Do you know ALICE?
ALICE is the backbone of our economy.
We depend on ALICE every day—to prepare and deliver food, to repair our cars, to care for our children and our aging parents. But ALICE is struggling.
ALICE represents the growing number of households in our communities that do not earn enough to afford basic necessities. They are working and struggling to get by. ALICE® stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed.
More than 19,000 households in Champaign County— nearly 1 in 4 —are ALICE and struggle to pay for basic necessities, including housing, food, child care, health care, transportation, and necessary technology. And nearly 17,000 families are living in poverty. With ALICE households and households in poverty, 44% of Champaign County households are struggling to survive.
ALICE works hard - often working multiple jobs to provide for their household.
We all know ALICE. They care for our children in childcare centers and schools, they work in health care with our aging parents, they provide services in retail stores and restaurants. They are the cashier at your local grocery store and the security guard at your office building. Or they can be retired and living on a fixed income.
The one thing they have in common is that they are one emergency away from a financial crisis.
We encourage you to read the ALICE Report to discover the complex issues facing households in Champaign County.
At United Way we don't shy away from problems, even big, complex ones like the challenges facing ALICE families. Instead, we are fighting for ALICE. Because we believe we can -and must - find ways to support fragile families during tough times, address systemic issues impacting ALICE families, and empower them to build better lives.
Learn more about ALICE at UnitedForALICE.com/Illinois
