Illinois Issues

November 30, 2009

Illinois has embarked upon an ambitious plan to dramatically cut poverty rates in the state. Leading the charge is the Commission on the Elimination of Poverty, a panel created by the General Assembly last year.

From Illinois Issues:

The new millennium has not been kind to many Illinois families who are struggling to make ends meet, pushing almost a quarter million more residents into poverty, researchers reported recently.

About 1 out of 8 Illinoisans — more than 1.5 million total, 526,000 of them children — were living below the poverty line last year, the U.S. Census Bureau reported. The poverty guideline, set by the federal government, was $21,200 for a family of four in 2008.

The poverty rate of 12.2 percent — up from 10.7 percent at the start of the decade — represented about 240,000 more people in poverty, according to analysts with the Heartland Alliance Social IMPACT Research Center.

More disturbing, almost 700,000 people were living in extreme poverty, defined as an annual income of less than half the federal poverty level, or $10,600 for a family of four last year.

Even families well above the poverty line lost ground in the 2000s, the data showed. Median household income in Illinois was $56,235 last year, down almost $4,000 in inflation-adjusted dollars from 2000, a drop of almost 7 percent.

Nor are the hard times limited to only certain areas in Illinois. Using year-to-year changes in key indicators such as high school graduation rates, unemployment rates, teen birth rates and poverty rates, the center placed 70 of the state’s 102 counties on poverty watch or warning lists, from Winnebago on the Wisconsin border to Pulaski and Hardin along the Ohio River.

The current picture might be even darker, the researchers note, given that the census numbers were for 2008, and the economy has continued to slide since then, while unemployment in Illinois this year has risen to quarter-century highs.

“This data really reflects only a small portion of the recession, and we know that the economy got a lot worse since the data was collected,” center researcher Amy Rynell told The Associated Press. “This is an early look at the recession.”

Against this backdrop, Illinois has embarked upon an ambitious plan to dramatically cut poverty rates in the state. Leading the charge is the Commission on the Elimination of Poverty, a 26-member panel created by the General Assembly last year and charged with developing a comprehensive plan to reach the state’s ultimate goal: “that all people be free from poverty.”

Twenty of the commission members are to have experience in poverty-related areas, most as advocates for housing, anti-hunger, medical care, education, mental health services or similar anti-poverty causes. The others are public officials, including four lawmakers.

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Champaign News Gazette

November 19, 2009

Poverty rates for many counties in East Central Illinois were up in 2008, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

From Champaign News Gazette:

CHAMPAIGN – Poverty rates for many counties in East Central Illinois were up in 2008, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Champaign County’s overall poverty rate, which is inflated by the presence of University of Illinois students, was 18.7 percent in 2008. A year earlier, the overall poverty rate was 18.2 percent. In 2000, the county’s rate was 11.7 percent.

An estimated 32,595 Champaign County residents lived at or below the poverty level last year. No other area county had close to that number. McLean County, which also has a state university, reported 17,484 at or below the poverty level. McLean County’s poverty rate, however, was 11.4 percent.

Coles County, also with a state university, had the highest poverty rate in the area – 19.2 percent.

The under-18 poverty rate in Champaign County was 16.8 percent. Several area counties had higher rates in that category.

Carol Elliott, the township supervisor for Cunningham Township (Urbana), said, “I’m not surprised at all” by the higher poverty rate in Champaign County.

“If you look at the schools and the number of kids getting free lunches, you see that it’s pretty high,” Elliott said. “We’re able to see it here. We’re getting more calls now for assistance. There are things we just can’t do, but people call us for help with rent payments or with utilities.”

“These numbers don’t surprise us,” said Scott Olthoff, a financial counselor at Salt & Light, a social services and financial counseling center in Champaign. “Salt & Light has been around since 2004, and every year our numbers have gone up.”

Olthoff said that the number of Champaign County residents living in extreme poverty – defined as living at less than half the poverty line – was 12.2 percent, according to a study by the Heartland Alliance in Chicago.

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Chicago Tribune

October 23, 2009

They left violence-riddled countries like the Republic of Congo, Liberia and Sudan, only to move to neighborhoods in Chicago that were also beset with violence.

From Chicago Tribune:

 They left violence-riddled countries like the Republic of Congo, Liberia and Sudan, only to move to neighborhoods in Chicago that were also beset with violence.

Teliane and Yoann Bakala were caught in the crossfire of bullets in Rogers Park; Prince Kannah was attacked inside the cafeteria of his Edgewater school; Ashal Yai always checks to see if gang violence is brewing on her street in Uptown before setting off on foot.

