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Registration closes Nov. 10, but some slots are still available to attend the Law Project’s Thursday MCLE training for attorneys, “Low-Income Client Interviewing: Techniques and Best Practices.”

One hour of professional responsibility MCLE credit will be provided. Training is provided free of charge.

The training will be Thursday, Nov. 12, 4:30 p.m. t0 6:30 p.m., at the Chicago office of Foley & Lardner LLP, 321 N. Clark Street.

The one-hour presentation will provide practical information and tips on working with low-income clients, including developing active listening skills and understanding implicit bias. It is a great training for attorneys interested in pro bono work.

A short cocktail reception will immediately follow. Attorneys interested in attending should RSVP to Ali Heinen by Tuesday, Nov. 10

Why didn’t the skeleton go to the party?

Because he had no body to go with!

Thanks to your support, the Associate Board of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless hosted another great Halloween night fundraiser at aliveOne, 2683 N. Halsted.

Tax-deductible tips to our nine bartenders support CCH’s work, including virtual tip jars found HERE.

Special thanks to our event sponsor – Domu.com, the apartment-listing website – for generous support of this and our Trivia Night on Dec. 3.

With more than 200 donors, sponsorship by Domu.com, and a $500 gift from aliveOne, the Associate Board earned $8,901. Thank you all!

 

By Eithne McMenamin, Associate Policy Director

Chicago Ald. George Cardenas (12th Ward) has introduced an ordinance to amend the city’s Residential Landlord Tenant Ordinance (RLTO). The Cardenas amendment would weaken protections for tenants by targeting low-income tenants of Single-Room Occupancy (SRO) hotels.

CCH is strongly opposed to the Cardenas amendment. Joining us to advocate against its adoption are the Lawyers Committee for Better Housing, Metropolitan Tenants Organization, ONE Northside, and Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law.

Under current city law, tenants of SROs are treated the same as tenants of any other rental property. They are protected by the RLTO from the time their tenancy begins.

Under the Cardenas amendment, SRO tenants would not be covered by the RLTO until they have been a tenant for 32 days or more, and they must be a tenant who pays a monthly rent.  Continue reading Fighting a Chicago proposal to exclude SRO residents from tenant rights protections

Chicago Coalition for the Homeless (CCH) is hosting two young professionals from Bulgaria and Slovakia, part of a six-week community organizing exchange between Central Europe and the U.S.

This week CCH welcomed attorney Antoaneta Bozhikova from Bulgaria, and Zuzana Balazova, a Ph.D student and school social worker from Slovakia.

The Great Lakes Consortium (GLC) for International Training and Development manages the organizers’ exchange, a program sponsored by the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. CCH has hosted 10 Central European organizers through the program since 2012.  Continue reading CCH to train organizing fellows from Bulgaria and Slovakia

By Allegra Codamon, Summer Media Intern

Most are back at school or on to new jobs, but the 13 interns who worked at CCH this summer say they learned much while assisting the public policy, organizing, legal and development staffs.

They included Ryan Martin, a  junior majoring in theater and history at Northwestern University, and Nat Schwartz, a University of Wisconsin history graduate. Both interned with the Speakers Bureau. One of their assignments was to administer surveys to families with children enrolled in Chicago Public Schools (CPS), gathering data for a soon-to-launch campaign to secure more housing and better school services for homeless families.  Continue reading Interns: Learning about homelessness while helping CCH

State Budget Crisis is Endangering Safety of Homeless Youth

Advocates call for the governor to choose revenue instead of endangering youth

In a protest organized by the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, about 130 homeless youths, service providers, and advocates rallied outside the Thompson Center Wednesday morning.

We called on Gov. Bruce Rauner to work with the General Assembly to end the budget stalemate and resume funding vital human services, including shelters for homeless youth across Illinois.

It has been more than 80 days since services for homeless youth received any state funding. CCH helped conduct a new survey that shows 77% of homeless youth providers in Illinois have already reduced or eliminated services, or will be forced to make those cutbacks, if the budget impasse continues.  Continue reading CCH rally tells state leaders: Resume funding homeless youth programs

By Jonathan Holmes, Policy Specialist

Following Gov. Bruce Rauner’s amendatory veto of House Bill 494, another version of the jobs access bill will be introduced this fall. Like the original bill, the measure would remove lifetime bans to employment within Illinois schools for people with a non-violent record.

Rauner expressed full support for the substance of HB 494, but his August 14 veto claimed a technical concern with its language. Though rarely used before this year, state law allows the governor to place an amendatory veto by suggesting technical or substantive changes as a prerequisite for signing a bill into law.  Continue reading Reentry advocates will resume push to enact a school jobs access bill