From Poverty to Opportunity Campaign: Realizing Human Rights in Illinois

The From Poverty to Opportunity Campaign: Realizing Human Rights in Illinois is a grassroots initiative to build both the public and political will and create the substantive, measurable policies to make freedom from poverty a reality in Illinois. With hundreds of individuals, organizations, faith communities, and others from every part of Illinois, the campaign has successfully advocated for the establishment of the Commission on the Elimination of Poverty and is working towards the goal of cutting extreme poverty in half by 2015.

Illinois Asset Building Group

The Illinois Asset Building Group (IABG) is a diverse statewide coalition invested in building the stability and strength of Illinois families and communities through increased asset ownership and asset protection. Made up of community leaders, service providers, researchers, advocates, financial institutions, and business leaders, IABG efforts aim at policy and system change to expand asset-building opportunities in Illinois. Heartland Alliance serves as a founding co-chair of IABG. (http://www.illinoisassetbuilding.org )

National Transitional Jobs Network

Heartland Alliance coordinates the National Transitional Jobs Network (NTJN), a coalition of Transitional Jobs (TJ) programs, policy organizations, and other employment field leaders. TJ is a workforce strategy designed to overcome employment obstacles by using time-limited, wage-paying jobs and combining real work, skill development, and supportive services to transition participants successfully into the labor market. To date, TJ programs exist in over 30 states and are an effective stepping stone to successful labor market entry for individuals with employment barriers. (http://www.transitionaljobs.net)

Regional Roundtable on Homelessness

The Heartland Alliance Mid-America Institute on Poverty coordinates the Regional Roundtable on Homelessness (Regional Roundtable), a forum working to improve strategies for understanding and addressing homelessness throughout northeastern Illinois. Within this forum, leaders of each of the eight homeless Continuum of Care in the six-county Chicago region share the challenges of assessing and planning for the needs of people who are homeless within their communities. Specifically, the Regional Roundtable discusses best practices, funding opportunities, strategies, and undertakes projects to improve the Continuum of Care process within each jurisdiction and across the region.