Eddie Bocanegra’s Day of Atonement

From Chicago Stories with Mayor Rahm Emanuel – March 18, 2019

Eddie Bocanegra’s life is a story of choices, mistakes, leadership, and redemption. Tune in as he tells Mayor Emanuel about his transformation from gang member to trailblazing leader at the Heartland Alliance’s READI Chicago program, the role of faith and family, trauma and violence, healing, opportunity, and hope.

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Learn more about Eddie Bocanegra and READI Chicago.

WBEZ: Report Proposes Tackling Illinois Poverty Through Gender Pay Equality

From WBEZ – March 13, 2019

A new report finds that even as women in Illinois outpace men when it comes to completing high school, they still lag on several major economic indicators. Women in the state have lower wages and less wealth than men. Women are also more likely to live in poverty.

The analysis, from the anti-poverty organization Heartland Alliance, focuses on the intersection of gender and poverty. While many of its findings may no longer be surprising, the report offers a tantalizing possibility to policymakers who wish to tackle poverty in Illinois: that improving pay, working conditions, and supportive measures for women could dramatically improve the lot of more than one million children.

Read the rest of the article.

Read Heartland Alliance’s 2019 Poverty Report.