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Community Corner

Bassi Deserving of Honor

On Wednesday, April 9, Highland Park honored Anne Flanigan Bassi with its 2014 Humanitarian Award in recognition of her work spearheading our community’s response to the Affordable Care Act as Moraine Township supervisor.

During the last day of the enrollment period for the ACA, as a volunteer I saw firsthand the effectiveness of our Township’s response. In the absence of direction and supporting materials from the federal government, Anne, her board and staff and a significant number of volunteers developed protocols, training programs and ramped up a complex operation that enabled more than 400 people to gain access to adequate health care coverage.

In addition to this being the right and decent thing for us to provide for each other, it ultimately saves the community money in improved health outcomes.

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With over 20 years of service to our community as a school board member, president of the League of Women Voters, member of the Lake County Board and now as supervisor for Moraine Township, Anne’s hallmarks have been creating and building partnerships around shared goals and fostering creative solutions to make scarce resources stretch to the fullest.

In addition to helping connect community members to an often confusing menu of state and national government assistance programs, Anne coordinates a wide array of social service programs that are locally designed to meet local needs, often with significant local volunteer assistance. Community food drives to replenish the food pantry, the community garden to provide fresh produce and van service for the homebound are among the examples of neighbor helping neighbor organized through the Township.

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We are fortunate to have Anne’s continuing service and offer congratulations on this recognition.

 

Linda Kellough

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