions have already targeted the Medicaid program, and food programs. Just because Medicaid is not named in the Resolution does not mean that it is not in the crosshairs of House cost-cutting measures.

What’s ahead? There is a legislative and budgeting process ahead that will involve reconciling the House Resolution with the Senate’s budget. CCHCC will be keeping a close eye on this process and will inform our community about the process and opportunities to take action. We will be part of a nation-wide advocacy effort to protect the programs that are vital to the health and lives of residents of the United States – especially those who are the most vulnerable.

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Client stories, from CCHCC’s Shea Belahi

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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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A client story, from CCHCC’s Nicole Mitchell

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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: