In 2010, The Lake County Community Foundation, in partnership with the Healthcare Foundation of Northern Lake County, the College of Lake County and the United Way of Lake County, completed a landmark project which gathered data from the Lake County nonprofit sector in order to better understand the service needs of residents and the capacity of the county's health and human service sector to meet those needs. The Foundation contracted with IFF to undertake the research and map the resulting data.

This project was a first of its kind and unique in its visual display of the types of services being provided by agencies and those areas where severe service gaps exist. The maps are also a tool to increase awareness about the geographic distribution and magnitude of the needs faced by Lake County's diverse populations. The Foundation believes that sharing the results of this project with the community will foster new and innovative strategies in addition to forging collaborations that will ultimately strengthen the entire community and the health and human service sector.

Key Findings

• Most nonprofits report serving clients countywide and throughout northern Illinois.
• Survey respondent service sites are concentrated in Waukegan, North Chicago and Highland Park.
• Lake County nonprofits are most likely to serve young families and Latino residents.
• There are limited primary health care options in the western part of the county. Of the available options, most are preventive screenings provided through mobile programs or at off-site locations.
• Counseling services are available on a very limited basis outside of Waukegan, Highland Park and Zion.
• Providers of affordable housing services can serve fewer than 5% of low-income residents.
• Transportation is the biggest reported barrier to services and very few nonprofit clients are accessing services via public transportation.

Conclusions

• Many more agencies have permanent site locations in the eastern and southeastern areas of the county.
• There are few multi-service agencies outside of Waukegan, North Chicago and Highland Park that can assist families in securing comprehensive services. The lack of transportation in the western half of the county aggravates this lack of coordinated services for many residents.
• The most significant unmet needs according to Lake County nonprofits are affordable housing and health care. The lack of these basic needs may also pose financial burdens for low-income residents.
• Despite uncertain funding in the future, a majority of nonprofits have been and will continue to respond to the increased demand for services among Lake County residents.

Methodology

• Maps are based on information reported by nonprofits through the survey tool. A number of nonprofits provide a variety of services across many sectors, and therefore, these questionnaires allowed IFF to capture data specific to each program within the larger organization. The questionnaires also highlighted services provided by a given nonprofit in the context of similar services provided by other organizations.
• Data used in these maps include:
  Program locations
  Target population for program
  Type of program
  Program capacity
• Services were categorized based on program descriptions and target populations provided by organizations in the program-specific questionnaire. These descriptions were supplemented as necessary by additional research about the program and/or organization. Note: nonprofits may provide additional services and/or serve additional populations other than those reported in the survey and shown on the maps.

References & Sources

• All 2009 demographic data and estimates for Lake County were provided by ESRI, Inc.
• 2009 poverty and low-income estimates provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service.
• Estimates of the uninsured population in Lake County provided by the report Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2008 (PDF format) issued Sept. 2009 by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Survey Fact Sheet

Map 1: All Services Against Total Population  JPEG>>   PDF>>

Map 2: All Services Against Percent Low Income  JPEG>>   PDF>>

Map 3: NPs Serving Low Income Population Against Percent Low Income  JPEG>>   PDF>>

Map 4: NPs Serving Homeless & Very Low Income Against Percent Very Low Income  JPEG>>   PDF>>

Map 5: NPs Serving Latinos  JPEG>>   PDF>>

Map 6: NPs w 50 Percent of Clients Latino  JPEG>>   PDF>>

Map 7: NPs Providing Medical Care & Screenings Against Percent Low Income  JPEG>>   PDF>>

Map 8: NPs Providing All Health Services Against Percent Low Income  JPEG>>   PDF>>

Map 9: NPs Providing Adult Mental Health Services Against Percent Low Income  JPEG>>   PDF>>

Map 10: NPs Providing Youth & Family Mental Health Services Against Percent Low Income  JPEG>>   PDF>>

Map 11: NPs Providing Child Care & ECE  JPEG>>   PDF>>

Map 12: NPs Providing Family & Child Services  JPEG>>   PDF>>

Map 13: NPs Providing Child Welfare Services  JPEG>>   PDF>>

Map 14: After School Ed Programs  JPEG>>   PDF>>

Map 15: NPs Serving Disabled  JPEG>>   PDF>>

Map 16: NPs Providing Senior Services  JPEG>>   PDF>>

Map 17: NPs Providing Workforce Dev & Adult Ed  JPEG>>   PDF>>

Map 18: Affordable Housing Units by Capacity Against Percent Low Income  JPEG>>   PDF>>