Approximately 50 residents listened last week to three local stakeholders address the challenges associated with facing poverty in one of Illinois’ most affluent counties at an event organized by the League of Women Voters Glen Ellyn.

“There is a broad misconception that there is no poverty in DuPage County,” said Kara Murphy, president of the DuPage Health Coalition, a nonprofit that connects essential healthcare services to low-income individuals.

It is true that “on balance” DuPage County is a more affluent community, “but it is also a populous community with just under one million residents,” she said at the Nov. 20 event.

“There are more low-income families living in DuPage County than the entire population of 89 of the 100 counties in Illinois,” Murphy said.

Murphy added that DuPage County communities must support “individuals at every income level.”

“The strongest and most thriving communities create space and opportunities for people who are low-wage, medium-wage and high-wage earners. Communities that are only accessible to individuals at the highest income levels will experience incredible deficits in their ability to provide all the services that all the community needs. We need a diversity of opportunities for people in different places in their life cycles.”

To determine income eligibility for assistance programs, many organizations in DuPage County utilize income levels that are 250% or even 300% of the federal poverty level.

“Because the reality is the federal poverty level is dramatically inadequate to be able to meet basic needs,” Murphy said.

Based 2023 data, using the 200% mark of the federal poverty level, there are 142,000 individuals living in poverty and that number is dramatically increasing, said Amy Van Polen, CEO of Bridge Communities, a nonprofit that provides transitional housing to families facing homelessness.

“Those are the fastest growing numbers of our community,” Van Polen said. “Forty-four percent of renters in this county are rent burdened, meaning that they pay more than 30% of their income toward rent. That is not sustainable.”

Many college educated individuals who are “20 something or 30 something” are finding it difficult to find affordable housing, she said. “Lots of $3,000-a-month, one-bedroom apartments are being built.”

However, Van Polen said despite the barriers to meeting affordable housing needs “this is still solvable” noting the resources that exist in DuPage County.

“A very typical family (served by) Bridge Communities is a single mom with one to four children,” she said.

Van Polen said most of her clients typically work full or part-time, but their average wage is about $17 per hour.

The lack of affordable housing, the high cost of childcare and healthcare and low wages all contribute to their homelessness, she added.

“These are so interwoven.”

“Our society and our environment is downright hostile to single women with children,” Van Polen added.

Most go without health insurance and have low credit scores because they “have been robbing Peter to pay Paul,” and the reason they are experiencing housing insecurity is also because they are separating from domestic violence, she said.

The Glen House Food Pantry assisting those struggling with poverty in DuPage County.

The pantry distributed 869,000 pounds of food in 2024, said executive director Laura Glaza.

Visitors to the food pantry include seniors, disabled individuals and unemployed individuals, she said. It also assists people who “have two or three jobs and still can’t make ends meet,” Glaza said.

Food insecurity is “a vicious cycle,” Glaza said.

“Poverty leads to food insecurity,” she said. “Limited income means limited access to food and inability to afford necessities.”

Often, limited income forces people to decide between “buying food or paying their rent or visit the doctor,” Glaza said.

High food prices, job instability and low wages also are affecting people today, she said.

“When I started in 2019, we were spending maybe $32,000 a year on food,” Glaza said.

This year, Glen House will spend $275,000 on food to meet the growing need and due to higher food costs, she said.

Glaza said that when SNAP benefits stopped during the federal government shutdown, people stepped up and donated to food pantries.

Now, as the holidays approach, she is concerned.

“They may not make a donation in December.”

The trio sited transportation and childcare as huge barriers for low-income families in DuPage County.

“Traveling from the southwest corner to the northeast corner of the county you are in the car for a long time,” Murphy said. “We are almost exclusively a car-dependent community. What public transportation we have is sparse, not consistent.”

The types of jobs low-income individuals perform are very difficult to coordinate with public transportation, she added.

With a focus on changing the economics of the household, Bridge Communities often steers its clients to jobs that provide higher wages, Van Polen said.

However, with that change comes a price in terms of needing childcare at nontraditional hours.

Glaza said one of the clients at Glen House got a job offer that paid less than the cost of childcare for her daughter.

“It didn’t make financial sense,” she said.

Many of the DuPage Health Coalition clients are immigrants who often struggle to find decent jobs, Murphy said.

“If you are a new entrant to the country, you have unique challenges in terms of being able to find a job that offers a living wage,” she said.

Many new immigrants find themselves working in food services.

We have many people who come to Access DuPage who work at several fast-food establishments because “none of those places are providing them with full-time work,” Murphy said. “They offer hours just under full-time, so they don’t have to provide benefits.”

She added that the DuPage Health Coalition has a team of five who aid individuals who utilize the Affordable Care Act Marketplace.

“Patients that were previously getting plans in the neighborhood of $100 a month are currently getting prices that are $700 a month—something they were would never be able to afford,” she said. “We hope the federal government works across the aisle and renews those ACA subsidies for another year.”

Looking ahead, Van Polen said one of the most impactful things people can do “is vote and register more people to vote.”

“And really get involved with changing policies in a systemic way,” she added.