Today, even in retirement, Candace is making a difference. Through her support of our All In DuPage community endowment-building campaign, she’s helping ensure that the good work continues—now and for generations to come.
“There will always be a need here in DuPage County,” Candace said. “And the Foundation is the expert at what those needs are and what changes are affecting the county.”
Going All In for DuPage
All In DuPage is our bold effort to build our community’s capacity for robust, sustained, collective impact where it matters most. By growing endowed resources for our community, All In DuPage is designed to double our annual local discretionary grants, fuel transformational projects, and support nonprofits addressing DuPage’s most pressing challenges—from health and human services to early childhood education, workforce development, and more.
That vision resonates with Candace. Before she retired, she served as the executive director of the DuPage Federation on Human Services Reform, and spent her career identifying issues for DuPage’s most at-risk residents and working collaboratively to improve those conditions. She co-led the team that founded Access DuPage, connecting thousands of uninsured and low-income residents to affordable health care, and helped spearhead the Language Access Resource Center to improve accessibility for the county’s non-English speakers. She also worked to bring nonprofit Federally Qualified Health Centers to the county, providing an essential health care resource for low-income people.
“My expertise is looking at what the data tells us: What do we know? What does it mean? And what should we do about it? Those are the questions I think we should ask, and DuPage Foundation has the resources to ask and answer those big questions,” Candace said.
Making a Difference Beyond Legacy
In retirement, Candace’s commitment continues through volunteering on the Advisory Committee for our Bright & Early DuPage initiative, expanding local early childhood education and support services, and serving on our DuPage Community Transformation Partnership (DCTP) grant review workgroup. She also volunteers with the Executive Service Corps of Chicago to provide management consulting for nonprofit organizations.
Candace has pledged her support to All In DuPage by establishing a permanently-endowed fund at the Foundation to support annual health and human service grants—impacting areas like food insecurity, housing instability, mental health, and more.
“As my husband and I reviewed our annual IRA Required Minimum Distribution, we realized we could make a gift to the Foundation as a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD), and I’m hoping to do so every year,” Candace said. “People don’t think our neighbors in DuPage County need our help, but more than one in four households are struggling to meet basic needs.”
“For me,” Candace said, “it’s all about leaving my community a better place than I found it.”
Grow Local Impact
To learn more about All In DuPage and how you can support our community’s future, contact Michael Trench, vice president for advancement, at michael@dupagefoundation.org or 630.665.5570.
Read more stories like this in our summer newsletter.