“It’s a whole new American dream,” said Kannah, 16.

The refugees have contributed to a new documentary film, “A Fairyland of Violence,” that is being shown Saturday in Chicago. In the short film, the youths recall their personal experiences navigating a new, often-scary world where gangs and guns collide with their dreams for a better future. It took the group of teens, which also included an 18-year-old from Sudan, a little more than three months to complete the film. The project was funded by Adobe, the software company, and the Howard Area Computer Club House in Rogers Park.

“They thought when they got to America, it was supposed to be perfect,” said Sarah Poole, an adjustment counselor in the youth program for Interfaith Refugee and Immigration Ministries. “They never thought they would have to worry about getting beaten up.”

Ashal Yai, 15, was born in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan. Hoping to flee the country’s war, which pitted Christians against Muslims, her family fled to Egypt. They later moved to the United States, settling in the Uptown area.

“My mom said we could get a better education” here, Ashal said. What her mother hadn’t predicted was the threat of gang violence, something her daughter says shadows her daily life.

“We see violence everywhere,” she said.

Yoann Bakala was 5 and his sister Teliane 2 when their family fled the Republic of Congo for the Ivory Coast. Seven years later, the family moved to Rogers Park.

For the Bakala children, two episodes altered their view of the city. The first was when a joyful family picnic on the lakefront erupted in violence among a group of young men. “I saw a bat and chain,” said Yoann Bakala, 17. “I was scared. I’d never seen anything like that.”

The second happened while the family was driving near their Rogers Park home. As they waited at a stoplight, they said, a man began shooting his gun at a police officer and bullets whizzed past their vehicle. Teliane, 14, recalled lying flat, in terror, in the back seat.

“They all have seen the impact of violence on their lives. They’ve had to move,” said Lea Tienou, a refugee youth case manager at Heartland Alliance, who works closely with the film-making group. “Then they came here and are exposed to so much more.”

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The Human Face of the Budget Cuts

Progress Illinois

June 4, 2009

At the end of June, Illinois’ current fiscal year will run out. And that’s a frightening prospect for non-profits and other state agencies who still aren’t certain what sort of funding they’ll receive

From Progress Illinois:

At the end of June, Illinois’ current fiscal year will run out. And that’s a frightening prospect for non-profits and other state agencies — schools, early childhood education centers, health clinics, and so on — who still aren’t certain what sort of funding they’ll receive.  They remain in limbo because, even after all the end-of-session hoopla in Springfield this past weekend, there is no budget deal in place. Yesterday, Gov. Pat Quinn released a list of non-mandated human service programs that will bear the brunt of the $7.5 billion worth of cuts lawmakers must make unless they approve new revenue sources during an overtime session later this month. The State Journal-Register highlights some of the devastating cuts outlined in the memo:

Alcohol and substance addiction programs would see 65,000 people lose treatment. Child care services would be cut for 80,000 low-income working mothers. A whopping 463,000 children and teens would lose services such as substance abuse, delinquency and teen pregnancy.

Quinn spokeswoman Katie Ridgway acknowledges that these cuts are just estimates based on the spending plan that went farthest during the spring session — to fund 50 percent of the governor’s budget and hand over the lump sums to agency directors who can figure out how to distribute it. State agency heads are crunching those numbers now, Ridgway tells us. In the meantime, the Ounce of Prevention Fund offers a look into what sort of impact that budget would have on the youth it serves.  Their projections are ugly. Essentially, the Department of Human Services would get $1.6 billion to cover $3.5 billion worth of services including home visits, child care, and children’s mental health; and the State Board of Education would get $500 million to cover $900 million worth of programs, including early childhood programs.

Chicago Democrat Rep. Greg Harris tells us that the best hope for bringing those budgets up is political pressure. “Will we be able to bring them up to 100 percent? I don’t know,” he says. “But we should be able to get them up to 80 or 85 percent. A 50 percent cut, that’s disastrous.”   

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Progress Illinois

May 22, 2009

It is time for our leaders to do the right thing and vote for the revenues needed to maintain the state’s crucial services.

From Progress Illinois:

The clock is ticking down towards the end of the General Assembly session. It is time for our leaders to do the right thing and vote for the revenues needed to maintain the state’s crucial services.

