Get Involved!

"If the United States adopted a comprehensive national strategy and programmes based on human rights principles it would be possible to reduce poverty and eradicate extreme poverty…"

- Arjun Sengupta, the United Nation’s Independent Expert on the question of human rights and extreme poverty

Endorse the Campaign | Action Forums | Human Rights Education

Endorse the Campaign

Endorse the campaign and say Yes, I believe that freedom from poverty is a human right. Everyone in Illinois should have the opportunity to put food on their table, a roof over their head and give their kids a chance at a bright future, but that opportunity does not exist for the hundreds of thousands of people in Illinois living in extreme poverty. Freedom from this barrier requires a comprehensive vision and plan that will reduce the number of Illinoisans living in extreme poverty by half in the 2015.

Endorsers embrace the campaign’s core beliefs & principles and automatically part of the From Poverty to Opportunity Campaign Working Group.

Endorse the campaign online or download the endorsement form
and fax or mail it to Doug Schenkelberg

Click here for a list of current organization, congregation, and elected official endorsers.

Click here for a list of current individual endorsers.

Action Forums

Why are you doing these forums?

To eliminate poverty in Illinois, it is critical that those living in poverty play a central in identifying both the barriers they face and what needs to be done to remove those barriers. Their voices need to be documented, and those experiencing poverty must be given the opportunity to engage in and lead the broader effort to make freedom from poverty a reality.

To that end, the From Poverty to Opportunity Action Forums play a central role in engaging those living in poverty and documenting their experiences and ideas. These events provide a formal opportunity for people throughout Illinois to tell their story and become part of a larger human rights movement.

For the Action Forums outside of the Chicago-area, Heartland Alliance is partnering with the Illinois Coalition for Community Service to work with individuals and organization in rural and small metro communities to ensure this process is about their lives and their ideas.

What is the agenda for a forum?

Each forum is being held on a Saturday or a weekday evening.
The forum starts with a look at the state of poverty in Illinois and the local community.
The participants then discuss their experiences and ideas around the causes and solutions to poverty, both in small and large group discussion.
The forum ends with time to discuss poverty as a human rights issue and the From Poverty to Opportunity Campaign.

Will elected officials attend these forums?

Elected officials have attended, sponsored and helped organize forums throughout the state. We will continue to do outreach to elected officials and engage them in future forums and the campaign as a whole.

Where are these forums being held?

Forums are being held throughout the state. For a current list of scheduled forums, click here Each forum covers one or more counties, so that when the series of forums is completed, every county in the state will have a forum in or near it.

What are the next steps?

The stories and ideas that come out of the forum will be used to build a broader movement to recognize freedom from poverty as a basic human right. More specifically, they will be the basis for the creation of a substantive and measurable Poverty Elimination Strategy that will cut the number of Illinoisans living in extreme poverty in half by 2015.

Human Rights Education

Freedom from poverty can only be realized when we understand the role of human rights in poverty elimination. Heartland Alliance welcomes opportunities to talk to groups and/or provide trainings on the topic of human rights and poverty. We are also happy to provide technical assistance to groups interested in incorporating the human rights framework into their anti-poverty work. For more information, contact Doug Schenkelberg.