Huffington Post

November 15, 2011

Read Sid Mohn, President of Heartland Alliance’s latest column.

From Huffington Post:

Last week, another federal appeals court upheld the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, marking the second time a federal appeals court ruled in favor of the law. The case is now scheduled to be heard by the Supreme Court. And while much ado has been made about this law, I can tell you that it means the difference between life and death for millions who are currently sick, but unable to afford care. By upholding this law, we are one step closer to ensuring all Americans, including those in poverty, can become and stay healthy.

In Illinois alone, the new law gives more than 1.7 million uninsured individuals access to affordable health insurance, starting in 2014. Of those, more than 700,000 low income adults will be eligible for Medicaid, including those with chronic illnesses. For some, it will be the first time they will have the security of being able to see a doctor when needed or fill a prescription to keep them healthy without being plunged even further into the depths of poverty.

And while poverty and health may seem like two separate issues, here at Heartland Alliance, Illinois’ largest anti-poverty organization, we understand that they’re inextricably linked. After all, without a job you can’t afford health care, and without health care, many are too sick to get a job. It’s the worst kind of catch 22 — the kind that leaves millions each year in dire straits.

Social service agencies like Heartland Alliance and many more across Illinois are invaluable partners in figuring out how we can shape this new law to create a health care system that meets the needs of everyone, especially those who live in poverty. That’s because a lot of the care we can provide is coordinated and centered on the patient’s situation and needs.

For someone who is both sick and in poverty, physical illness is often only one thing that ails them. They may be homeless, have children they can’t afford to feed, or lack the resources or education it takes to manage a disease. All of these factors can negatively impact the health of the individual while keeping them in poverty.

Addressing the entirety of an individual’s needs is the only way we can ensure all Illinoisans can live a healthy and stable life. Because without the security of a safe place to live, food on the table, and the know-how of managing an illness, those who live in poverty and are sick will remain so.

For too long, the health care discussion was dominated by discussions of costs and a business model that rewarded refusing coverage or care. Now we have the opportunity to undo this and create a system that is affordable and effective for all. Let’s hope the Supreme Court agrees.

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Windy City Times

November 10, 2011

by Ross Forman, Windy City Times 2011-11-09

From Windy City Times:

Donte Smith has gone full circle with Heartland Human Care Services, from needing their help personally to working there and now helping others.

Smith, 25, who is gay and lives in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood, is an HIV prevention worker at the Ravenswood facility.

Ironically, Smith was going to Heartland Services in late-2010 for his own needs, starting with treatment for complications arising from his HIV-positive diagnosis, which he received in April 2009.

“It’s really rewarding to be on the other end. In the past, I have used Heartland Services. Like many Black gay men, I have been homeless,” said Smith, originally from Houston and living in Chicago for the past five years.

“To be the one now providing services, or helping people connect with services [ for their battle with HIV/AIDS ] , that feels really good, like I’m giving back to the community. I love my job; it’s very rewarding.”

One fall day, for instance, he did outreach, walking around Chicago and handing out condoms, talking about safe-sex and HIV.

“I’ve had a lot of people help me, a lot of people take me under their wing. I’m now trying to help others.” Smith said. “I’m at a place today where things are starting to flourish—all from my own determination to change my life and get medical care.”

But Smith’s world hasn’t always been roses. He’s endured plenty of thorns over the past 10 years or so.

Let’s see, he was kicked out of Georgetown University for being a political organizer. He was incarcerated in 2006 for political organizing. He’s battled unemployment, has been homeless many times and, for the past two years, has had to deal with the stigma of being young, gay, Black and HIV-positive.

When Smith first went to Heartland Services in late-2010, he was living in a foreclosed home in Chicago, with medical issues, in need of medical care and yet no funds or insurance to pay for it.

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Huffington Post Chicago

October 25, 2011

Our President, Sid Mohn, is Huffington Post Chicago’s newest contributor. Read his latest post!

