WBEZ 91.5

 

January 16, 2013

 

 

From WBEZ 91.5:

The Heartland Alliance’s Social Impact Research Center released a report today that suggest nearly a third of Illinois residents live in or near poverty.

The report explores who is in poverty, why they are in poverty, and possible solutions.

One of their findings is that poverty is becoming more common in the suburbs. Take the example of  Kathy Kirwin in Dupage County. Kirwin’s 55 and works through a temp agency.  Right now, she works a mailroom job. But it’s not enough.

“I just became homeless in May of 2012 and started living in my car in August,” Kirwin said.

Suburban poverty presents its own challenges.  Kerwin has trouble getting to different social services, like shelters where she can shower.

“It’s like, I got 2 quarters of a tank. Is that going to be enough to do all the things I need to do to get to work everyday,” Kerwin said. “Can I go take a shower? Can I go to the food pantries?”

An author of Heartlands report says high poverty numbers aren’t just about the recession. They’re also about the long-term prevalence of temporary and low-wage jobs like Kerwin’s.

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WSIU Public Radio

 

January 16, 2013

 

 

From WSIU Public Radio:

 

 

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CBS Chicago

 

January 16, 2013

A new report shows that a third of Illinois population could be considered poor.

 

From CBS Chicago:

WBBM Political Editor Craig Dellimore reports that number has been growing.

Amy Rynell, a senior Director with the Heartland Alliance, said her group’s annual study highlights the 33 percent of Illinoisans living in poverty or near it.

Rynell says the numbers show more Illinois residents hold minimum wage jobs. And she says poverty is everywhere.

What could change the trends? The Heartland Alliance says things like food stamps and housing assistance help the poor get back on their feet.

Rynell says the economy, and the growth of low-paying service sector jobs, are also factors.

She notes more and more adults are being paid the minimum wage.

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WBEZ 91.5

 

January 9, 2013

A listener wonders if the city’s behind placement there and, if not, who is?

 

From WBEZ 91.5:

Chicago may have a deeply entrenched history of segregation, but some pockets on the North Side are as diverse as one might hope to find anywhere. One reason: Chicago’s far North Side has been a port of entry for thousands of refugees since the first wave came from Vietnam in 1975.

Lowell Wyse, a resident of Rogers Park, has noticed the international flavor in his neighborhood, and that got him wondering:

Does the city actively participate in resettling international refugees in certain neighborhoods, such as Rogers Park?

Refugees come to Illinois through a public-private partnership between the U.S. Department of State, nine private agencies called voluntary agencies (or, “Volags”) and the local non-profit resettlement agencies that do most of the ground work. In Chicago, six resettlement agencies are contractually obligated to provide services to help refugee families relocate and integrate to the greatest extent possible within their first three months in the U.S. They are RefugeeONE, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago, World Relief, Heartland Human Care Services, Ethiopian Community Association of Chicago, and the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society of Chicago.

“The city could play a role, but has not in the past,” said Edwin Silverman. Silverman is the Illinois State Refugee Coordinator, overseeing that partnership between the State Department and local agencies. “There was a period in the early ‘80s when the city was at the table, represented by the Chicago Commission on Human Relations,” Silverman explained. “The CCHR had, up until the Emanuel administration, an advisory council on immigrant and refugee affairs.” The city eliminated that advisory council in last year’s budget cuts.

Visit the webpage to learn more and to see this interactive piece.

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Chicago Phoenix

 

December 27, 2012

Grants provided by HUD’s Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA)

 

From Chicago Phoenix:

 

The Chicago Department of Public Health announced Thursday it has granted $6 million to local community-based organizations to improve housing services and assistance for people living with HIV/AIDS and their families in 2013.

The CDPH grants, starting Jan. 1, were awarded to 22 local organizations, including the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, Edge Alliance, Chicago House Social Services Agency and Heartland Alliance Health – Vital Bridges.

The money comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as part of its Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) program, which awards funds to non-profit organizations every year to assist with healthy-living initiatives and prevent homelessness among people affected by AIDS.

“There are approximately 22,172 people in Chicago living with HIV,” said Chicago Public Health Commissioner Bechara Choucair, M.D in a media release. “The HOPWA program helps us better serve these Chicagoans and offers agencies, with an ear to the community, the opportunity to more effectively and efficiently respond to their specific needs.”

CDPH places the non-profit agencies into three categories based on the services they offer, such as community residences operating support, housing information services and tenant based rental assistance.

Funding for the CDPH’s HOPWA program increased by $106,000, according to the organization.

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Huffington Post

 

December 17, 2012

 

 

From Huffington Post:

As Illinois tries to resuscitate its economy, lawmakers should know that some of the state’s biggest job producers are the ones that don’t make any money.

 

That’s one lesson to emerge from new research that shows that Illinois’ nonprofit community represents the state’s fourth-largest employer, accounting for more than a half-million jobs. The study, conducted by Johns Hopkins University on behalf of Donors Forum, an association of grantmakers and nonprofits, finds that nonprofits support 517,600 jobs in Illinois, more than the number of workers in the transportation, construction, and real estate industries combined.

 

Considering that nonprofits exist to advance a mission rather than to amass money, these robust numbers might be unexpected. One thing is certain: They make the hardships nonprofits currently face in Illinois look inexcusable.

 

According to the study, the state’s nonprofit community accounted for $24.3 billion in wages during the past year, representing 8.7 percent of the state total payroll. That income is projected to yield $459 million in tax revenues for Illinois’ depleted coffers, as well as $2.3 billion in federal tax receipts.

