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Niani Scott anticipates heading back to school each fall. Admitted to a dual degree program, she now studies journalism and political science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Her love of writing sparked during high school, when Niani won awards for writing “poetry focused on social injustice.”

And it was at high school that she was personally impacted by injustice.

The summer before starting at Plainfield East, Niani and her mother became homeless. A friend who lived nearby let them move in, doubling-up to avoid a shelter. Continue reading Niani fought for the education she deserves

By Niya Kelly, State Legislative Director

Despite the General Assembly ending a record-setting two-year state budget impasse, Gov. Bruce Rauner has proposed mid-year cutbacks to vital human services, including homeless and housing service funding.

The governor has authority to effect FY18 cutbacks in Illinois without further legislative approval.

Homeless and housing line items are funded through several streams, including the General Revenue Fund and funds dedicated to homeless and housing services. The governor proposed a 5% cut across the board to General Revenue. If enacted by the governor, the proposed cutbacks would impact FY18 state contracts already signed with providers.

Proposed cutbacks include:

• $227,000 to Homeless Youth, a 4% cutback to a $5.5 million budget
• $51,000 to Homeless Prevention, cutting 1% from a $4.9 million budget
• $671,000 to Supportive and Transitional Housing, cutting 2% from total funding of $30 million

To put a face to the proposed cuts, the House Human Services – Appropriations Committee met Nov. 1 to hear from service providers and people receiving services.

Imploring Rauner to reconsider mid-year cuts, Connections for the Homeless was among those that testified. The Evanston provider is active in the State Network at the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless.

“Any cut of any size impacts those most in need,” said Sue Loellbach, Connections’ Manager of Advocacy. “Our organization has cut everywhere we can throughout the budget impasse.”

Connections for the Homeless provides a variety of services, including homeless prevention grants to households threatened with eviction and foreclosure. It is easier and cost-effective to help a family stay housed rather than attempting to rehouse them once they’ve become homeless.

A family that becomes homeless needs emergency shelter and supportive services. The family, especially the children, experiences the trauma of losing their home. Securing new housing later becomes more difficult with an eviction or foreclosure on a family’s credit history.

Homeless and housing services suffered greatly when the budget impasse dragged on. Service providers and their clients not only deserve their funding but also the stability of knowing that what they were promised in their signed contracts is the funding they will receive.

Chicago Coalition for the Homeless staff members will be presenters when the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth (NAEHCY) hosts its national conference in Chicago later this month.

Called “Together in the Heartland,” the conference will train hundreds of youth service providers, educators, and advocates to work more effectively with children and teens experiencing homelessness. The conference runs Sunday, Oct. 29 through Tuesday, Oct. 31 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago.

Associate Law Project Director Beth Malik will deliver the conference’s opening remarks on Sunday at 8:10 a.m. In her 10 years leading CCH’s Youth Futures mobile legal aid clinic, Ms. Malik has represented thousands of homeless Chicago  youth with civil legal needs, including access to schools and shelter.

– Cydney Salvador, Media Intern

This week, Chicago Coalition for the Homeless (CCH) welcomed two Hungarian organizing fellows. Alexandra Szarka and Fanni Aradi will spend four weeks training with CCH organizers and community leaders.

Sponsored by the Great Lakes Consortium (GLC) for International Training and Development, the organizing exchange trades community organizers from the U.S. and Central Europe each year.

Through the program, Senior Community Organizer Rachel Ramirez offered trainings last month in Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia. Senior Community Organizer  Jim Picchetti will travel to Hungary and Slovakia to offer trainings in February. CCH has sent organizers abroad for five trainings and hosted 11 interns through the GLC program.

Fanni has volunteered at “City is for All” for two years as an advocate for housing rights for and alongside homeless people. For the past year, Fanni has studied sociology at the University of Pecs.

She began her activism at age 15, participating in her town’s Occupy Movement, but has been an advocate from a young age because of her activist mother. Since then, Fanni’s activism has primarily been on anti-governmental demonstrations and protests. Over the years, Fanni has participated in volunteer training sessions on community development and organizing, as well as “green” activism.

Alexandra also has worked with City is for All for two years,  serving as a social worker for disadvantaged and minority groups. She is leading a project to increase a number of public restrooms in Budapest to aid homeless people, in addition to her work at a non-governmental organization (NGO), Kretakor Foundation.

Alexandra works at a second NGO, “Equal Opportunities in the Schoolbench,” to create afterschool programs for underprivileged students. Previously, she mentored children at a child welfare center in Budapest and volunteered at a juvenile center.

On Monday and Tuesday, CCH organizers helped train 18 Central European program participants. After training, participants departed for assignments with organizing groups in other U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, New Orleans, Boston, and Charleston.

For the program’s duration, Fanni and Alexandra will train with Jim through CCH’s Statewide Network.

– Cydney Salvador, Media Intern

A new state law to provide free birth certificates for people experiencing homelessness is another example of “access to records” advocacy by the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless.

A similar measure enacted by the Cook County Board covers homeless people as well as residents of domestic violence shelters and people released from incarceration within the previous 90 days. The county ordinance was effective upon adoption in April. The statewide measure will take effect January 1, 2018.

Access to one’s birth certificate is a key issue for many who are homeless, particularly unaccompanied youth living on their own.   Continue reading Free birth records for people experiencing homelessness, under new state law advocated by CCH

Returning from her travels this month in Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, Senior Community Organizer Rachel Ramirez shares her insights and experiences during an international exchange program for organizers. 

She writes:

In Hungary, community organizers face a populist political climate in which their motives are questioned by a government suspicious of foreign influence and funding, including and especially that of George Soros, a Hungarian-American billionaire and philanthropist. Even after winning several local issues related to bus transportation, one local organizer related that he was questioned by local community members about whether his organization was funded by Soros and other international donors. They had heard about such influence on the government-controlled media. With true organizer bravado and political sense, he reported to have responded, “Yes we receive international funding. Does the bus now stop in front of your house?” It did, thanks to his organizing efforts with the people of that community.  Continue reading Rachel Ramirez writes on her organizing training in Central Europe

With the Graham-Cassidy repeal bill moving fast, we need your help to stop this new effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act. If an Obamacare repeal bill passes with a simple majority in the U.S. Senate next week, it is expected to sail through the GOP-led U.S. House.

Millions would lose health insurance coverage under Graham-Cassidy, a bill many are calling the most harmful repeal measure yet. Homeless and low-income adults would immediately lose coverage in Medicaid expansion states, including Illinois. It would eliminate insurance subsidies paid to moderate-income workers who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid. Over time, families and children could also lose coverage. Illinois is projected to lose $8 billion in federal Medicaid funding by 2026, $153 billion by 2036.  Continue reading Action Alert: Tell Gov. Rauner to oppose the latest ACA repeal bill