Senator John Edwards is chairing a campaign to cut poverty in half in the US over the next decade in coordination with the Coalition on Human Needs, The Center for American Progress Action Fund, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and Association of Community Organization for Reform Now. Half in Ten will seek federal and state solutions to cut poverty in half within ten years. Read more about the campaign at: http://www.halfinten.org/index.html and sign up to learn more.
Additionally, Edwards has been in touch with the three major presidential candidates about making commitments to the half in ten goal. You can read about their poverty positions at the Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity website http://www.spotlightonpoverty.org/.
The state of Illinois has its own campaign to cut extreme poverty in half by the year 2015.
From Poverty to Opportunity Campaign
Freedom from poverty is a human right, and the realization of this freedom requires a comprehensive vision and plan. To that end, Heartland Alliance has created the From Poverty to Opportunity Campaign: Realizing Human Rights in Illinois, an initiative of the Illinois Poverty Summit. This initiative works to bring together a broad range of residents from the most affected communities throughout the state as well as advocates and policy leaders to develop and advocate for a poverty elimination strategy anchored to human rights standards that will reduce extreme poverty in Illinois by half by the year 2015. CCIL endorses this campaign and has been an active participant in working on making this human right a reality.
Read more about the campaign at: http://www.heartlandalliance.org/maip/FromPovertytoOpportunityCampaignRealizingHumanRightsinIllinois.html
or talk about it: http://povertytoopportunity.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Thursday, May 8, 2008
In the Media...
Violence Against Homeless People
Last week, USA Today published an article highlighting how a rise in attacks against homeless people in 2007 has led many states to consider harsher penalties for perpetrators. "Hate, Violence and Death on Main Street USA 2007," released last week by the National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, shows that attacks have increased from 142 in 2006 to 160 in 2007. Twenty-eight of the attacks in 2007 were murders. So far, Maine is the only state that has passed tougher penalties that allow judges to consider the victim's status as a homeless person as a reason to impose longer sentences. Legislation to increase penalties is pending in Ohio, Massachusetts, and Alaska. Congress is also considering two bills to address this issue: one that would require the FBI to track attacks on homeless people and another that would protect them under federal hate crime laws.
Florida's Associated Press also highlighted the trend of increased violence against homeless people. In 2007, Florida led the nation in attacks against homeless people, with 31 incidents recorded, according to the study "Hate, Violence and Death on Main Street USA 2007." 2007 is the third consecutive year that Florida has topped the list, with 32 attacks reported in the state in 2005 and 48 in 2006. Maria Foscarinis, the Executive Director of the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, speculated that the criminalization of homelessness, including bans on sleeping in certain places and on food assistance, may be promoting the message that homeless people are sub-human and contributing to the increases in attacks in Florida.
Daily Updates of Local and National Press Coverage
Last week, USA Today published an article highlighting how a rise in attacks against homeless people in 2007 has led many states to consider harsher penalties for perpetrators. "Hate, Violence and Death on Main Street USA 2007," released last week by the National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, shows that attacks have increased from 142 in 2006 to 160 in 2007. Twenty-eight of the attacks in 2007 were murders. So far, Maine is the only state that has passed tougher penalties that allow judges to consider the victim's status as a homeless person as a reason to impose longer sentences. Legislation to increase penalties is pending in Ohio, Massachusetts, and Alaska. Congress is also considering two bills to address this issue: one that would require the FBI to track attacks on homeless people and another that would protect them under federal hate crime laws.
Florida's Associated Press also highlighted the trend of increased violence against homeless people. In 2007, Florida led the nation in attacks against homeless people, with 31 incidents recorded, according to the study "Hate, Violence and Death on Main Street USA 2007." 2007 is the third consecutive year that Florida has topped the list, with 32 attacks reported in the state in 2005 and 48 in 2006. Maria Foscarinis, the Executive Director of the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, speculated that the criminalization of homelessness, including bans on sleeping in certain places and on food assistance, may be promoting the message that homeless people are sub-human and contributing to the increases in attacks in Florida.