From Huffington Post Chicago:

To listen to the current debate in Springfield, it seems that a balanced budget for Illinois means building more casinos and cutting funding for human services. But will that really create a brighter future for us all? Or will it leave those with the least out in the cold?

As it stands, the most vulnerable among us are hanging by a thread. Mental health services, youth programs, health care facilities, food pantries, and job training programs — the services that consistently receive cuts — are supports that more than one in 10 Illinoisans count on to stay afloat. Especially now, with unemployment and health care costs skyrocketing while homes devalue, millions more families find themselves in desperate need of help.

Some argue that we can’t afford to fund these services. I’d argue that we can’t afford not to. When people don’t have access to the help they need, they go without — and they fall behind. Reports show that costs our state hundreds of millions of dollars each year in lost productivity, emergency care, and increased crisis assistance. It’s been proven time and time again, though, that by spending money on human services that keep people from hitting rock bottom, we prevent the need for even more costly help down the road. We can keep people housed, fed, and put on the path to self-sufficiency so that everyone can realize the bright future they deserve. All that’s missing is the will.

Why else, in this economy, where once stable families are finding themselves in desperate need, would the legislature steadily chip away at these vital services? Not only have they cut their investment in human service programs by $4.4 billion, but they are far behind in paying what is owed to the organizations that provide these critical programs.

As president of Heartland Alliance — the largest anti-poverty organization in Illinois — I know this is exactly the wrong approach. I’ve seen firsthand the impact human services can have on someone’s life. Like the father who can now provide for his family because he learned new skills that got him a good-paying job. The mom who got help finding an affordable place to live and now her kids have a safe place to play. The young teen who stayed out of trouble because she had somewhere to go after school.

Having looked these individuals in the eye, I can’t now turn and say that their success isn’t worth the cost. I can’t look at that father, mother, or teen in the eye and say it’s cheaper to let them fall and fail — because it isn’t. Human service programs are not a luxury. They are essential, cost-effective approaches to creating a state where everybody has the opportunity to live up to their full potential, and without them, we’re gambling not just with money, but with peoples’ lives.

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Chicago Sun-Times

October 24, 2011

From Chicago Sun-Times:

Socal social service organizations say they’re struggling to keep pace with requests for help from the rising number of poor people in the face of government funding cuts and a continued weak economy that also has reduced charitable giving.

At Hesed House homeless shelter in Aurora, demand for help has come in waves, said Executive Director Ryan Dowd.

“Since the recession began, we’re probably on our fourth or fifth major wave of new homeless individuals and families,” he said. “This last wave, being the worst yet, hit in August. We set an all-time agency record for most number of people in one night.

“We had every bed in the whole building full. We pushed tables aside to put down more beds. We had people sleeping in chairs and had seven people volunteer to sleep outside.”

As the only homeless shelter in Aurora, he’s worried about the winter months.

“If we reach the point where we say we have maximum capacity, at that point we’re not referring to another shelter. We’re referring to a bridge. The game starts to change because sleeping outside is no longer just a nuisance or an inconvenience, it’s potentially deadly.”

Food pantries say they’re also feeling strained. All nine of the food pantries operated by Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago were severely depleted at the end of August—a first for the organization, said Chief Executive Officer Monsignor Michael Boland.

On a recent weekday at the Catholic Charities food pantry in South Holland, the shelves were sparse with food.

Catholic Charities has responded to the shortage of food and funding by encouraging more people to have food drives and by reducing the days and hours some pantries are open.

The Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry has had to decrease the amount of food it gives out because of a surge in the number of people needing help, said Marilyn Weisner, executive director.

The shelter gets grant funding from the Emergency Food Shelter program, but the federal program’s budget was cut by 40 percent for this fiscal year, she said. Another federal program run through the U.S. Department of Agriculture last August provided 12,000 pounds of food to the pantry.

“This August, we got 6,000,” Weisner said. “We’ve been told that budget was also cut and we can expect to see that kind of decrease ongoing.”

Meanwhile the amount of money brought in through fundraising was down over the last fiscal year, she said.

