C.E.F.S. Economic Opportunity Corporation has provided the attached poverty information for the seven (7) county service delivery area of Christian, Clay, Effingham, Fayette, Montgomery, Moultrie and Shelby.
The individual and cumulative county information during this economic recession reflected that poverty and economic hardship have negatively impacted our neighbors and all Illinoisans. Even before this recession, 3.5 million Illinoisans were struggling in poverty or near poverty, having difficulty finding jobs after getting laid off, experiencing homelessness after losing their house, being held back by low education levels, and finding it nearly impossible to save money for a brighter future. For the C.E.F.S. seven (7) county service area nearly 20, 000 people live in poverty with the poverty rate at 17% for people under the age of eighteen. As a nation and as a state we will need to develop meaningful policy changes to address the needs of those lives and hardships reflected in the attached report.
The information assembled for reference was obtained from the 2009 Heartland Alliance Mid-America Institute on Poverty.
If you would like to reference the full statewide document please go to the Heartland Alliance Mid-America Institute on Poverty website at:
www.heartlandalliance.org/research/