Daily Updates of Local and National Press Coverage
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
HUD McKinney-Vento Reauthorization
Congress is working on its first major change to the country’s largest homeless assistance program in more than 10 years. There are currently two versions of legislation being considered to reauthorize the HUD McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.
Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing Act (HEARTH Act)
This act would expand the definition of homelessness and allow more funds to be used for prevention. It has no provisions regarding resources and support given to rural areas, incentives for permanent housing or programs that serve families.
Summary of the HEARTH Act
http://www.endhomelessness.org/content/article/detail/1983
Community Partnership to End Homelessness Act (CPEHA)
This act would significantly improve the McKinney program through rewarding proven strategies, continuing a focus on permanent housing, increasing the resources devoted to prevention, better serving families with children, shifting the permanent housing renewal burden to the Section 8 account, increasing the capacity of rural communities to respond to homelessness, and in a number of other ways
Summary of the CPEHA
http://www.endhomelessness.org/content/article/detail/1807
Information taken from the National Alliance to End Homelessness website. Visit www.endhomeless.org for more information.
Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing Act (HEARTH Act)
This act would expand the definition of homelessness and allow more funds to be used for prevention. It has no provisions regarding resources and support given to rural areas, incentives for permanent housing or programs that serve families.
Summary of the HEARTH Act
http://www.endhomelessness.org/content/article/detail/1983
Community Partnership to End Homelessness Act (CPEHA)
This act would significantly improve the McKinney program through rewarding proven strategies, continuing a focus on permanent housing, increasing the resources devoted to prevention, better serving families with children, shifting the permanent housing renewal burden to the Section 8 account, increasing the capacity of rural communities to respond to homelessness, and in a number of other ways
Summary of the CPEHA
http://www.endhomelessness.org/content/article/detail/1807
Information taken from the National Alliance to End Homelessness website. Visit www.endhomeless.org for more information.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Armor of Education and Experience…
CC
IL graduates six foodservice trainees on April 28, 2008
CCIL honored six foodservice graduates on Monday, April 28, 2008. Jamal Lucas, Tina McBryde, Patricia Pitre, Russell Reiter, Sonya Rodriguez and Taron Williams all successfully completed an intense nine week training program preparing them for jobs in the food industry.
In partnership with Aramark and the Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development (MOWD), CCIL’s kitchen training program has been stirring up excellent results by helping people secure jobs. Since its inception in February 2006, the program is geared toward assisting non-violent, ex-felons who are 21 and older.
“This is a nine week training program and this was our ninth group to graduate. What’s most impressive is everyone in this class passed their sanitation exam on the first try giving them certification with the State of Illinois and the City of Chicago Health Departments! Their eagerness, willingness to learn and teamwork was energizing. Our program is demanding and these trainees went above and beyond. Mentoring them was a pleasure,” said Bob Joens, CCIL Foodservice Director.
Contact Lisa Dieterle, Manager for CCIL's Center for Workforce Development, at 773-435-8336 for more information about the foodservice training program.
IL graduates six foodservice trainees on April 28, 2008CCIL honored six foodservice graduates on Monday, April 28, 2008. Jamal Lucas, Tina McBryde, Patricia Pitre, Russell Reiter, Sonya Rodriguez and Taron Williams all successfully completed an intense nine week training program preparing them for jobs in the food industry.
In partnership with Aramark and the Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development (MOWD), CCIL’s kitchen training program has been stirring up excellent results by helping people secure jobs. Since its inception in February 2006, the program is geared toward assisting non-violent, ex-felons who are 21 and older.
“This is a nine week training program and this was our ninth group to graduate. What’s most impressive is everyone in this class passed their sanitation exam on the first try giving them certification with the State of Illinois and the City of Chicago Health Departments! Their eagerness, willingness to learn and teamwork was energizing. Our program is demanding and these trainees went above and beyond. Mentoring them was a pleasure,” said Bob Joens, CCIL Foodservice Director.
Contact Lisa Dieterle, Manager for CCIL's Center for Workforce Development, at 773-435-8336 for more information about the foodservice training program.
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