Healthy Options at Heartland Housing: Smooth & Social Roots

David Edwards knows a thing or two about community and growth. As founder and owner of Smooth & Social Roots, a cutting-edge healthy food business born on the south side, he sees first-hand how urban agriculture helps both individuals and neighborhoods grow.

On May 15th, David will be bringing that passion and knowledge to the near-west side with his newest café at Heartland Housing’s Harvest Commons apartments (1519 W Warren Blvd).

“I’m here to make valuable products for good people, and I don’t just mean smoothies. I’m here to introduce people to new ideas and to community.”

David’s passion for healthy foods and agriculture sparked while he was incarcerated, as he was given a chance to build skills and reduce his sentence in an urban farming program. Quickly thereafter, he enrolled in the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Windy City Harvest program and connected with friends who and experts that knew the ins and outs of successful farming.

In just a few years, David and his close-knit group of friends harnessed that passion and developed an urban farm on Chicago’s south side. Chicago’s largest food deserts are found on its south and west sides, primarily impacting the health and wealth of Black communities. David sought an alternative solution for the barriers faced in his communities, and developed Smooth and Social Roots into a community-sponsored agriculture program – delivering healthy, local, organic produce to vulnerable communities.

“Food is more than just something you put into your body. It’s a symbol for love. You want to help people live and enjoy their lives? You feed them. We’re bringing that love to entire communities.”

The newest Smooth and Social Roots Café, nestled into the first floor of our Harvest Commons supportive housing development, is the perfect place to share that love. David is working with Heartland Alliance’s Jo Mathias-Porter to utilize the building’s 25 cubic yards of community garden space and develop a hyper-local source of fresh produce for the café’s menu. This year, customers will be able to sit right next to the garden that produced their green juices and salads.

David with Heartland Alliance’s urban farming experts

“This is what I’m most excited about. Working with Heartland and being strategic about what we’re feeding people. Now, we have a chance to give the community what they really want, and connecting people to their neighborhood in ways they never were before.”

David believes this next chapter of Smooth and Social Roots is about supporting a space for life, liveliness, and community.

Inside the cafe, a blackboard has been constructed – with a bountiful selection of colored chalk, begging to be used as an outlet of expression. There are a handful of affirmations and quotes already plastered above, but David is ready for the next great artist to share their own wisdom with his new community. He’s already preparing another room for after-school programs for local students, where they will learn about gardening, nutrition, and even entrepreneurship.

A record player is always running, playing a selection of R&B, rock, and jazz from the 70s. Next to it is an open box of albums ready for anyone to peruse. For David, and for Smooth and Social Roots, music is at the heart of all good work.

“When I started growing a garden, I learned how music can help your plants grow. Help them thrive. We’re doing that for the food we grow, and we’re doing it for our customers too.”

Stop by and say hello to David and the Smooth and Social Roots team at 1519 W Warren Blvd, and pick up a coffee or salad. They’re open from Monday through Saturday, 6 a.m to 9 p.m.

Look Inside: Carolina Guzman, Financial Navigator

As we celebrate Financial Literacy month, it is critical to recognize how the repercussions of COVID-19 have created more than just a public health crisis. With tens of millions losing their jobs in a matter of months and entire economic systems changing in the blink of an eye, the financial impact on working families has already forced many to make hard economic decisions.

The financial coaches, teachers, and social workers within Heartland Alliance’s Asset Building team have faced economic crises before. Through in-depth trainings and long-term financial coaching, our Asset Building and Family Self Sufficiency programs have helped hundreds of individuals and families address unique financial challenges, adapt to varied circumstances, and achieve financial goals – even in the face of recessions and economic slowdowns.

One of those Asset Building experts is Carolina Guzman, where she’s been supporting working families for years. Now, as our new Financial Navigator, Carolina’s services are open to all Chicago residents – where she can support individuals and families navigate a financial plan and connect with supports during this crisis. See what makes her tick in the video below!

READI Chicago: Advocating for Change

As part of the American Jobs Plan’s focus on investing in workforce development, President Biden called on Congress to invest $5 billion in support of evidence-based community violence prevention programs—programs like READI Chicago—and to invest in job training for formerly incarcerated individuals, like the men we serve.

