There are over 670,000 people in Illinois living in extreme poverty, which for a family of four is less than $30 a day to pay for food, shelter, medical care, clothing, and all the necessities of life.

World Refugee Day Chicago will be held at the Old Town School of Folk Music on June 20th with performances by eight artists who hail from Burundi to the Caribbean, with a chance to learn more about Chicago’s refugee population—including Heartland’s many programs that help refugee youth.

Heartland Alliance’s new Lincoln Square Health Center offers the community’s diverse population a wide range of affordable health care, including midwife and pediatric services.

June is Pride month, when we celebrate equal rights for the LGBT community around the world!

Updates from Springfield

A community-based alternative to incarceration for women helps families stay together, find permanent housing, secure transitional jobs, and rebuild their lives.

A new beginning in permanent housing

Heartland Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights recently produced needs assessment reports on health care for seniors in Rogers Park and Albany Park.

Heartland Alliance’s From Poverty to Opportunity Campaign has been profiled in a new report on successful collaborations to reduce poverty.

Illinois has one of the most regressive tax systems in the country – meaning that those with the least ability to pay end up paying more than their fair share of taxes. For families with low-incomes, this creates a challenging and often impossible balancing act to pay for basic needs, such as food, housing, and health care.

Heartland Alliance statement of support for the American Civic Association of Binghamton, NY

“Lauren” a mother in her mid-30s and a recent participant in Heartland’s financial literacy training class, lists going back to college as one of her five year goals. Her story is a familiar one to many in the course: she works full-time in an administrative office, earning just enough to cover rent and expenses for herself and teenage son, but she has nothing left over.

Doug Schenkelberg, associate director of policy and advocacy, recently discussed the changing face of poverty in Illinois on the “City Voices” radio program.

Affordable housing with on-site services can reduce the use of expensive public services, according to a new report.

Current priorities in Springfield

Supporters made a special trip, traveling to the Great Lakes region of Africa to visit some of Heartland Alliance’s international programs

Protecting the human right to housing in our research and policy work

Students at Roosevelt High School now have improved access to affordable dental care.

Providing comprehensive and affordable health care

Financial education programs that share a common goal: increasing the assets of these families and individuals through financial literacy training, matched savings accounts, and escrow funds.

Immediate and effective employment strategies to help people get and keep jobs are needed.

Jim Grusecki and his wife Brenda have a passion for supportive housing, which connects supportive services such as employment resources and counseling to affordable or subsidized housing.

As a result of Heartland Alliance’s ground-breaking From Poverty to Opportunity Campaign: Realizing Human Rights in Illinois, the State of Illinois and several organizations partnered with Heartland Alliance to hold “Opportunities for Change: Taking Action to End Extreme Poverty in Illinois” on December 9-10 in Evanston, Illinois.

A personal story from WomanCraft

Participants learn an ancient art and modern job skills

Volunteers craft handmande quilts to benefit the children of Heartland Alliance

Theater group helps participants build real-life skills

Helping schoolteachers address the mental health needs of their young students, especially those who have been traumatized by the war.

Poverty, human services, and revenue reform take center stage in Springfield.

Heartland Alliance is the new owner of Hollywood House, an apartment building for independent seniors at Hollywood Avenue and Sheridan Road on the north side of Chicago.

The much-maligned “ugly holiday sweater” brought warmth to Heartland Alliance’s Adopt-a-Family program, thanks to a creative donor and her friends.

When Jaya Mae Gregory’s beloved uncle was diagnosed with cancer, she made a quilt to comfort him.

A great gift-giving alternative that recaptures the true spirit of the holidays in a meaningful way.

Heartland Alliance’s Healthcare for the Homeless program recently helped several homeless patients register to vote.

through a partnership with the From Poverty to Opportunity Campaign.

Poverty is widespread and will touch the majority of Americans at some point during their lifetimes. Download a review of the literature.

Joseph Sewedo Akoro, the director of The Independent Project for Equal Rights (TIP), completed a human rights fellowship in Heartland Alliance’s offices this past summer.

In spite of a difficult political and budgetary environment, Heartland Alliance succeeded in getting two important pieces of legislation passed during the 2008 legislative session with nearunanimous approval from both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The Summer Youth Program gives young refugees a chance to practice their English, discover more about their new city, and have some fun.

Musician Chris Connelly has spent the past two decades playing with many of the groundbreaking bands in punk and industrial music, including Ministry.

The favorite visitor of many of the residents of the Antonia Community Support Residential program doesn’t ever judge them.

The theme for World Refugee Day this year in Chicago was protection for those who have been left behind—the more than 8 million men, women and children who have been living in refugee camps for five years or more.

Heartland Alliance is participating in a pilot program with the Chicago Police Department to train 1,000 police officers on how to better respond to calls on people experiencing a mental health crisis.

The emphasis throughout Heartland Alliance’s programs is on serving and creating opportunities for people who have no other place to go, those whose circumstances leave them beyond the reach of typical social service programs. With services designed to be comprehensive, respectful, and effective, Heartland Alliance provides a chance for a safer and better life for people for whom society has no other answers.

Safety net programs are a critical public benefit for individuals trying to escape poverty. But many of these programs are in need of significant reform to better help those trying to move from crisis to stability. Heartland Alliance’s daily interactions with people participating in our programs has provided a first-hand view of how the safety net should be improved.

As Iraq plunged into deeper civil turmoil after 2002, the need for medical and mental health care grew exponentially. Recognizing that we could offer a unique skill set that might help Iraqis begin a process of healing, Heartland Alliance established a presence in Iraq in 2004.

Benton Harbor needed education and job placement programs for its many residents without adequate skills; Michigan Works!,the state of Michigan’s workforce development organization, identified Heartland Alliance as the right partner to bring effective programs and solutions to Benton Harbor and its residents.

Heartland Alliance's Street to Home program is based on a successful model implemented in New York City that moves people who are homeless out of shelters and instead endeavors to find them permanent, stable housing with public benefits and support services.

For the men and women filling the waiting room of the Heartland Community Health Center (HCHC) on Lawrence Avenue, the facility represents one of the few places in Chicago where they can receive medical care and be treated with dignity.

Heartland Alliance's From Poverty to Opportunity Campaign: Realizing Human Rights in Illinois seeks to reduce extreme poverty in Illinois by 50 percent by 2015.

All over the world, International Human Rights Day is recognized today, Dec. 10. For many of us, the mention of human rights evokes powerful images, like the tragic loss of life in Sudan, or the brutal crackdown on Burmese monks. For others, it draws out deep cynicism about governments - our own and others.

Heartland Alliance’s Transitional Jobs program, the largest in the Chicago metropolitan area, offers an innovative employment-readiness and job placement approach for low-skilled people who have obstacles entering the workplace.

Heartland Alliance established FBC in 1993 to assist families thrust into homelessness, helping them obtain and maintain safe housing. Since FBC’s launch, more than 500 families have moved from homelessness to stable housing.

Heartland Alliance, which has successfully resettled other refugee groups, was selected to aid the resettlement of about 60 Burundian families starting in 2007.

Pathways Home is an outreach facility for the city’s most desperate of homeless populations — people with mental illness who also have a substance use issue, or co-occurring disorders.

Unlike many other affordable housing developers, Heartland Alliance addresses housing on multiple levels, going beyond simply the bricks and mortar.