‘We’re glad to have her in our community’: Rep. Underwood opens new office in Sandwich

Sandwich resident Rich Wilke knows that U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Naperville, wants to hear what her constituents have to say.

Wilke attended Saturday’s open house at Underwood’s new office at 207 E. Church St., Unit F, in Sandwich.

“I wanted to meet our representative because of what she’s done in Congress,” Wilke said. “I think she’s really concerned about her district. I really believe she has our best interest at heart.”

Sandwich Mayor Todd Latham also attended the open house.

“We’re glad to have her in our community,” he said.

Underwood said, Sandwich always has been in the 14th District. “But our other congressional offices were in West Chicago and Crystal Lake. And those were drawn out of the district, so we had to move. So we opened up offices in Joliet and Sandwich.”

“This is their office and we want people to be able to see and meet the staff and understand how we can help them.”

—  U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood

Underwood’s other office is at 116 N. Chicago St., Suite 201, in downtown Joliet. She appreciated that so many people attended the Sandwich open house.

“Sandwich is a great community. As you know, the 14th District goes west, and so we wanted to make sure that,for the most part, every constituent can get to an office within an hour’s drive. That’s really my goal. This community is very welcoming, and we’re excited to be here. This is a brand-new office, and we’re really looking forward to serve folks who might need help with constituent services like Social Security benefits, Medicare, tax returns and passports; that’s what my team works on every day in this office. And so folks are welcome to stop in or give us a call if they need help.”

Underwood said she thought the open house went well. Those attending the open house were there for a variety of reasons.

“Some brought some legislation they were following or had some feedback about current events and some people just wanted to say hi,” Underwood said. “We had people who were curious because I was in the neighborhood and wanted to see what we were doing here. I think it is interesting and kind of unusual, maybe, for a congressional office to be in a community this size. This is their office and we want people to be able to see and meet the staff and understand how we can help them.”

Sandwich has a population of 7,221, according to the 2020 census.