Never before has the federal government taken such significant steps to invest in communities of color disproportionately impacted by gun violence—a leading cause of death for young Black men in Chicago. We’ve seen firsthand in READI Chicago the many ways that a lack of community safety can keep someone from finding housing, traveling safely to work, or safely supporting their families. Elevating and prioritizing the safety and humanity of the men we serve is critical to achieving racial equity, and this funding is an important first step in continuing that fight.

This announcement is a culmination of the hard work of our partners and stakeholders who have elevated the voices of READI Chicago participants and our program, every day, locally and nationally—our participants, funders, community-based partners, and elected officials. Together and through your support, we are demonstrating the value of investments and how they can save lives.

This was an important first step in eliminating gun violence and investing in communities, but we have more work to do in securing the $5 billion investment and ensuring it saves as many lives as possible. We need to ensure our resources are targeted toward the people who need them most—those at the very highest risk of being involved in violence. We need to invest in evidence-based programs to ensure we are providing comprehensive, trauma-informed supports that will have the greatest impact; and we need to build capacity in communities to promote sustained community safety and opportunity for all.

READI Chicago: Building a Financial Foundation

At READI Chicago, we see opening access to economic opportunity as key to increasing community safety and combatting decades of disinvestment in the neighborhoods we serve. Since the initiative launched in 2017, READI has invested more than $20 million into our community-based partner organizations to help communities build capacity from within, and has paid more than $9.5 million directly to participants through wages and stipends.

This Financial Literacy Month, we wanted to recognize the critical role of financial literacy in building a foundation for a safer, more stable life, and the critical ways our staff work with participants to build a financial foundation through professional development and individual coaching.

“We’re trying to help these men build a foundation by giving them cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)—getting them to think differently—and then by developing the skills to go into the workforce and be confident and responsible about it,” said Taj McCord, a job coach with Centers for New Horizons for READI Chicago Englewood. “There’s no foundation if you don’t address the financial part—that ends up being the reason a lot of guys end up in the streets. With the skills we teach in CBT, they end up weighing their options and deciding it’s more important for them to find balance in their lives and work toward financial independence.”

Taj said he and his fellow coaches cover a variety of different levels of financial literacy in order to meet participants where they are and help them work toward self-identified goals. Some groups start at the beginning, with how to open a checking account, the difference between a debit and credit card, and how to create a budget. For participants more familiar with financial literacy, staff discuss things like investments, entrepreneurship, or business models.

The COVID-19 pandemic, and specifically the resulting stimulus checks, presented a unique opportunity for many participants, Taj said, as participants began approaching him with questions about business opportunities or property investments. One participant, after consulting Taj and putting together a plan, purchased a number of vending machines and is now working to build relationships with businesses who might need one.

“The mindset, just seeing them start to think differently, is the most important part for me,” Taj said. “Guys begin asking a lot more questions about financial literacy on their own, and what they should be doing with their money, and that tells me they’re absorbing and using the things we talk about in CBT and these sessions.”

It’s time to break the permanent punishment cycle

By Marlon J. Chamberlain and Carlton T. Mayers, II*

If you ever had an encounter with the criminal legal system in Illinois, even just a misdemeanor, the public housing authority of Richland County, IL will deny your application outright. No interview necessary. No context needed. Denied.

As someone who has directly experienced the relentless nature of these barriers, Trenesha Boyd recently commented in a meeting, “When do I have to stop reliving a bad decision I made so long ago? When does it end?”

Affordable housing is just one roadblock that discriminatory systems place on the pathway to success for those whose lives have been impacted by the criminal legal system. Heartland Alliance, alongside criminal justice reform advocates like Trenesha, are acting against those barriers, whose impact oftentimes unfolds across entire communities.

Heartland Alliance’s Never Fully Free report found a total of 1,189 sanctions in Illinois that create long-lasting, often permanent barriers to employment, education, civic engagement, and housing for over 3.3 million people arrested or convicted of crimes in Illinois since 1979. These “permanent punishments” are sanctions, laws, and restrictions impacting formerly incarcerated individuals.

