High community need in Will County is no longer unprecedented. It’s become the new normal.

According to the 2025 State of Alice in Illinois report, 33% of Will County residents are below the ALICE threshold.

This figure includes the poverty rate, which is still 8% in Will County, plus the percentage of ALICE households, which is 25%, according to the report.

ALICE is an acronym for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. Basic living expenses include child care, food, health care, housing, transportation and technology, according to United for ALICE.

“We have a community that is working hard – and many are working multiple jobs – to make ends meet. But it’s still not enough,“ said Sarah Oprzedek, president and CEO of United Way of Will County.

Now local nonprofits are especially struggling to meet that need, and so is United Way of Will County.

“Our funding partners – the ones coming to us seeking funding – their requests each and every year significantly outpace the resources available to fulfill those needs,” Oprzedek said.

Unfortunately, “what happens in D.C. doesn’t stay in D.C.,” she said, citing the freezing of federal grants early in 2025, which sent nonprofits “into a frenzy.”

“Thankfully, within a few days, everyone did have access to their portals again,” Oprzedek said. “But it created a sense of uncertainly for organizations that are receiving large amount of federal grant dollars. The uncertainty can create distribution for providing service to those who need it most within the community.”

SNAP puts food on the table

When Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, commonly known as SNAP, were recently reduced by 50%, Illinois families received half of their usual food assistance, Oprzedek said.

About 73,000 people in Will County – a number that includes children – receive SNAP benefits, she said.

“They are relying on SNAP to put food on the table,” Oprzedek said.

The reduction in SNAP benefits strained social service networks, food pantries and organizations “working in food security,” she said.

“When it’s a strained system from the start, and then exacerbated by changes across the nation, it’s going to exponentially affect our community,” Oprzedek added.

Sharefest Will County – a nonprofit that brings people and organizations together to meet community need – distributed more than 58,000 pounds of food in 2023, more than 42,000 pounds of food in 2024 and more than 65,000 pounds of food in 2025, according to the Will County Executive Office Facebook page.

And organizers are expecting the need to rise, Oprzedek said.

Yet, food is not the primary reason why Will County families are calling the 211 Helpline, a “free, multilingual, confidential, 24-hour information and referral service that provides a central access point to health and human services in Will County,” according to United Way.

The primary reason is housing, Oprzedek said.

Housing doesn’t match need

The income needed for a survival budget in Will County for a single person is currently $38,256; for a family of four (two adults and two children), that number is $96,108, based on the data from the United for ALICE website.

“Some families can be at three incomes and still not be at $96,108,” Oprzedek said.

According to ALICE data, rent on a survival budget should be no higher than $1,292 for a single person or $1,612 for a family of four.

“You cannot find rent or housing at these rates in Will County,” Oprzedek said. “The housing inventory we have doesn’t match what we need for the community.”

Yet, households struggling based on those ALICE figures typically don’t qualify for services, so they are perpetually in the cycle, Oprzedek said.

That’s why everyone’s help is so important, Oprzedek said, and that’s why the Herald Angels campaign is so important.

Many grants – private grants and government grants – stipulate how organizations can use the funds, Oprzedek said. But community partners can use Herald Angel donations wherever they need to meet a need.

“What we can do as a community now is look at what is happening around us and how this is affecting our community,” Oprzedek said. “One organization can’t do it all. We can’t do it all. But as a community, we can bring the people, the resources, the corporations, the partners and the donors together and truly impact our community through our collective support.”

How to donate to Herald Angels

Make your check payable to the United Way of Will County and write “Herald Angels” in the memo line.

Mail to The Herald-News, 1100 Essington Road, Suite 4, Joliet, IL 60435.

Watch for Herald-Angels ads in the paper through December. Just clip out the form and mail it with your donation. You also can donate online at uwill.org.

Every dollar will be donated directly to the United Way of Will County.