State funding for homeless shelters was cut by 52 percent for fiscal year 2012 in the Department of Human Services budget, Dowd said, noting the shelter used to get around $135,000 but now gets about $65,000.

“Why homeless shelters got cut by over half in the middle of a recession is a complete mystery to me, but that’s the reality,” he said.

The shelter, a comprehensive homeless resource center, provides case management housing services, job training and employment services, as well as mental health, legal and substance abuse counseling services and help to veterans and children.

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October 17, 2011

Sid Mohn
President, Heartland Alliance

From Huffington Post Chicago

Outside of my office, on the corner of LaSalle and Adams, a disabled man sits with an empty cup asking for change and a little help. He’s there — rain or shine — appealing to the humanity in us all and reminding us that everyone from time to time needs a helping hand.

As recent statistics have shown, he is not alone in needing help. In fact, more than half a million Chicagoans live in poverty — that’s nearly one in four of us who struggle to meet the most basic needs. And one in ten of us are living in extreme poverty — which means for a family of three, living on less than $8,600 a year.

Statistics also show that because of the recession, the number of people living in poverty has never been higher and the need for help never greater. This is a fact that we know all too well at Heartland Alliance. For nearly 125 years we have helped those who are homeless, living in poverty or seeking safety by providing them the opportunity to live a better life.

It’s easy to be overwhelmed by these statistics and to think that nothing can be done to lift people out some of the toughest circumstances imaginable. But I know that is not true. And today — which is the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty — gives me hope. Because I know just a few good tools and opportunities is all it takes to help people rebuild and transform their life.

At Heartland Alliance, we have more than 90 programs — both here in Chicago and around the world — that are working for exactly that, bringing more than a million people out of poverty and onto the path of stability. But those are the numbers. What really matters are the stories of the people who–with a little help–have turned their lives around.

A single mom with three young sons, D’angela spent much of her childhood bouncing around foster care and group homes, at times surviving abuse and neglect. When she left the system at age 21, D’angela was steeped in poverty — unable to support herself and her family, her children were put into temporary custody of family, and D’angela bounced from couch-to-couch, friend-to-friend, always moving around. Her future seemed bleak and the opportunity to live a stable, secure life seemed unattainable.

But with help from Heartland Alliance, D’angela accessed a job placement program and found a job, secured an apartment through a program designed for homeless families, and regained custody of her sons.

Danny Moreno was living on the streets. As a gay teen, he was shunned by his family and kicked out of his home because of his sexual orientation. Just 19 years old, Danny had no where to go — regular shelters for adult populations can be dangerous places for teens where they often encounter physical and sexual abuse.

But with help from Heartland Alliance, Danny not only found a safe place to live, but he learned skills to find a job and save his money so he can afford a place of his own. Today, Danny lives independently in the South Loop and earns enough income to pay rent.

I tell you these stories not because they’re stories of success, I tell you these stories because they’re stories of what’s possible. Over the nearly 125 years that Heartland Alliance has existed, we’ve seen people overcome the longest of odds time and time again and build a real future for themselves.

So this year, as we celebrate the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, even with our struggling economy, I invite you to join me in remembering that poverty is a still a problem, but it’s one we can solve with a few good tools and good opportunities.

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WBEZ Chicago

August 29, 2011

Heartland Housing gives the Viceroy Hotel another chance By Micah Maidenberg

From WBEZ Chicago:

The Viceroy Hotel, which stands at the southern edge of Union Park on Chicago’s Near West Side, wears different chapters of its history on its sleeve.

On the building’s front facade are Art Deco stylings that date to the building’s construction in 1929 and 1930 as one of the city’s “apartment hotels.”

The faded sign promising “new deluxe transient rooms with free adult movies” on the Viceroy’s eastern flank speaks of its past as a lodging place for people seeking a cheap bed.  

Metal guards strapped across its ground-floor bay of windows, meanwhile, testify to the building’s vacancy in recent years.

Rev. George Daniels, senior pastor at First Baptist Congregational Church, located just north of the Viceroy, remembers the hotel before it closed in the early 2000s as a place used by people who had “fell on hard times.”