Over 80% of permanent punishments impact an individual’s ability to obtain employment and housing, trapping many in a cycle of poverty. Given the disproportionate impact of criminal records on people of color, housing-related permanent punishments contribute to racialized patterns of housing instability, segregation, and homelessness. In Illinois, to make matters worse, Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) have the ability to place additional bans and restrictions, beyond those required by federal law, on people with criminal records. This prohibits people with criminal records from accessing housing when they are most in need and that housing instability is a major contributor to recidivism.

We believe that people like Trenesha must be the drivers of change. That’s why we are proud to have her work alongside us as we develop the first campaign in the nation working to dismantle the laws and regulations that deny rights and opportunities for people with criminal records.

To truly combat systemic inequities, we must remove the barriers that continue to exist well beyond a sentencing term. In partnership with the Restoring Rights and Opportunities Coalition of Illinois (RROCI), Heartland Alliance advocated for the passage of the Public Housing Access Bill in the Illinois state legislature. As the first of its kind in the country, this law creates standards for public housing authorities when screening applicants with a criminal record for public housing admission.

Now, PHAs in Illinois are required to use individualized assessments for formerly incarcerated applicants. The law also creates statewide standards that limit the look-back period for background checks to 6 months – and prohibits the consideration of arrest records and findings of not guilty, juvenile records, expunged records, and sealed records by local public housing authorities.

As we take on the challenge of eradicating the almost 1,200 permanent punishments in our state, we can’t help but consider the impact that these barriers have on countless individuals across the country. The Public Housing Access Bill is only a first step in one state, but legal discrimination related to the criminal justice system is endemic. It’s time to address the fact that some are truly never fully free, and end these permanent punishments.

*Marlon J. Chamberlain is the Campaign Manager for the Fully Free campaign and Carlton T. Mayers, II is the Senior Policy Manager for Criminal Justice Reform at Heartland Alliance.

One step forward, 1,189 to go towards fully free

By Willette Benford*

As a person who has lived the challenges faced by formerly incarcerated people who are trying to rebuild their lives, I know our fight isn’t simply about giving people second chances, it’s about removing the systemic barriers that keep many of us from any chance at all.

Last year, Heartland Alliance released a ground-breaking report, “Never Fully Free”, that documented how 3.3 million adults live with what are called permanent punishments, systemic barriers that keep formerly incarcerated individuals from achieving success. As of today, there are still 1,189 permanent punishments in Illinois, limiting our human rights and restricting access to the crucial resources we need to rebuild our lives, like employment, housing, and education.

For far too long, formerly incarcerated people have been locked out of housing because of their past. This is something I experienced first-hand. After I was released from prison, I began to rebuild my life. I found good work, and successfully completed interim housing programs. I was taking all the right steps, but I was still told that I was ineligible for long-term affordable housing because of my past conviction. At that time, my conviction was over 25 years old.

Illinois Public Housing Authorities were never required to keep records of criminal backgrounds for those who applied for housing. And yet, for decades, people have been denied safe housing based on their record alone. There was no due diligence, no interview, just denial.

Even as a full-time employee with the city of Chicago, somehow a two-decade-old conviction meant I was not good enough for stable housing. Experiencing such systemic injustice inspired me to testify and fight for the Just Housing Amendment, passed by the city council in 2019. It is what inspires me to serve as a governing board chair of Heartland Alliance’s campaign against permanent punishments.

Today, I’m proud to share that at least one of the barriers keeping people from affordable housing has been removed. Thanks to the advocacy efforts of Heartland Alliance and the Restoring Rights and Opportunities Coalition of Illinois, Governor Pritzker recently signed the Public Housing Access bill into law, formalizing a more just system across all state Public Housing Authorities and removing many of the barriers these institutions used to keep people from obtaining a home.

Now, Public Housing Authorities in Illinois are required to use individualized assessments for formerly incarcerated applicants. The law also creates statewide standards that limit the look-back period for background checks to 6 months – and prohibits the consideration of arrest records and findings of not guilty, juvenile records, expunged records, and sealed records.

Imagine having served your time and discovering you’re still not fully free. This new law brings accountability and hope, giving countless Illinoisans equitable consideration for secure housing.

But there are still over a thousand barriers keeping people from safety and success. If we truly believe in rehabilitative, restorative justice, we must remove these permanent punishments once and for all.

*Willette Benford serves as a governing board chair of the Heartland Alliance’s initiatives to combat permanent punishments.