In our troubled economy, the line between those who are poor and those who are not is blurring. Many are struggling, and it is likely that more will join their ranks. The Heartland Alliance recently reported that the number of Illinois residents pushed into poverty could grow by more than 400,000 this year. If the nation’s unemployment rate reaches 9 percent, the poor population could grow by 253,000 in Chicago alone. Is this the time to slash the programs that help people get through tough times, just when more people need them the most?  That is what is on the table in Springfield right now. Illinois leaders are considering responding to the plight of their neighbors by passing a “doomsday” budget that would decimate crucial programs rather than pass the revenue measures to maintain them.

Taxes pay for crucial programs that are in demand during tough times (just as taxes pay for parks, roads, bridges and police). Illinois has not had an adequate tax system to fund these popular and necessary services. We have gotten by with gimmicks and not paying our creditors. Now, with the economy severely troubled, the Illinois tax system has gone from inadequate to disastrous.

We have a deep deficit for 2009-2010 of about $12 billion. We must raise taxes to help remedy this, both to get through the current crisis and to responsibly fund the government in the future. Everyone in Springfield knows this, yet the proposals by Governor Quinn and others to raise the necessary revenue are said to be “stalled.”  This reluctance is not about the details of revenue plans, which can be negotiated as necessary, but about the political calculations around voting to raise revenue. Some legislators are calculating what they can gain by attacking those who vote in favor of a hike; others are finding it difficult to summon the courage.

Without the increased revenues, troubled families dealing with the recession will lose health care and the child care that enables them to get another job.  Transit systems will raise fares or close routes. People with disabilities will be denied or pushed out of their care arrangements. Low-income seniors will go hungry or without lights.  Schools will cut programs. Some kids will suffer abuse or neglect who would otherwise have been spared. Parks will close. Nursing homes and clinics and hospitals will struggle, and some will close.

Nobody wants this. This is no time to run away from a tough vote — or for political opportunism around that vote. Illinois has needed revenue reform for years, and now the recession demands it. The people we elected should face the music and vote for it. If the vote is “yes”, those who voted “no” must be accountable for how they would have cut programs if their vote had prevailed. Illinoisans are mature enough to understand that necessary programs are not free. Illinoisans are generous and community-conscious enough to have supported these programs when they were established, and they will support paying for them. Illinois leaders should rise to the occasion and do the right thing.

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Viceroy Development Offers a Hand Up

Chicago Tribune

May 13, 2009

One-time magnet for dysfunction and crime sees a future as a stepping stone to move up and out

From Chicago Tribune:

What Barbara Almond wants more than anything is a home — somewhere that would give her a sense of security and keep her headed in the right direction.

Almond, 50, who was recently released from Dwight Correctional Center after serving more than three years for selling drugs, believes that a project to convert the former Viceroy Hotel into housing for homeless and low-income people holds out hope for women like her.

“I think that it’s a wonderful plan,” said Almond, who lives at Grace House a halfway house for women run by St. Leonard’s Ministries on the Near West Side. She and other residents said it is a place to gather up the pieces of their lives and move forward.

Having Viceroy as an option “would motivate me to stay on the right track. It would mean I would have a place to go,” Almond said.

The Viceroy, 1519 W. Warren Blvd., a circa-1935 Art Deco building with pastel terra cotta rosettes and stylized geometric motifs on its facade, sits across the street from Union Park. Until two years ago it was a transient hotel in a gentrifying neighborhood — expensive condo buildings, upscale restaurants and at least one day spa operate within blocks of boarded-up buildings and homeless people.

The city’s Community Development Corporation, which bought the building in 2005 as part of a 10-year plan to end homelessness, selected Heartland Housing, Inc., and the nearby First Baptist Congregational Church to develop the site, which will get an $18 million to $20 million face-lift over the next two years.

The facade of the architecturally significant eight-story building will be preserved while the interior will undergo a gut rehab to carve out 90 single-resident occupancy apartments, said Andrew Geer, executive director of Heartland Housing. Each unit will have a full kitchen, private bathroom and living space. A floor of the building will be reserved for the women of Grace House, with the remaining units to be rented to homeless and low-income people.

Plans for the building also include a cafe operated by graduates of the St. Leonard’s food services program and offices for case managers and other social services for the residents. The rehab incorporates such environmentally friendly elements as a green roof, rain garden, native landscaping and permeable pavers.

When low-income housing is attractive and thoughtfully designed, residents feel like they have more of a stake in the building and are more motivated to improve their lives, Geer said.

Bob Dougherty, executive director of St. Leonard’s, which helps former convicts lead productive lives, sees a finished Viceroy as “a respectful space” that will give the residents dignity and help close the circle of need.

“The whole philosophy behind this is the more we put in to help them remain stable, the better their lives will be,” Dougherty said. Just 20 percent of participants of St. Leonard’s programs return to prison versus 50 percent of the general ex-convict population in Illinois, he said.

