The Vulnerable Families Next Door

LOCALLY SOURCED

Outreach Community Center Helps Residents Navigate the Pandemic

“I don’t know how I’m going to pay rent,” said the single mom of two kids to the case manager at the Outreach Community Center in Carol Stream (OCC). “I’ve worked my whole adult life and now I’m laid off. I’ve never been in this situation before.”

These anxieties and new realities are all too common for the residents living in the southeast Carol Stream neighborhood surrounding the Community Center, with the unemployment rate estimated at 30%. OCC’s presence in the community has brought relief through the disbursement of approximately $20,000 per month in rental assistance to stabilize families and prevent homelessness. Praying for and with residents as they struggle to make their budget work is an honor each day for the staff of OCC. Since March, OCC has assisted 64 households and just under 1,800 individuals remain in their housing and out of homelessness.

Everyone is affected by the changes the pandemic is bringing to our daily lives. For the most vulnerable families in our community, it also brings tough decisions. When the stay-athome orders went into place and the schools were closed, a single mom commented, “I don’t know if my kids are getting online for school or not because I’m at work.” The mom, an essential worker, feels fortunate to be working every day, but when she went to work and left her children at home, she wasn’t sure they were doing the online schooling. As OCC staff checked in with each of our families during the spring semester when school was completely online, this turned out to be the number one concern among our parents. No parent wants his or her child falling behind in school.

OCC (as well as our Center in Warrenville) is working with Community School District 200 to provide neighborhood school children and youth on-site access at OCC on days they are not in school this fall. OCC will have our education and youth development staff available throughout the day to assist students with homework, academic skillbuilding and reassurance to parents that students’ schoolwork is being checked. This will be in addition to running our afterschool programs each day as well, which will include the elementary students. The parents in our communities are overwhelmingly appreciative of this option.

OCC has been “practicing” our safety protocols for having students on-site this summer. For the past five weeks, OCC has been hosting 50-60 middle and high school students for a six- to seven-hour-a-day summer school program. Students are divided into classrooms of 10 with desks six feet apart.

All students are required to wear face coverings while in the program each day.

“The safety measures we are taking and the student’s cooperation with these measures has allowed us to continue serving students and families on-site with no COVID cases within our building!” said Dina Hilliard, OCC executive director.

As we make plans for this on-site academic assistance in the fall, OCC needs tutors. We are putting together plans for both safe on-site tutoring and for a virtual tutoring option for those who want to volunteer but choose not to come on-site. All are

welcome. Tutoring is a once-a-week commitment for one hour each session. If you are interested in becoming a tutor, go to the Outreach website at outreachcommunityministries.org and click on “Volunteer” at the top of the webpage, or email our director of volunteer services, Mindy Inman, at minman@ outreachcommin.org.

As the pandemic rolls on, how wonderful it is that OCC, our volunteers and donors can partner with us to assist and show Christ’s love to the most vulnerable in our community. Thank you to College Church and the many people in the church who support our work through their time and financial generosity.

About the Author | Vanessa Roth

Vanessa Roth has served as chief operating officer at Outreach Community Ministries for more than twenty-five years. Her heart for service carries over to College Church where she has served as a deaconess and STAMP participant.