A privileged upbringing in one of Chicago's wealthier suburbs couldn't keep Meg — who started using cocaine at age 16 — safe from the problems of drug use that would rule much of her adult life. Battling mental health challenges, including bipolar disorder, from an early age, Meg struggled with bulimia and anorexia and turned to drugs as a way to make herself feel good, even if, as she says, only for "fifteen and a half seconds."
Meg has experienced sporadic homelessness over the past decade and today, in her mid-40s, she still struggles with occasional drug use. But, she says, the support she receives from Heartland Alliance, both permanent housing and mental health and addictions treatment, is helping her get to a point where "every day, drugs become less desirable."
To help care for Meg's physical and emotional needs, a nurse practitioner from Heartland Alliance visits weekly to ensure she gets adequate nutrition and support while she battles her eating disorders. A psychiatrist and therapist help her with mental health issues, including food phobias and healing from domestic violence. Case managers oversee her care and help her apply for the government support and medical care for which she is eligible due to her disabilities.
But, Meg says, she gets more than services from the people who work for Heartland Alliance. She gets a sense of belonging and comfort she hasn't known most of her adult life.
"I know now that I am not alone in this crazy world," says Meg.
A 45-year-old mother of eight, Jacquelyn was tired of being considered low-income and took the initiative to go back to school and get her degree. In one year, she obtained her associate's degree and quickly found a job in her field.
Once she reaches her education goals and earns her bachelor's degree, Jacquelyn has her sights set on moving her family out of public housing in Chicago and into their own home.
But she's not striving for this goal on her own. A Heartland Alliance financial education program is helping her build savings and financial assets.
Under public housing rules in Chicago, tenants pay 30 percent of their income for rent. So, when Jacquelyn started working part-time and making money, her rent increased significantly.
Under Heartland Alliance's program, most of Jacquelyn's rent increase is now deposited into an escrow account that will be returned to her after five years, provided that she follows the rules of the program, like setting long- and short-term goals and attending 12 hours of courses that teach basic banking, savings, credit, and other money management concepts.
When she graduates from the program, the escrowed money is returned to her for use in achieving a financial goal — in Jacquelyn's case, buying a house she and her kids can truly call home.
After 12 years in a refugee camp in the Ivory Coast, escaping Liberia's brutal civil war, Prince and his family arrived in Chicago. Heartland Alliance found the family an apartment and helped ease the transition to the United States with job search assistance, classes in English for the workplace setting, and guidance with enrolling the kids in public school.
Prince joined a soccer league for refugee youth and began taking an afterschool course through Heartland Alliance that provides tutoring, life skills, and addiction prevention education. With scarce opportunities for formal schooling while in the refugee camp, it took Prince about half a year to catch up, especially with English. Now an 8th grader, Prince is a solid student; an avid reader, he's in the book club at school.
Impressed with Prince's hard work and his attitude in the afterschool program, Heartland Alliance's staff asked him to join the organization's Youth Leadership Network, which promotes leadership skills among teenaged refugees. Participating in the Youth Leadership Network gives Prince a chance to learn how to acclimate to the United States without losing his cultural identity.
He says the program has helped him with decision-making—like avoiding fights—and given him new perspective on being a refugee and a leader. Someday, Prince hopes to be a voice in Chicago for refugees and immigrants from West Africa, promoting better policies for families who are beginning a new life in a new world. He's already well on his way.
Renting an apartment. Sticking to a budget. Working a part-time job. These may seem like simple things, but to Vincent they are signs of a stable, healthy life he never imagined he'd be living.
For years, Vincent was chronically homeless, living on the streets in Chicago. For solace, he turned to alcohol, then heroin. As Vincent describes it, "I had low self-esteem. I had no self worth. I didn't have anything to live for."
After an accidental overdose left him near death, Vincent enrolled in a substance-abuse program that connected him to Heartland Alliance. At Heartland Alliance, he participated in a program that moves people experiencing homelessness from area shelters to permanent housing, promoting self-sufficiency.
