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Harvey: Educating The Community, Educating Lawmakers
“I’ve got some names for you right here!” Harvey pulled several dog eared pages out of his coat pocket, extended them with a shaky hand and grinned. “I think I got ‘bout every one.”
The pages, full of signatures from residents in his building supporting a motion to raise the Illinois minimum wage, were the result of two weeks of knocking on doors. A retired serviceman and a resident of one of Heartland Alliance’s supportive housing facilities in Uptown, Harvey knows what it means to try to live on pennies a day. And now that he’s gotten back on his feet with some help from Heartland Alliance, he made up his mind to pay it forward, saying “actions speak larger than words, so I’m gonna take action to make things better [for others].”
Twelve years ago, Harvey’s life was very different – his future looked bleak. A sick, homeless, veteran with no one to turn to, he had resigned himself to a future spending his nights under overpasses and his days in empty lots. Heartland Alliance found him under one of those overpasses and placed him into a housing unit in Uptown. Next came health care to get his health under control and support while he navigated the paperwork involved in filing for SSDI benefits.
“Heartland [Alliance] found me. I was lost, you see.” He pauses to wipe his eye and take a sip of his coffee before he smoothes his papers. “I’m going to help them now, and help people like me”
Two weeks ago, Harvey took his tenth trip to offer that help the best way he knew how – he took a trip to Springfield with Heartland Alliance’s Policy & Advocacy Team. He wanted to let legislators know what cuts to social service budgets would do – to let them know that it was only because of the social services Heartland Alliance provides that he had regained his life, his health, and his happiness.
“He caught the bug right away – he was bringing pages of signatures from his community by the second trip. Harvey is a dyed-in-the-wool community organizer” laughed Kim Drew, Policy Associate at Heartland Alliance as she examined the lovingly hand collected signatures. She’ll use them on her next trip to Springfield, this time to advocate for an increase to the Illinois minimum wage. It’s a long, tough battle, but she knows that nothing impacts lawmakers more than hand-written support from their constituents. Harvey will be with her that, too, hand delivering those dog eared pages and helping lawmakers understand how important it is to have help, hope, and support as you stabilize your life.
“Now when I go down [to Springfield] the people in the capitol, they know me by name and they know what I’m about,” he says proudly. “This is how I can make things better, like Heartland Alliance did for me.”
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Heartland Alliance—the leading anti-poverty organization in the Midwest— believes that all of us deserve the opportunity to improve our lives. Each year, we help ensure this opportunity for nearly one million people around the world who are homeless, living in poverty, or seeking safety.
Please consider making a donation today to help others like Harvey.