Block Club Chicago: Radical New Program Finds Men Most Likely To Be Shot — And Hires Them

From Block Club Chicago — July 26, 2018

For 18 months, extremely high-risk people are given transitional jobs, cognitive behavioral therapy and legal and social services to help them pave a different future.

The 44-year-old father of three just got a raise and is close to achieving his dream of becoming an outreach worker. After surviving a nearly three-decade heroin addiction, a gunshot wound to the leg, and five stints in prison, Watson is taking steps to change his future.

Read more from Block Club Chicago.

Read more about the program featured in this article, READI Chicago.

WBEZ: Car Title Loans Trap Low-Income Illinois Families In Debt

From WBEZ Chicago — July 20, 2018

In December, 2014, Paul Gillespie’s wife died of a heart attack. He buried her on a Tuesday. On Saturday came more hard news: His landlord called and said she was selling the building, and he and his two teenage daughters had to find a new place to live.

Gillespie moved. But the bad times kept coming: The following spring, he had a heart attack, forcing him to take a leave from his job as a welder.

“I was running low on money. I had just spent $10,000 on a funeral,” Gillespie said. He said he had bad credit and couldn’t get a traditional bank loan.

Read more and listen to the segment from WBEZ.

Immigration Debate Explodes in Chicago

June 22, 2018 – The Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy is fanning political flames in Chicago and across the U.S. On Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-4th District) was gaveled out of order after bringing a group of children onto the House floor to protest the separation of migrant families at U.S. borders.

Some of those unaccompanied migrant children are being held in Chicago facilities operated by the nonprofit Heartland Alliance.

Read more and watch the segment from Chicago Tonight.

Senator Dick Durbin meets with some of 66 children separated from parents at border being held in Chicago

June 22, 2018 – Senator Dick Durbin met privately with children separated from their parents at the border who are being housed in the Chicagoland area under the care of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in partnership with Heartland Alliance.

Senator Durbin brought handmade cards to some of those 66 children now being cared for in Chicago.

Read more and watch the segment from ABC 7 Chicago.

Chicago group housing 66 separated minors says it’s ‘a scavenger hunt’ to find their families

June 22, 2018 – Chicago nonprofit said Friday it is housing 66 migrant children who have been separated from their parents in the past six weeks under the federal government’s “zero tolerance” policy.

Evelyn Diaz, president of Heartland Alliance, welcomed U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin for a visit to one of the organization’s nine shelters accommodating the children who have been removed from their parents’ care after entering the country. Heartland, which provides housing and legal assistance to immigrants, said the 66 migrant children are among 451 minors staying in Heartland facilities. Diaz said Heartland is licensed by the Illinois Department of Human Services to shelter 512.

Read the complete article from the Chicago Tribune.

The Real Deal: Related wants a Lathrop for everyone

From The Real Deal — June 15, 2018

Related Midwest’s 2010 deal to head up redevelopment of the Chicago Housing Authority’s aging Lathrop Homes threw the private developer into an 80-year-old public battleground.

In the decades after Mayor Richard M. Daley’s Plan for Transformation called to restore all 925 of the winding riverfront property’s original apartments back to public housing, the housing authority made multiple revisions to its master plan for the site. In 2006, it settled on a mixed-income model, which drew scathing backlash from affordable-housing activists.

Read the entire article from The Real Deal.

Learn more about Heartland Housing.