The Growth of Children’s Savings Accounts in the Midwest

In recent years, there has been a surge in Children’s Savings Accounts (CSA) programs being planned and launched across the country by state and local governments, community foundations, and nonprofit organizations. The creation of new programs and expansion of existing CSA programs in the Midwest region has contributed to this national growth in the CSA field.

The acceleration of CSAs in the Midwest is no accident. Since 2017, there have been targeted efforts to launch and strengthen CSA programs in the Midwest through a collaborative regional approach modeled on the best practices and success of the New England CSA Consortium.

READ MORE

What are Children’s Savings Account programs?

CSAs are long-term savings or investment accounts opened for a child at birth or another key developmental stage and are often used to build assets for post-secondary education and career training. CSA programs can be a powerful tool to promote family economic mobility, putting children on a path for higher education and career attainment from an early age and cultivating a strong sense of hope for the future. Evidence shows that youth participating in a CSA program are more likely to plan to attend college. Similarly, having childhood savings is correlated with a college-bound identity. If designed thoughtfully, programs can also promote racial equity, particularly in college access and attainment. Saving for children’s future education is associated with better college enrollment and completion, with the greatest benefits for Black students and those with low incomes.

This report outlines the growth of CSAs in the region from the start of the Midwest CSA Consortium in January 2017 through the end of 2020. For the purposes of this report, the Midwest includes the nine states currently considered to be part of the Consortium’s region: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan.

Wins in State Policy Make Illinois a Leader in the Nation

Last month ended with Illinois legislative wins in all three of our policy focus areas: economic opportunity, safety and justice, and health and healing. These historic reforms will ultimately support our fight for equity and opportunity for all people, but what do they mean for Illinoisans? We asked project specialists from across Heartland Alliance what this meant for the people they serve, and how these wins will reduce barriers to opportunity.

On March 23, Governor Pritzker signed the Public Housing Access Bill into law, a first of its kind in a piece of legislation that creates uniform standards for screenings for the more than 100 public housing authorities across Illinois – reducing barriers for those who have been formerly incarcerated. The bill goes even further, making it so that public housing authorities can no longer consider non-convictions – such as arrest histories, juvenile records, or expunged and sealed records – in their screenings. The law provides that public housing authorities can only consider criminal backgrounds six months from the time of application, and must do individualized assessments. Our policy team is proud to have advocated for this new law in partnership with the Restoring Rights and Opportunities Coalition of Illinois.

Susie Schoenrock is a housing solutions specialist with our new Housing for Justice Initiative. She believes that the structural barriers to housing for build even greater systemic injustices, and that this legislation brings us closer to addressing permanent punishments.

“This is a significant step to help protect people and get them into public housing. Currently, it’s just a terrible cycle: our participants, the majority with criminal records, can’t get a job if they have nowhere to live. So, this law opens many doors for our participants to secure housing. And because the Housing for Justice Initiative works mostly with private landlords, I am interested in seeing if these help private landlords be a little less strict in their screening criteria. If public housing changes the way they screen applicants, potentially that may trickle down to other landlords’ requirements.”

Susie Schoenrock, Housing Solutions Specialist, Housing for Justice Initiative, Heartland Alliance

Governor Pritzker also signed the Predatory Loan Prevention Act on March 23, capping the Annual Percentage Rates (APR) for all consumer loans in Illinois at 36%. Before, predatory payday and car loans averaged at 297 and 179 APR respectively, trapping consumers in a cycle of debt. This act was advocated for by our Illinois Asset Building Group and a coalition of over 50 industry, government, community, and advocacy leaders. With this new law, Illinois joins 17 other states plus Washington D.C. in capping consumer loans at 36% APR.

Social workers and financial experts with Heartland Alliance’s Asset Building services program are dedicated to increasing access to tools and education that help people build wealth, with the ultimate goal of closing the racial wealth gap in Chicago. According to the team’s leaders, an important part of that fight is combating products that strip wealth and keep people from thriving.

“This [law] means that instead of predatory loans, people will keep and grow their assets. Payday loans worked like a robbery: over time, they take 3, 20, and over 500 times what you originally borrowed. So, with this law people will get justice.”

