On Thursday, Calumet Township Trustee Tai Adkins brought together community leaders for a fall symposium designed to announce expanded eligibility and rental assistance standards, a new charity tracker system, and a partnership with WorkOne, the region’s workforce development agency, and Indiana Career Connect, the state’s job-matching platform.
Panels focused on housing, food access, and workforce development, drawing on partners from city agencies, workforce programs, and local nonprofits such as the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana, Community HealthNet, and FAITH CDC’s Food Is Medicine initiative. Together, they outlined steps to help stabilize families and strengthen the region’s social safety net.
“No single agency can address the full scope of community needs alone. Interagency collaboration is essential because it allows us to leverage resources, expertise, and networks in a way that amplifies our impact,” Trustee Tai Adkins told Capital B Gary.
“When social service providers, local government, nonprofits, and other partners work together, we can create a more seamless and effective support system for residents,” she said.
Thursday’s “Securing the Safety Net: Doing the Work” symposium built on the trustee’s spring symposium held this past March. Since then, township Senior Advisor William Godwin said the office has revised its income and household eligibility standards for township assistance, expanding access to rental, utility, and emergency aid for residents struggling to meet basic needs.
“We all know that $1,000 a month is not what it was five years ago or 10 years ago, so we raised those to over $1,500 for one individual, and it goes up as the size of your household increases,” Godwin said. “We recognize that inflation is real, and we want as many people as possible to be eligible to receive assistance from our office.”
Food Assistance
With the current political and economic climate as the backdrop, panelists outlined several policy-driven pressures on food security and health coverage.
For the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the federal government shutdown could interrupt benefits on Nov. 1, while the administrative cost share is shifting from 50% federal and 50% state to 25% federal and 75% state.
In 2024, Lake County had the second-highest number of food stamp recipients in the state. It also ranks second in average number of welfare families and free and reduced lunch recipients, according to data from the Indiana Business Research Center at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.
Local food assistance organizations face a set of compounding obstacles, including cuts to the Local Food Promotion Program, which have disturbed distribution across 27 counties; reduced USDA purchases, removing roughly $700,000 in nutrient-dense foods; and additional reductions that may affect urban farming and food education programs. Community need continues to outpace supply, leaving gaps the organization cannot fill.
Victor Garcia, president and CEO of Food Bank of Northwest Indiana, emphasized the scale and the gap.
“We’re on schedule for this year to put out the most amount of food in our organization’s history. … We’re going to put out between 10 [million] and 11 million pounds of food,” Garcia said. “But here’s the sad thing: in 2019, the need for Lake and Porter counties was 17 million.”
Garcia highlighted that even a record distribution year still falls short of pre-pandemic demand, and that today’s pressures are higher.
“We aren’t going to meet the need in a record year, let alone now, with inflationary pressures and our utility bills skyrocketing,” he said. “Our friends and neighbors in Northwest Indiana are struggling to get by.”
Transportation
Limited transportation options make it hard for many residents to reach distribution sites, while misconceptions about the food bank’s role and services deter some from seeking help, Garcia said. Operations rely heavily on volunteers and a small staff, which constrains capacity as demand grows.
To overcome transportation barriers, the food bank runs refrigerated mobile distributions five days a week to bring food closer to service areas, he said. It also partners with community groups to deliver nutrient-dense foods to seniors and people unable to travel to distribution sites.
Other local organizations are also pushing for broader, long-term solutions.
Freida Graves, director of Faith CDC, a nonprofit focused on food injustice, is spearheading a statewide petition seeking legislative support to expand and formalize Food is Medicine initiatives by embedding them in state law and policy. It’s available online and in print, with physical copies for seniors and residents without internet access at local community sites and Faith CDC events. Links and updates will be posted on the organization’s Facebook page and website.
Health
As conversations turned to health, panelists drew connections between nutrition, medical coverage, and the growing strain on families’ ability to afford both food and care. During a panel about local access to nutritious food, speakers warned that anticipated Medicaid cuts may force trade-offs between medical care and food for many households. About one-third of Lake County residents rely on Medicaid, and hundreds of thousands statewide could lose coverage, they noted. Panelists said the reductions could increase demand for emergency food assistance, fewer resources for procurement and distribution, and greater administrative burden at state and local levels.
Dr. Janet Seabrook, executive director of Community HealthNet and Gary’s city health director, detailed the intertwined obstacles she faces caring for patients whose medical needs are compounded by food insecurity, unstable housing, and lack of basic supplies like school uniforms.
She said the health department is charged with screening for and addressing social factors, including domestic violence, safety concerns, and missed meals that complicate care plans. Her team also implements “food is medicine”–style nutrition programs that require motivating sustained dietary changes while managing the logistics needed to support chronic disease.
“I don’t know how we’re going to handle patients who have lost coverage, because it’s going to be such a burden,” Seabrook said. “Not only in our health center and the public health department, but all of the entities and nonprofits that assist patients that are covered by Medicaid. So it’s going to have a terrible impact, a circle of impact, so to speak, on all those entities that are in service to people who are covered under Medicaid.”