“It was a wide swing of people. Mostly it was people on the low-income side, people trying to make it day to day,” he said.

Unit prices were relatively inexpensive, Daniels said, ranging from $20 to $40 a night. The figures come easily to him, because his church would sometimes pay for a room for a homeless person at the hotel. But crime stemming out of the building―Daniels recalled nearby homes were burglarized by Viceroy residents―was a problem. “It wasn’t the most pleasant place,” he said.

Daniels said his church wanted to purchase the building in the early 1990s, but the owners declined to sell. In 2005, as the neighborhoods adjacent to the Viceroy were rapidly developing, the city of Chicago paid $5.1 million for the structure. That purchase kept the Viceroy available for a future affordable housing development, according to a city spokeswoman.

That project is now starting to come into focus.

A non-profit developer called Heartland Housing, Inc. and First Baptist are putting some of the last pieces together to transform the building.

The partners plan to use some $23 million to convert the Viceroy into a 89-unit affordable housing building with on-site social services, said Hume An, Heartland Housing’s director of real estate development.

This July a city commission approved two subsidies, both of which the full city council must weigh in on, for the project: a $3.87 million tax increment financing grant and a land write-down worth more than $2.29 million.

In addition to assistance from the city, the Viceroy’s developers have secured low-income and historic property tax credits from Illinois Housing Development Authority and are seeking other grants to complete project financing.

The new units will be 347 square feet in size and include a bathroom and kitchenette. Most will cost $685 per month, but tenants will pay no more than 30 percent of their income toward that amount.

St. Leonard’s Ministries, which provides housing and runs classes for people who have left the state prison system  in facilities located just west of the Viceroy, will lease 17 units in the rehabbed building and run a coffee shop on its first floor. The building will feature a farm, too.

An said the new Viceroy will provide housing for people at risk of homelessness.

In a sense, he said, the former tenants at the Viceroy in its last days are “probably not too far from our target population.”

“The huge difference between the way the Viceroy was run then and the way we’re going to run it is we understand the needs of our participants,” he said. “And we’re going to be providing a full complement of supportive services to allow them to rebuild their lives and to progress.”

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Windy City Times

July 20, 2011

From Windy City Times:

It was sensory overload—as in feasts for the mouth, ears and eyes—as HIV/AIDS agency Vital Bridges Center on Chronic Care hosted its seventh annual Chefs and the City fundraising event July 15 at The Ritz-Carlton Chicago.

Guests enjoyed delicious bites prepared by 30 of Chicago’s most sought-after chefs, including Ryan Pitts, Stephanie Izard, Dale Levitski and Ryan Poli. There was also be a summer fashion show presented by Maria Pinto, creative director at Mark Shale.

There was also a raffle, with tickets going for $100 each ( or three for $250 ) . Prizes included a trip for two to Los Cabos, Mexico with airfare; tickets to the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, Colo.; and gift certificates to 15 restaurants featured at Chefs and the City 2011.

In previous years, the event had been held at venues such as The Peninsula. Asked why the site was moved, Vital Bridges CEO Debbie Hinde told Windy City Times, “The event outgrew The Peninsula; it was getting to the point where people couldn’t move very easily. So we wanted an area that was a little bigger so people could feel comfortable. The Ritz is a wonderful, wonderful facility and they have been so great to work with. We’re lucky.”

Also, Vital Bridges merged with Heartland Alliance July 1. Vital Bridges kept its Edgewater office, but the agency became a division of Heartland Alliance Health and was renamed Vital Bridges Center on Chronic Care. Hinde said that the merger—which she emphasized was accomplished from a strategic instead of a financial standpoint—”is going well. Any change is difficult, right? But I think everyone is working really hard to make those changes almost invisible to the clients. I think it’s going well.”

Heartland Alliance Health Executive Director Karen Batia added, “Things are going swimmingly well. We are learning a great deal from one another. It’s a great opportunity to merge two organizations that are doing wonderful work on behalf of the community.”

View Photos and read more by clicking on “read more” below.

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