421 N. COUNTY FARM ROAD
WHEATON, IL 60187
DU PAGE COUNTY
Human Services
Final Summary
Tuesday, March 21, 2023
9:30 AM
Room 3500A
1.
CALL TO ORDER
9:30 AM meeting was called to order by Chair Greg Schwarze at 9:30 AM.
2.
ROLL CALL
In attendance at the meeting were Assistant State's Attorneys Paul Bruckner and Renee Zerante,
County Board Members Yeena Yoo and Patty Gustin, Community Services Administrators
Natasha Belli and Gina Strafford-Ahmed, Buyer Valerie Calvente, and Mary Keating, Director of
Community Services.
Childress, DeSart, Galassi, Garcia, LaPlante, and Schwarze
PRESENT
3.
4.
PUBLIC COMMENT
No public comments were offered.
CHAIR REMARKS - CHAIR SCHWARZE
Chair Schwarze welcomed County Board Members Patty Gustin and Yeena Yoo to the meeting.
The Chair deferred to Member Galassi. Ms. Galassi presented five AP Government students
from Hinsdale Central High School. A class requirement is to shadow an elected official for
eight hours and they selected Member Galassi. Ms. Galassi met with the students Monday night
in which she explained the process. She concluded by saying the students have been great to
work with and she is honored to have them here.
Chair Schwarze stated that he met with four of the larger food pantries in our area, along with
Mary Keating and Vice Chair Garcia. As a background, Chair Schwarze explained the County
Board earmarked $5M for food assistance last year. $2.75M was appropriated to food pantries in
2022 with $2.25M in reserve. Mr. Schwarze, Ms. Garcia, and Ms. Keating met with Loaves and
Fishes Community Services, People’s Resource Center, Neighborhood Food Pantries, and West
Suburban Community Pantry seeking their input related to the allocation of the remaining
$2.25M. They will meet with Northern Illinois Food Bank next week and then some of the
smaller food pantries after that to share ideas relating to the allocation of the remaining $2.25M.
Chair Schwarze announced the 19th Annual DuPage Care Center Foundation Golf Outing and
Dinner will be held on June 16, in partnership with the Tony Reyes Family Foundation at Prairie
Landing Golf Club in West Chicago. The event includes lunch, 18 holes of golf, a raffle and
dinner, all for the benefit of the 300 plus individuals that call the Care Center home. This year is
exceptionally exciting as we look forward to the Care Center renovations. Lunch begins at noon,
with a shotgun golf start at 1:00 p.m. followed by dinner at 6:00 p.m., when they will announce
the raffles. Early bird registration is now available through April 28. Golf and dinner are $225
per person, dinner only is $50. Individuals can register at dpccfoundation.org. The handout flyer
is attached hereto and made part of the minutes packet.