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After Meals and Housing Aid, Coalition Looks To The Next COVID-19 Need

Distributing meals
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United Way of McLean County
The Serving BN and Beyond coalition provided nearly 90,000 grab-and-go meals since the pandemic hit. It's now transitioning to larger food boxes as demand subsides a bit.

A coalition of public and private partners that sprang into action with grab-and-go meals and housing assistance after COVID-19 hit is now turning its attention to filling gaps in child care when schools reopen.

The Serving BN and Beyond coalition is now meeting with child care and youth programming providers about how they can support schools after they fully or partially reopen, said David Taylor, president and CEO of the United Way of McLean County, a key partner in the coalition.

School districts like Unit 5 and District 87 are still sketching out their plans for the fall, including who will be physically in school and how often each week.

“If suddenly we see a spike in cases, and they have to shut the schools down again, are we going to be prepared?” Taylor asked. “Do we have a backup or contingency plan to support them if suddenly parents are still at work, but schools are shut down?”

Initially, the coalition’s child care team was concerned about a spike in need this summer, as the economy reopened with Phases 3 and 4 of the governor’s Restore Illinois plan. But that crunch has not yet fully materialized, Taylor said, in part because parents already made alternative plans, are still working from home, are uncomfortable sending their kids out in public, or some combination of all three.

Another need that’s been slower to emerge is housing assistance. The Housing Assistance Coalition announced in late May plans to offer a shared application for those seeking rent, utilities, or mortgage assistance. Partners included groups like City of Bloomington and Normal townships, as well as several local nonprofits.

At that time, the coalition said McLean County residents could need up to $2.7 million in housing assistance in June, July, and August. That hasn’t happened yet, in part because the end of the state’s eviction moratorium was pushed back to the end of July, said Phani Aytam, chair of the United Way's board.

But he said social service agencies saw increased call volume related to housing aid in June.

“We now foresee the increase happening in August, and the spike happening in September,” Aytam said. “It requires about 30 to 45 days for that process to work itself through.”

One need that has partially subsided is food assistance.

Demand was highest between late March and the end of school in May, said Taylor. At its peak, the coalition was distributing nearly 10,000 grab-and-go meals per day from up to 23 locations. School districts also were doing their own meal programs.

In June, the coalition partnered with the Tinervin Family Foundation on what Taylor called a more “sustainable” food program model. They’re now distributing food boxes that can feed a person or family for multiple days, instead of single-use grab-and-go meals.

“We definitely still see a need out there,” Taylor said. “It’s maybe not as urgent or as pronounced as it once was, when supply chains were a little bit chaotic.”

COVID-19 has cut deeply into the Bloomington-Normal economy, knocking thousands of people onto unemployment. If food insecurity was the first wave stemming from that, and housing assistance is next, what wave comes after that, and how big will it be?

“That’s the $64,000 question in the room right now,” Taylor said.

You can get an update on the coalition's work every two weeks through a virtual town hall on the United Way's Facebook page. The last one was July 11.

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Ryan Denham is the digital content director for WGLT.