Barbara L. Martinez, Manager, Asset Building Programs, Heartland Alliance

“You shouldn’t have to lose the title of your car, in order to keep your small cleaning business going. That makes no sense. We didn’t want people to have to turn to payday and title loans that only solve the problem in the short term, but pushes you down the road to bankruptcy.”

Kathryn Socha, Director Asset Building services, Heartland Alliance

Finally, in March, the Illinois legislature passed a healthcare omnibus bill, championed by the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus. It is now on its way for the Governor to sign, and we are proud to have been integrally involved with two provisions within the legislation. Our healthcare policy team fought for new “Good Samaritan” reforms that will further protect people who call 911 from punishment when someone near them is overdosing. Once signed, the Illinois Good Samaritan reform will be the strongest law in the country. Furthermore, we fought for a statewide community health worker program that will help reach community members in culturally competent and effective ways.

Heartland Alliance Health’s Tony Strong works directly with individuals addressing opioid substance use disorders. He has seen firsthand how systemic and legislative barriers keep people from practicing harm reduction.

“This will save lives. It gives people empowerment. People can now feel they have some recourse and not just feel powerless when someone is in danger of losing their life because they can be criminally charged in the process.”

Anthony Strong, Senior Mental Health Worker, Heartland Alliance Health

We celebrate these wins, look forward to work on how these new laws will be implemented across the state, and will continue to advocate for our legislative agenda. As Tony said, these legislative wins bring us closer to achieving equity and opportunity for ALL.

”The more bricks we can add to this house, the sturdier it would become”.

Jobs Plan: a Necessary Step Toward Economic Justice and Recovery

Last week the Biden-Harris Administration released a robust proposal to address the nation’s crumbling infrastructure and pave the way toward economic opportunity and justice for all. The American Jobs Plan comes at a critical time as the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have been deep and lasting for millions and continue to punctuate the longstanding inequities in the labor market. Indeed, a full 24% of our nation’s would-be workers have been unemployed for a year. And Black, Latinx, and Indigenous people, people of color, women, and immigrants, those impacted by the criminal legal system, and youth and young adults have borne the brunt of the pandemic’s devastation.

Heartland Alliance is pleased to support the proposal. We particularly applaud the commitment to racial equity woven throughout the proposal as well as the focus on the infrastructure required to support true economic recovery for all, including the care economy that supports workers and families.

The American Jobs Plan would create millions of good jobs—with resources targeted to those who have been economically marginalized.

We are especially pleased to see robust investments in:

workforce development resources for communities that face systemic barriers to employment and those that have been currently and historically underserved as well as a focus on strengthening the infrastructure of these systems;
a subsidized job proposal to address long-term unemployment and underemployment among people who face structural barriers to employment;
a focus on workforce development and training investments for people who have been formerly incarcerated;
investments in evidence-based approaches to reduce community violence;
a call to eliminate the subminimum wage; and
attention to strong labor standards to protect worker rights.

This proposal is a critical and necessary step toward meeting the extraordinary employment and economic needs that this moment demands and address deep-seated labor market inequities.

Heartland Alliance looks forward to working with the Biden-Harris Administration, Congress, and federal agencies to advance this proposal and bring economic justice to all.

Shifting Suspensions in Illinois

The SAFE-T Act is a landmark criminal justice reform package signed into law in February 2021 (HB 3653). It dramatically expands Illinois residents’ freedom to drive. The bill ends driver’s license suspensions and holds in three new categories: failure to pay automated camera tickets, failure to pay traffic fines, and failure to pay abandoned vehicle fees. These suspensions occur because of motorists’ inability to pay. These traps low-income motorists in debt spirals, while well-off drivers can pay and keep driving. Currently, over 10,000 people have suspensions for camera ticket debt, and almost 350,000 people have holds for traffic ticket debt. This bill removes these suspensions and holds for all currently impacted Illinois drivers and ends future suspensions. These suspensions and holds will be cleared from all Illinois driving records by July 1, 2021.

Curious how your community will be impacted by the SAFE-T Act? Check out our interactive map, which shows driver’s license suspensions across the state. The maps can be overlaid with Senate and House districts, Chicago Ward boundaries, and demographic information, such as racial composition, unemployment rates, and poverty rates. Ultimately, the dashboard shows that zip codes with a higher percentage of residents of color have higher rates of suspensions.

Economic Opportunity