The Olive Branch Mission of Chicago via Poverty News Blog
A homeless shelter that has been in service since 1867 says that the problem is worse than ever. The Olive Branch Mission began as a home to feed newly free slaves, but it is now feeding people gone bankrupt from medical bills, laid off from jobs and more. From the USA Today, writer Judy Keen profiles the work of the mission. Growing need, shrinking resources and a shift in the face of homelessness from male panhandlers to entire families are challenging Olive Branch in ways rarely seen in its long history, President and CEO David Bates says."There are more people in the shadows," he says. "This is our busiest year ever." People who once donated to the mission are now clients. Sometimes mattresses fill the shelter's dining room to accommodate everyone.Since the recession began, more of...
Here is some more local coverage of the recent US Census Data release. Reflecting data collected from 2005-2007. First from the Chicago Tribune.The southern Chicago suburb of Dolton ranks 10th on the list of small-and-medium-sized U.S. cities that have seen the biggest jumps in poverty.New census data show the poverty rate has increased 8.4 percent since 1999 to 18.3 percent in the village of Dolton. The east-central city of Charleston ranked 12th on the list, with a poverty rate of 40 percent -- up 30 percent since 1999. Next from your humble blogger's home state of Michigan. Linda Angelo writes for the Flint Journal.Everywhere from blue-collar Burton to the wealthier Grand Blanc Township, people are having a tough time making a living. Those who help the poor are noticing the... 
A summit has been called in Illinois by Gov. Rod Blagojevich. The first "Illinois Poverty Summit" will talk about ways to help the people of the state out of poverty.Earlier this year, Governor Blagojevich signed a law that created a state poverty commission. The commission is charged with creating a plan that will reduce poverty in the state by 50 percent. In told in this article, found in the Lincoln Daily News the summit hopes to kick the commissions work into high gear. As part of the ongoing effort to help Illinoisans through the tough economic times, Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich announced Monday that his administration will convene the first Illinois Poverty Summit, entitled "Opportunities for Change: Taking Action to End Extreme Poverty in Illinois," on Dec. 9 and 10. The summit will... 
from the Chicago Tribune By Judith Graham A groundbreaking bill extending hospital discounts to people without health insurance has become law after the legislature overturned Gov. Rod Blagojevich's amendatory veto.The Illinois House voted 97-0 Tuesday to endorse the original measure, which was passed unanimously in June. The Senate's vote Monday was 55-0. The legislation requires hospitals to offer significant discounts to uninsured Illinoisans. Instead of paying the full sticker price—typically two to three times the actual cost of care—consumers will pay charges based on the actual cost plus a 35 percent markup.To qualify for discounts, consumers have to meet financial criteria. In urban areas, families who earn up to six times the federal poverty level—$127,200 for a family of... 
from Suburban Chicago News Fair trade business people try to create a business that benefits the world, artisan and themselves. This story profiles one such businesswomen in Chicago's north suburbs. - KaleBy Rena Fulka sun-times news groupColleen Laino spends her weekends outdoors peddling baskets, jewelry and reusable totes crafted by artisans in Third World countries.Though she started the Thoughtful World Shop as an online business, Laino sells her wares at farmers markets in Frankfort and Tinley Park to raise awareness about the growing fair trade movement.After five weeks of rubbing elbows with the public, the Frankfort stay-at-home mom was boasting a small following in the south suburbs."The last weekend in July was the best weekend I ever had in the business," said Laino, who was... 
from the Champaign News GazetteEven in areas of low unemployment, people struggle when there are mostly low paying jobs. Here is a story from Illinois. - KaleBy Julie WurthA factory worker who takes an overnight shift and daytime cleaning jobs when her hours are cut.A teacher's aide who travels north to detassel corn because summer jobs are scarce in Texas.A cancer survivor on disability thrilled to find a free bicycle, so she doesn't have to walk to the store.The faltering economy is forcing many Americans to cut back on extras as they absorb rising gas and food prices. But for those already living on the economic edge, the choices are much more grim.They already limit driving – if they even have a car – and spend little on entertainment or eating out. Now they're taking on extra... 