Tenants will have leases and pay rent. About six months before the redevelopment is completed, Heartland and First Baptist will take applications for apartments, getting out the word through local homeless shelters, social service agencies, churches and the alderman’s office, Geer said.

There are long waiting lists for such housing, Geer said, leading him to expect four to five applicants for each unit

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Numbers Show Improvement, but Poverty Still Growing Here

Galesburg Register-Mail

May 5, 2009

Despite slight improvements in graduation and teen pregnancy rates, poverty continues to grow here.That mixed bag was the prognosis for Knox County in The Heartland Alliance’s annual poverty report, released last week.

From Galesburg Register-Mail:

Despite slight improvements in graduation and teen pregnancy rates, poverty continues to grow here.

That mixed bag was the prognosis for Knox County in The Heartland Alliance’s annual poverty report, released last week. The improvements were enough to bump Knox County on to the watch list, after three consecutive years on a warning list, even though the poverty rate increased by 2 percentage points to 17.6 percent over the previous year’s data.

The improvements in the graduation and teen pregnancy rates were slight, but the upward trend is encouraging. That Galesburg District 205 has invested in an alternative school to address graduation rates and the Knox County Health Department has plans to address teen pregnancy lends hope that these areas will continue to improve.

And they still need to improve — dramatically. Knox County’s rates in both areas still are worse than the state average. According to the report, more than a quarter of the people under 18 in Knox County are living in poverty. In Galesburg public schools, more than half of the students qualify for free or reduced lunches. There is a long road ahead to break the cycle of generational poverty here.

We don’t mean to diminish the importance of the improvements in graduation and teen pregnancy rates, but heavy doses of honesty and reality are needed to adequately address the poverty situation. It’s likely poverty actually is worse here — and throughout the state — than this year’s report indicates, since the available data is not current enough to reflect the full impact of the recession.

By Galesburg Mayor Sal Garza’s estimation, the current unemployment rate, which has been above 9 percent locally since February, would push Knox County back on the warning list.

Likewise, The Heartland Alliance estimates that more than 400,000 Illinoisans have fallen into poverty since the recession began in 2007, an increase of 27 percent. The Illinois Department of Human Services is reporting that 672,000 families used food stamps in March, an increase of 14 percent since the end of 2007. Those are tough figures to swallow here, where factory closures already had us reeling.

Despite the numbers, Team Knox County, a task force formed to address poverty and chaired by Garza, found the community was in a state of “denial or resistance” about the situation. That needs to change. Garza, in his role as mayor and chairman, is in a position to keep the discussion going and we hope this remains one of his priorities. There is no simple solution to poverty, but turning a blind eye is not going to help.

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Peoria Journal-Star

April 30, 2009

The 2009 Report on Illinois Poverty released Thursday reveals signs of increasing poverty throughout the state.

From Peoria Journal-Star:

It’s not bad luck that’s keeping this Peoria resident from the work force. He is a product of his environment – of an expanding number of Americans pushed into poverty as a result of the recession.

The former Caterpillar Inc. 6 Sigma electrical engineer, who asked that his name not be used, lost his job about four months ago. He has no retirement. He’s exhausted his savings. The Internet technology specialist applied for between five and 10 jobs that match his skill set daily throughout the United States to no avail.

An income tax refund helped make most of his bills current. But he is behind on his mortgage payment. And if his situation doesn’t change in the next 30 to 60 days, he may lose his house and everything else.

“On the way to Caterpillar each morning, probably since September when I was aware of the economic downturn, I would pray that those people who had lost their jobs would find sustenance somehow. I also prayed that I didn’t want to be one of those people,” he said.

The story is not uncommon.

In February, there was one job opening available for every five Midwesterners. The number of workers in part-time jobs because they cannot find full-time work has nearly doubled nationally since mid-2006, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

The 2009 report on Illinois Poverty released Thursday reveals signs of increasing poverty throughout the state. Poverty worsened in more than half of the state’s 102 counties even before the recession began in December 2007.

The most current poverty data from 2007, therefore, does not capture economic realities, the report’s authors wrote.

As many as 405,000 more Illinoisans are likely to have been pushed into poverty as a result of the recession.

“We’re seeing a whole new segment of people who have never been in poverty before or needed assistance, and now they’re popping up in food pantries and shelters and places that they’ve never had to go before for help,” said Amy Terpstra, a senior research analyst at Heartland Alliance Mid-America Institute on Poverty, a not-for-profit Chicago-based organization that produces the annual poverty report.

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