McHenry County has 380 resources for people in need. On January 31, they came together to network and share with the community.

The half-day forum, held at McHenry Community College, featured speakers who specialized in services across a wide spectrum of needs.

Attendees chose from a variety of half-hour breakout sessions throughout the morning. Thirty-four agencies had booths with spokespeople and take-home information.

Some of the agencies represented included:

• Pioneer Center, which provides day, residential and case management support services to individuals with developmental disabilities. Pioneer Center serves the developmentally disabled, mentally ill, substance addicted, homeless, at-risk youth and their families and victims of sexual assault and others. Cjay Harmer and Susan Harmer offered a mini-course, “Bullying in the Home: How to Deal.”
• Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Northern Illinois helps people avoid bankruptcy, offer credit counseling budgeting and debt-management classes. CCCS offered two mini-courses: “Helping Clients Understand Legal Protections to Credit Challenges,” and “Too Much Month at the End of your Money?”
• McHenry County Department of Health offers well child, immunizations, family health, dental exams, lead screening, early identification of developmental disabilities, pregnancy testing, and prenatal case management. They also provide services in environmental health and veterinary health. The Health Department held a mini-session on “Outside the Marketplace: Accessing Health Care,” as well as a booth to help people understand their healthcare options.
• Senior Services Associates is dedicated to preserving the independence, promoting mental and physical well-being and protecting individuals aged 60 and older, the disabled and their caregivers. Their mini-sessions: “Movin’ About Town: Transportation Options in McHenry County,” and “Senior Independence: There’s No Place Like Home.”
• The McHenry Division of Transportation handed out information on RTA’s reduced fare program and travel training programs. Booth visitors received a map of the nine county dial-a-ride services: Harvard Dial-A-Ride, Marengo Dial-A-Ride, McRide Dial-A-Ride, Richmond Township Senior Bus, Nunda Township Senior Citizens Bus, Grafton Twp. Senior Transportation, Midday Intercommunity, Algonquin Township Senior Bus, Southeast McHenry County Dial-A-Ride.
• A representative from the McHenry County Housing authority explained the difference between Section 8 rental housing subsidies and Public Housing. This organization also helps homeless people with emergency housing needs and chronically homeless veterans. The Housing authority also helps people who are in danger of getting their power disconnected due to late or unpaid bills.

People in Need networks services as diverse as Circuit Court violence advocates, Alzheimer’s support, animal assisted therapy programs, food pantries, crisis pregnancies, free guitar lessons to low income children. If there is a need, People in Need can help identify the resource.

McHenry County offers a “211” call-center. This is accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week by landline or cell phone throughout the county. The 211 program is not a crisis line, rather a way to connect people with the appropriate human service provider. The live operator asks specific questions, including the zip code of the caller, so the client can be connected to a service nearby.