from the Chicago Tribune Fulbright Scholar turned beer vendor takes personal approach to foreign aidBy Ted GregoryHis fellow beer vendors sometimes tease Adam Carter for wearing knee and back braces and an ergonomically designed strap to schlep the Old Style and Budweiser he hawks at Wrigley and U.S. Cellular Fields.They call him the most accessorized beer vendor, and they notice he is less likely to join them for late-night carousing than he used to be.But those who know Carter well know his mettle. A Fulbright Scholar with degrees in cultural anthropology and international development, Carter, 33, works as a vendor half the year.The other half he is an international microphilanthropist trying to save forgotten, impoverished nooks of the world one modest donation at a time.Carter of... 
from the Lake County News Sun
Ten Thousand Villages recognized by Forbes magazine
June 28, 2008
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By JUDY MASTERSON JMASTERSON@SCN1.COM
GRAYSLAKE -- One of the most ethical companies in the world is doing business here.
Ten Thousand Villages, which sells handmade gifts, jewelry and home decor crafted by Third World artisans, was recognized earlier this month for its fair trade and sustainable economic and environmental practices by Forbes magazine and the Ethisphere Institute.
The shop at 960 Harris Road, Grayslake, is one of 150 nonprofit Ten Thousand Villages retail stores across the United States. Founded 62 years ago by the Mennonites, the company establishes long-term buying relationships in places where skilled artisans lack economic opportunity. It practices... 
from the Evanston Review By BOB SEIDENBERG Staff members who sometimes wore sweaters in Peer Service Inc. offices this past winter weren't necessarily making a style choice."We have people who would like us to have our thermostat set at 72 degrees, but we just can't afford it," said agency director Kate Mahoney, talking about the cutbacks that have hit the not-for profit drug prevention and treatment program, which has offices in Evanston and Glenview.Mahoney wasn't alone in talking about funding challenges social service agencies face at a recent conference on the issue at Northbrook Village Hall. Lorretta Live, a domestic violence service provider with the Evanston/North Shore YWCA, told representatives that some 607 women across Illinois did not receive services in the past funding... 
from the oak Park LeavesBy BRIDGET KENNEDY bkennedy@pioneerlocal.comWhile looking out into a crowd of people in Zambia in November 2005, a disfigured little boy caught the attention of Dr. Lisa Thornton, an Oak Park resident and pediatrician.Gift Benwa was outside playing with friends when a wind storm hit his tiny village. A metal roof flew off the top of a hut and hit Gift, breaking both his arms and shaving off his face.Living with no running water or electricity, Gift's family threw a towel around him and took him to the hospital.Gift was only 5 years old when he was hit.By the time Thornton saw Gift two years later, he had already had a number of surgeries, but Thornton said they were "substandard.""His arms, of course, healed fine, but his face was a bit of a problem," she said.... 
from the Suburban Chicago Herald CREST HILL MAN'S HOME SERVES AS HEADQUARTERS FOR THE FAMILY OUTREACH PROGRAM, ONE OF THE AREA'S TOP FOOD BANKS.May 19, 2008RecommendBy Erin Biesen SPECIAL TO THE HERALD NEWSCREST HILL -- Based in an average-size home, Lawrence George takes on a big job -- working to keep poverty-stricken families in Will County fed.George decided to run a nonprofit organization from the home he shares with his wife, Catherine. What started out as a desire to help out those less fortunate has led to the Family Outreach Program becoming one of the top food pantries by food volume in the area.George, the program manager and one of the directors, began the food pantry in 1999 in Romeoville, and after a year it moved to Bolingbrook. Since 2001, the Family Outreach Program has... 
from The SouthernBY KARTIKAY MEHROTRA, THE SOUTHERN SPRINGFIELD BUREAUA struggling Illinois economy has made a record number of Illinois families food stamp eligible and forced even more new and single mothers to seek federal assistance for money to put food on the table.Food stamps have reached a record 592,390 households this year, a 3.7 percent increase over last year totaling 1.3 million people. Since December, Women, Infant and Children services participants have risen by 11,520.''As gas, food and energy costs rise, we are seeing an increasing number of working families turn to pantries for assistance,'' said Carol Adams, secretary for the Illinois Department of Human Services, in a statement Thursday.The money for stocking these food pantries is coming from an influx in federal tax... 