 

These numbers suggest that if Illinois is going to protect its economic future, it should foster stability and growth among nonprofits. But just the opposite is happening. For instance, according to the Social IMPACT Research Center at Heartland Alliance, Illnois owes nearly $1 billion in overdue payments to nonprofits that provide critical human services for seniors, children, and people with disabilities.

 

Though nonprofits are being hammered by the state’s budget crisis, some lawmakers are increasing the pressure on them. Proposals have surfaced in Springfield that would require already regulated nonprofits to adhere to redundant reporting requirements.

 

These trends suggest a culture in Springfield that doesn’t properly value the role nonprofits play in Illinois’ economy. Or perhaps too few lawmakers are aware of the facts: With nonprofits employing more than a half-million workers, policies that strain them have damaging repercussions throughout the economy.

 

 

Valerie S. Lies is President and CEO of Donors Forum.

 

A longer version of this opinion piece originally appeared on October 15, 2012 in Springfield, Illinois’ The State Journal-Register

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Huffington Post

 

December 13, 2012

 

 

From Huffington Post:

This week, we celebrate human rights day. At Heartland Alliance, where I work, we consider this our national holiday. It’s the time when we get to celebrate the value of every human being, and to remind ourselves that people have the right to a life free from poverty and to the tools that make it possible — housing, healthcare, jobs and justice. Nevertheless, these crucial tools and the rights they protect, are in danger thanks largely to the threat posed by the fiscal cliff. It’s a perfect storm of variables that threatens to throw our fragile economy back into recession, and families back into desperation. The high stakes debate over federal funding is one worth having, but not at the expense of those who live every day on the precipice — the poor.

 

Deciding how to spend public resources comes down to choices that reflect our values. We’ve built this country on the values of opportunity, mobility, security, safety and health and they’re still key to escaping poverty. Without intervention from Washington though, these values are in danger.

Central to this discussion are the decisions by federal leaders to chip away safety net programs that are a lifeline to those in poverty. Employment and job training programs are a key part of that lifeline. Cuts here not only throw values like opportunity and mobility to the wind, they do not make sense. We need these programs now more than ever. More than 23 million Americans are still unemployed and underemployed, and the majority of new jobs created since 2010 do not pay enough to keep families out of poverty — these are the people standing at the edge of the cliff.

 

Resisting efforts to cut safety net programs through budget negotiations must be a priority for leaders who value security and safety. In 2011, more than 46 million Americans lived in poverty. In the President’s home state of Illinois, 15 percent, or more than one in seven people, live in poverty. In 2011, poverty was cut nearly in half thanks to safety net programs like unemployment insurance, housing assistance, and nutrition programs. This safety net kept nine million children, 16.5 million seniors, and 22 million women from falling into poverty. Funding has since been slashed for these programs — these are the people standing at the edge of the cliff.

 

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Medill Reports

 

December 12, 2012

Chicagoans voice their hopes and concerns about Obama’s Affordable Care Act.

 

From Medill Reports:

Through a program launching early next year, more than 700,000 low-income Illinois residents may benefit from more coordinated and efficient healthcare due to a new program, Together4Health.
 
Chicago-based nonprofit organization Heartland Alliance Health, a partner of anti-poverty organization Heartland Alliance, will run the program. Together4Health will coordinate care for adults with disabilities and seniors in Illinois who are currently on Medicaid, and will likely improve medical care for patients with pre-existing conditions, according to Heartland Alliance.

For example, the program will make sure the all the doctors, pharmacists and social workers involved in an individual’s care receive the pertinent medical records to facilitate treatment. 
 
“It’s a new way of approaching health care,” said Colt Coffin, the senior medical case manager at Heartland Alliance Health. He added that the goal of the program is to start working with primary care physicians, hospitals, and health specialists, “to better coordinate care for people, so they can experience those improved long-term health benefits.”

Partners working with Together4Health will be compensated on health outcomes, not services provided.
 
“The idea is, if you can make sure you’re coordinating care for the clients, you’re going to do a better job of keeping them healthy and getting them preventive care,” said Mike Claffey, a spokesman for the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, the organization which selected Heartland Alliance Health to coordinate this new system.

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Huffington Post

 

December 10, 2012

 

 

From Huffington Post:

As President Obama and Congress dig in their heels during the heated negotiations over the fiscal cliff, the public hears about the middle class collectively wringing their hands over potential caps on tax deductions and changes in Medicare eligibility rules. Likewise, the wealthy are well represented, as is their worry over a potential raise in their tax rate. The media largely ignore the poor and the unemployed, however, those most suffering in the economic climate.

 

It is possible President Obama might change that. One interesting component of the president’s hand has come to light. In addition to his proposal to collect $1.6 trillion in new revenues and cut $400 billion in entitlement spending, the president also wants to give parts of his failed 2011 American Jobs Act another go in the form of $50 billion of stimulus. While the details aren’t yet clear as to what would comprise his $50 billion stimulus, there is at least talk of increasing funding for infrastructure and extending unemployment insurance and the payroll tax holiday. Some progressives might also wonder whether the proposed stimulus could contain funding for the most disadvantaged and the long-term unemployed, who have largely been left out of the fiscal cliff discussions. Funding for the Pathways Back to Work program, which focused on this population, was included in the proposed 2011 jobs act. If it were to make a return in a final fiscal cliff deal, it could be a boon to those most in need of economic help.

 

 

 

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Alton Daily News

 

December 7, 2012

 

 

From Alton Daily News:

A new report takes a look at troops returning home to Illinois.  The report by the Heartland Alliance shows troops returning home to Illinois from duty in Iraq and Afghanistan represent a new kind of veteran: they are younger than the majority of veterans in Illinois, there are more female service members than ever before, they face high rates of unemployment, and they suffer unique physical and mental wounds.

Listen to the radio broadcast to learn more.

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