When United Way of Lake County started in 1922 as the Community Chest of Waukegan and North Chicago, its goal was helping to provide a safety net for those who needed one. Programs like Social Security, Medicare and state-paid unemployment insurance did not exist at that time.
United Way Worldwide began in Denver 35 years before its Lake County affiliate, with much the same goal of coordinating local services and raising money to support local health and welfare agencies.
With a safety net now in existence — from federal benefits, to township assistance, to not-for-profit organizations providing a panoply of services — United Way of Lake County started its 211 phone line to connect people to 1,300 programs in the county which gives individuals a hand up.
Kristi Long, the president and CEO of United Way of Lake County, said the 211 service, which launched in 2019, was the result of 13 years of study and research as the organization analyzed the best way to help people and continue its mission.
“The elderly may need help with their healthcare,” Long said. “Someone may have trouble paying their electric bill. A child may have a learning disability. The trained navigators answering the calls have phone awareness. They can sense when there are other needs.”
United Way of Lake County and its global parent are now engaged in a brand refresh, carrying the organization into new ways to impact the residents throughout the county using its 211 service and enriching childhood education to enhance people’s lives.
Lori Nerheim, the organization’s vice president of marketing and communications, said the purpose of the brand refresh is building awareness of the organization locally, as United Way Worldwide does it across the globe.
“This will improve the perception of relevance for the next generation of donors and volunteers,” she said.
“We’re using the refresh to help tell our story,” Long added.
Though some people may know where to go for help when they have a problem, Long said not everyone does. Someone who is unsure where to find medical help may also need transportation to get to the doctor. Phone navigators know how to ask the right questions.
In some cases, the township — there are 18 in Lake County — may be the right place for help paying an electric bill or rent. Nerheim said that other times, the reference is to a counselor of a faith-based organization. There are no language barriers.
“Our navigators are multilingual,” she said. “They speak Spanish and English. They can connect to an interpreter service with access to 150 languages, so it’s seamless.”
Donors and volunteers are the lifeblood of the organization. Though professionals handle the 211 calls, Long said volunteers play a role in promoting the service to the public so people know to call 211 when a need arises.
“They staff tables at events and hand out flyers,” Long said. “They talk to people all over Lake County to let them know about 211 and how the services are utilized.”
Doing its assessment of services and needs in 2006 which produced 211, Long said officials also learned about a gap in early childhood education around Lake County. Children who do not go to preschool — many because families cannot afford it — are not prepared for kindergarten.
“Too many kids were arriving for kindergarten unprepared,” Long said.
Much of the educational programming is focused on Waukegan, Zion, North Chicago, the Round Lake area, Fox Lake, Antioch and Beach Park. Long said test score results taken from the Illinois State Board of Education Report Card indicate the needs are greater there.
During the summer, United Way operates Kindergarten Camps at different school districts in Lake County, including Waukegan, the Round Lake area and Zion. The goal is to pack as much preschool as possible into a summer so the youngsters are on a level playing field with their peers in kindergarten.
While much of the educational focus is on preschool children, United Way also has a Breakfast Club at Robert Abbott Middle School in Waukegan where teens receive one-on-one mentoring from an adult volunteer focused heavily on both academic and social-emotional learning.
