A sandwich shop owner in Forest Park said that he doesn’t buy all his vegetables from one vendor. By “not putting all his eggs in one basket,” so to speak, if one vendor goes out of business, he already has another in place who can take up the slack. If one starts providing less than acceptable produce, he has an alternative.
The CROP Hunger Walk known as Hunger Walkathon West—centered in Oak Park, River Forest, Forest Park and Austin—gave Housing Forward a check for $3,000 in 2015, which was especially helpful since the gridlock in Springfield over the budget has prevented the PADS emergency shelter program from receiving $38,000, which is 22 percent of its annual budget.
The gift from CROP is less than 10% of the revenue shortfall, but its significance is important. If Housing Forward put all its eggs in the basket called the State of Illinois or the Federal Government, its revenue stream could be affected in major ways. The CROP Walk donates 25% of the money it raises on the first Sunday of every May to local agencies like Housing Forward, which allows the agency to diversify its funding, so that when one stream dries up, others can help fund the work until other sources are found or the dried up stream starts flowing again.
What’s more, the diversification of funding makes both Democrats and Republicans happy, because it combines sources of revenue from both the public and private sectors.
The PADS program is made possible by 1000 volunteers. The CROP Walk involves 400 walkers. Who is right: the Republicans who want the government to remain small or the Democrats who want the government to do even more? When Springfield (aka Madigan and Rauner) get its act together, the funding for PADS will back where it should be: i.e., some eggs in the government basket and some in the one called private citizens and foundations.
By Tom Holmes
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