Who is ALICE?
Your campaign supports real people in our community- here's who they are.
WHAT DOES ALICE MEAN?
ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. These are your neighbors, your coworkers, the people you see every day- working hard, sometimes at multiple jobs, and still unable to make ends meet. ALICE households earn above the federal poverty line, which means they often don't qualify for assistance. But they're far from financially secure. In Central Illinois, one unexpected bill- a medical expense, a car repair, a missed shift- can trigger a crisis that's incredibly hard to recover from.
ALICE IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS
- 36% of households in Sangamon County are ALICE or living below the poverty line
- 31% of households in Menard County are ALICE or living below the poverty line
- That represents roughly 31,875 households in our service area alone
- The basic cost of survival for a family of four in Central Illinois is $79,252 per year
- The most common industries employing ALICE workers in our region include retail, food service, healthcare support, and childcare- essential work that keeps our community running
WHO IS ALICE? PUTTING A FACE TO THE DATA
- A single parent working full time in retail, spending nearly half their income on childcare
- An elderly couple on a fixed income watching their medical costs climb every year
- A recent graduate with an entry-level salary and student loans who can't yet afford a savings account
- A two-income household that's doing everything right- and still can't absorb a $400 emergency
These are the people your campaign supports. Not someday, not somewhere else- right here, right now.
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