Health department: Community Self‑Help Fund provided immediate aid after April fire that displaced about 18 families

Dr. Monica Saavedra, director of Health and Human Services, said the Community Self‑Help Fund is "built by all of you — local businesses, neighbors, volunteers" to provide fast, flexible support to residents facing sudden hardship.

Saavedra described multiple uses of the fund over the past year: establishing an emergency food pantry in the Health and Human Services lobby, distributing food vouchers to families, providing rental assistance after job or income loss, purchasing materials to build a wheelchair ramp for a senior veteran and, in partnership with the Lions Club, buying beds and arranging home repair services for residents with disabilities.

She said the fund was mobilized following a large April fire that displaced approximately 18 families and that the fund helped secure emergency shelter, clothing, hygiene items, diapers and formula the same day. "It provided those families impacted with the reassurance that they were not alone," Saavedra said.

Saavedra urged continued community support through donations and participation in the Hope for Hoffman golf fundraiser, describing the fund as a local lifeline that complements social workers and public safety responders in coordinating longer‑term assistance.

All program descriptions and examples were presented by Saavedra during the Hoffman Estates Citizen broadcast segment and at the community event; funding specifics (annual totals and precise grant sources) were not specified in the presentation.