Through the program, Vincent signed a lease for an apartment, paying 30 percent of the rent himself while the rest was paid for by Heartland Alliance. The year-long program provided furniture and helped Vincent connect to the community. He went to biweekly recovery group meetings and was active in the life-skills courses offered, everything from housekeeping to identifying problems and achieving outcomes. Today, a graduate of the Heartland Alliance program, Vincent pays the full market-value rent on his apartment with income from disability checks and a job doing maintenance and janitorial work for the substance abuse program where he first got help.
"Sometimes I come home and I just want to cry because, this is mine," he says with genuine appreciation. "I never thought that I would be doing this."
When Andrea's husband, a victim of human rights violations, was kidnapped by Guatemalan government soldiers, Andrea could not find information about his whereabouts and began to fear for her own life. So she left her two young sons with her mother and fled to Chicago. Through a church, she found her way to the Heartland Alliance Marjorie Kovler Center, which offers sanctuary and help— medical, mental health, and other services—for survivors of political torture.
Andrea struggled with depression and guilt when she reunited with her sons three years later and discovered how psychologically damaged they had been by the experiences in Guatemala. Through Heartland Alliance she was able to attend therapy sessions and get art therapy for her sons, which she says was a wonderful help.
In addition, Andrea received legal assistance from Heartland Alliance, winning political asylum and securing important social services. And, like many other survivors, she found friends through activities sponsored by Heartland Alliance that are designed to foster community, such as cooking and sharing food and working at an organic farm.
As she gained stability and self-esteem, Andrea began to feel empowered and was able to open a case in the Guatemalan court system. Although she knows she and her sons will never see her husband again, she will do whatever it takes to clear his name. The case also is very important to Andrea because of the more than 45,000 people who have disappeared in her country, victims of torture and other human rights abuses.
"I have many friends, many widows and orphans who cannot make this happen," Andrea says. But with the support from Heartland Alliance, Andrea feels she can make a contribution by achieving a small measure of justice for all of them.
Bringing hope and healing to men, women, and children in the most dire
circumstances is more than a mission at Heartland Alliance; it’s something
we work at tirelessly every day. Our programs and services, which span the
gamut from trauma recovery and legal assistance to job training and affordable
housing, succeed in bringing comfort to the suffering, security to the
displaced, and opportunity to the disenfranchised. Our journey is not easy,
and it’s not a road we can walk alone. We need your help. Sid L. Mohn
President, Heartland Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights
Ron Magers News Anchor
"I’ve been supporting Heartland Alliance for more than 20 years. Its
impact has been life-changing and life-saving. I hope you’ll join me
in supporting this important work."
It’s a great way to instill a caring heart and lifelong giving attitude.
A privileged upbringing in one of Chicago's wealthier suburbs couldn't keep Meg — who started using cocaine at age 16 — safe from the problems of drug use that would rule much of her adult life. Battling mental health challenges, including bipolar disorder, from an early age, Meg struggled with bulimia and anorexia and turned to drugs as a way to make herself feel good, even if, as she says, only for "fifteen and a half seconds." 
After 12 years in a refugee camp in the Ivory Coast, escaping Liberia's brutal civil war, Prince and his family arrived in Chicago. Heartland Alliance found the family an apartment and helped ease the transition to the United States with job search assistance, classes in English for the workplace setting, and guidance with enrolling the kids in public school. 
Renting an apartment. Sticking to a budget. Working a part-time job. These may seem like simple things, but to Vincent they are signs of a stable, healthy life he never imagined he'd be living. 
When Andrea's husband, a victim of human rights violations, was kidnapped by Guatemalan government soldiers, Andrea could not find information about his whereabouts and began to fear for her own life. So she left her two young sons with her mother and fled to Chicago. Through a church, she found her way to the Heartland Alliance Marjorie Kovler Center, which offers sanctuary and help— medical, mental health, and other services—for survivors of political torture. 
It’s a great way to instill a caring heart and lifelong giving attitude.