from the Galesburg Register Mail Group going public to generate solutionsBy JANE CARLSONIn the wake of Knox County being named to a state poverty warning list for the third consecutive year, a task force is coming forward to address poverty-related issues such as high school graduation rates, teen birth and unemployment rates.Team Knox County has been working quietly for the past six months but will have a news conference at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Knox County Courthouse to mobilize residents to collaborate in developing solutions to rising poverty.The task force originally was formed by Sal Garza, community and economic developer for the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, to address youth development issues. The discussions soon progressed to the topic of poverty... 
from the Journal and Topics NewspapersBy TOM ROBBAs food and gas prices skyrocket, more and more local families are turning to area food banks to help make ends meet.Area food pantries are struggling themselves to carry enough food as demand is up and federal subsidies are down 30% from a year ago.The Self Help Closet and Pantry in Des Plaines is signing up three to four new families a week to take part in their assistance program.The pantry currently has about 300 regular "clients"---families signed up to regularly receive food once a month.Office manager Shirley Eilken said the pantry usually sees a drop-off in demand in the spring when seasonal construction and landscaping jobs are more plentiful, but said that has not been the case this year.She said the organization usually signs up... 
from the Chicago Sun Times HIGHER EDUCATION | Number receiving Pell Grants declining at top schoolsBY DAVE NEWBART Staff Reporter/dnewbart@suntimes.comThe number of low-income students at the area's top universities continues to shrink.The University of Chicago, Northwestern, Notre Dame and the University of Illinois have each seen a drop in the number of students who qualify for Pell Grants -- federal aid to the neediest students.The drops mirror declines at the wealthiest schools nationwide, where Pell recipients dipped to 13.1 percent of students in 2006-2007 at the 75 private schools with endowments of more than $500 million, according to an analysis by the Chronicle of Higher Education. Pell recipients now total 18 percent of undergrads at the 39 best-endowed public... 
from CBS 2 ChicagoParkside Of Old Town Combines Market Rate, Affordable And Public Housing UnitsCHICAGO (CBS) ― The first new housing site built on land that was once occupied by Cabrini-Green high-rises has opened to much fanfare.Parkside of Old Town is a mixed-income development constructed from Division Street to Oak Street and from Larrabee Street to the western edge of Seward Park, along a since-eliminated stretch of Sedgwick Street.Mayor Richard M. Daley and Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) were on hand to dedicate the new development, which the mayor says is a major step toward ending decades of isolation and segregation.It will also create a new neighborhood with good schools, jobs and shopping, Mayor Daley said.The Web site for the 776-unit development promotes it as a "true gem"... 
from Northern StarBy NICOLE SOSZYNSKIStudents survived on $1 a meal per person or $3 a day.The Bread for the World (BFW) NIU Student Chapter and Student Dietetic Association organized the first on-campus Food Stamp Challenge, to bring awareness to the current food stamp program, Elizabeth DeAvilla, president of BFW said.The challenge lasted three days from April 1-3.Alyssa Gray, senior nutrition and dietetics major, and vice president of BFW said last year, five BFW members traveled to Washington D.C. to lobby the farm bill, and they attended a national BFW conference.“At this event we learned about the problems with the food stamp program and it really opened my eyes,” Gray said. “I didn’t realize how only 30 percent of people eligible for the program are enrolled and over half... 
from the Belleville News DemocratMore than 1.5 million in state live in povertyBY JENNIFER A. BOWENNews-DemocratPaychecks aren't stretching as far as they did six years ago, and families who were doing OK and making ends meet have found themselves plunged into poverty.Families across Illinois are surviving on less money as the cost of living continues to rise and incomes stay stagnant, according to a report on poverty released Wednesday.The federal government defines "poor," or poverty, as a family of four subsisting on $21,200 or less annually.The 2008 Report on Illinois Poverty released by the Illinois Poverty Summit showed the cost of fuel has gone up 92.7 percent in six years, the cost of energy rose 60 percent during the same time and the cost of food is up 15.4 percent, but wages,... 
