Some Peoria community action agency services to go on despite state cuts

Given rising costs for food and utilities, it’s important that the Peoria Citizens Committee for Economic Opportunity (PCCEO) is continuing its food pantry, scheduled to open Sept. 3 at the 711 McBean Street complex, despite losing about $3 million in grants from the State of Illinois.

Its Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) also will continue, although it will be administered on an emergency basis for one year by the Tazwood CAA, an action agency operating as Tazwood Community Services, with offices in Pekin and Bloomington.

On Aug. 8, PCCEO received communication from David Wortman, Deputy Director of Community Assistance with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) indicating DCEO's termination of PCCEO's grants for LIHEAP ($2.27 million) and Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) ($679k).

Wortman said PCCEO hadn’t met the deadline for its 2023 audit, due Sept. 30, 2024, and was in default status.

The state didn’t blame PCCEO’s current leadership, including CEO Denise Moore and CFO Kelly Stewart.

Instead, “DCEO's decision to terminate PCCEO's LIHEAP and CSBG grants is the result of several years of persistent organizational and fiscal instability, including high turnover among both senior leadership and Board members.”

Moore, a a former Peoria City Council member and founder and CEO of the Minority Business Development Center in Peoria, became CEO of PCCEO just months ago. Formed in 1966 to help low-income Peorians with food assistance, energy bills, child care and housing needs, PCCEO’s previous leaders included Mike Banks and McFarland Bragg (who left in 1992 and 2002, respectively).

Upon the notice from the states, Moore said she “called a meeting with PCCEO staff, informing them of DCEO's plans to wind down the agency's grant portfolio. Staff is taking this very hard and I'm hopeful the community will rally around these dedicated workers. They have done nothing wrong and have worked diligently to serve our community.”

A high-profile service, PCCEO’s food pantry “will move on to address food insecurity,” said program manager Wayne Cannon. “The need continues. We have relationships with area food banks and other organizations, like OSF. We provide emergency food boxes to people discharged from the hospital and needing help while they’re recovering.”

Overall,

* Tazwood is set to provide qualifying Peorians with Home Energy Assistance starting next month through August of 2025;

* Community Services Block Grants under PCCEO will continue to provide services until this Dec. 31;

* PCCEO’s buildings at McBean, Webster school, the Affordable Housing Programs and Head Start will continue (although Head Start could be pulled next year, Moore said); and

* the state’s DECO will fund PCCEO’s administration and “grant closeout” of LIHEAP and CSBG.

ICE active in downstate Illinois, and it could increase

Three weeks after the White House gave Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) a goal of 3,000 detentions per day, masked agents without warrants made more than 1,000 arrests in the agency’s Chicago Area of Responsibility, which includes Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Missouri and Kansas, according to the independent Deportation Data Project.

Some arrests have occurred in Central Illinois, according to the Immigration Project, a Bloomington-based group providing legal services and support for immigrants.

“We have direct and indirect reports of immigration enforcement in some of our service areas. For example, in Champaign, we heard of an arrest of two people outside the Champaign courthouse and the arrest of factory workers on their way to work,” the advocacy group said in a prepared statement. “There have also been reports in Kankakee, Bloomington, [and] Springfield among others. Immigration enforcement is likely happening everywhere in the country. Some are more reported than others.”

Indeed, the government’s Online Detainee Locator System has few details, such as Emmanuel Marroquin-Jiminez being arrested outside the McLean County courthouse in June after appearing there on charges unrelated to his status.

The Community Word contacted two Peoria law firms who say they work on immigration issues, and one declined to comment and the other spoke on the condition no name be used because of concern about retaliation.

“I think there’s some bad and some good in the enforcement,” he said. “I really wish the agents would separate violent criminals from everyone else. Right now, they’re sweeping up everybody.”

Laurie Bergner, McLean County League of Women Voters Community Education director, said ICE agents now seem to be focusing on bigger population centers.

“I'm sure they concentrate on larger cities, which have more immigrants and would be easier to pick up and deport to meet their quota,” she said. “I would guess they will focus on farm workers and meat-packing plants, etc. in rural areas – anywhere they think they will find groups of immigrants.”

In its statement, the Immigration Project said no area is being spared.

“Immigration enforcement is currently happening even in small-sized cities, and considering the fact that the agency is going to receive more funding as stipulated under the One Big Beautiful Bill passed on July 4, for recruitment, expansion of detention spaces, etc., it is very likely that their current attention or more of it may be drawn to workers in these sectors or in mid-sized cities.”