Halving Extreme Poverty by 2015: Poverty Commission Releases its Plan on December 9

In 2009, over 1.6 million people in Illinois were living in poverty, and close to 760,000 of these individuals were living in extreme poverty.Illinoisans living in extreme poverty face serious barriers to opportunity – they are far more likely than others to go hungry, to lack health care, lack access to education and to lack access to decent housing.

On December 9, the Commission on the Elimination of Poverty will release a plan to cut extreme poverty in Illinois in half by 2015. Heartland Alliance's From Poverty to Opportunity Campaign developed the commission in an effort to fulfill Illinois' constitutional commitment to eliminate poverty in our state, the Commission's 2015 Plan offers a comprehensive strategy to significantly reduce extreme poverty in Illinois.The recommendations made in the Commission's 2015 plan have been chosen carefully to reflect the needs and concerns of Illinois' most vulnerable citizens.Through a series of public hearings held across the state, individuals living in poverty in Illinois identified their most pressing needs, and the Commission on the Elimination of Poverty shaped these first-hand experiences and insights into concrete, measurable policy recommendations.

The recommendations that appear in the Commission's 2015 plan focus on improving income supports and creating new job opportunities and supports that will allow individuals living in extreme poverty to move towards stability and opportunity. By providing enhanced supports and creating the infrastructure necessary for individuals to become self-sufficient, the Commission's plan will create new pathways to opportunity for Illinois' most vulnerable citizens. Follow the release of the Commission's 2015 plan and find out how you can help encourage Illinois lawmakers to adopt the plan at the From Poverty to Opportunity blog.