from ForbesNumber of Poor Increases by 19 Percent in Last Five Years; Exceeds Population of PhiladelphiaCHICAGO, April 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In another sign of the state's slumping economy, the number of Illinoisans living in poverty surged by a whopping 19 percent in the past five years, according to a new report released Wednesday by Heartland Alliance's Mid-America Institute on Poverty. The hefty increase boosts the total number of poverty-stricken Illinois residents to 1,539,033 -- a population surpassing the size of the City of Philadelphia.In its 2008 Report on Illinois Poverty -- the only comprehensive analysis of poverty indicators in Illinois -- Heartland also found that that increases in poverty pervaded most areas of the state, increasing in 74 of Illinois' 102... 
from the Bloomington PantagraphBy Sharon K. Wolfe BLOOMINGTON — Midwest Food Bank wants more people to know the scope of hunger and poverty close to home and hopes to use the first Hunger Awareness Week to bring attention to the problem.The week, observed Monday through April 19, will include food bank tours, donations, a prayer breakfast and volunteer appreciation night.Some 10,000 to 20,000 people in McLean County live in extreme poverty (defined as half or less of the federal poverty level of $20,650 annually for a family of four), but those numbers from the Illinois Report on Poverty tell only part of the story, said Jessica Junis, the food bank’s communications manager.Nonprofit agencies getting food from Midwest Food Bank, 1703 S. Veterans Parkway, are running out of food. More... 
from the Post TribuneBy Jane Huh Post-Tribune staff writerVALPARAISO -- Poverty and the law are intertwined.Society, not lawyers, must commit to addressing the global problem to reduce poverty rates, said experts at Valparaiso University's two-day law school conference.The law school's "Law, Poverty and Economic Inequality" conference began Thursday, bringing an international array of scholars and legal experts to the law school's Wesemann Hall.Indiana Supreme Court Justice Robert Rucker, a Gary native; Judge D.M. Davis of the Cape Town Court in South Africa; Chief Magistrate Ian Gray of Victoria, Australia; Judge Bryanne Hamill of the New York State Family Court; and professor Andrea McArdle of CUNY Law School in New York shared a panel session.They spoke about the court systems in their... 
from the Pioneer PressBY MYRNA PETLICKI ContributorTelling stories that haven't been told is one of Jeff Ebert's goals. Considering the fact that he is the owner of Oak Park's Ebert Studio, founded in 1915 by his great-grandfather and passed down from father to son since, it's not surprising that a camera is Ebert's storytelling device. The photographer offers both panoramic and intimate portraits of Kenya, South Africa and Ethiopia in "The Essence of Africa," at the Oak Park Public Library through March."Country Living Outside Addis Ababa" offers a view of the living conditions -- huts made of mud and branches and no landscaping. The pride of the people is apparent in "Shoeshine Addis Ababa," in which men are getting their shoes polished along a dusty dirt road. Goats wander in the... 
from The Quad City TimesBy Jennifer DeWittFor those living in poverty, a lack of money may be only one of their troubles.Transportation could be a stumbling block. Accessing social services could be an issue. Even having to make a choice between buying groceries or paying bills could be a regular dilemma.An upcoming poverty workshop hopes to shed light on the real-life struggles so people who work with them can experience first-hand the situations these families face every day.The Poverty Simulation & Workshop will be 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Feb. 12 at the Black Hawk State Historic Site in Rock Island. The event is sponsored by University of Illinois Extension and the Illinois Quad-City Chamber of Commerce.“This is aimed at those living in the middle class but working with those in poverty... 
from The Quad City TimesBy Jennifer DeWittFor those living in poverty, a lack of money may be only one of their troubles.Transportation could be a stumbling block. Accessing social services could be an issue. Even having to make a choice between buying groceries or paying bills could be a regular dilemma.An upcoming poverty workshop hopes to shed light on the real-life struggles so people who work with them can experience first-hand the situations these families face every day.The Poverty Simulation & Workshop will be 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Feb. 12 at the Black Hawk State Historic Site in Rock Island. The event is sponsored by University of Illinois Extension and the Illinois Quad-City Chamber of Commerce.“This is aimed at those living in the middle class but working with those in poverty... 
from The Chicago TribuneBy Stephanie BancheroThe isolation and limitations imposed by a poor neighborhood do more damage to a child's verbal and cognitive skills than does a family's low income, according to a new study.Researchers found that children in Chicago who spent most of their lives in segregated, low-income communities posted lower verbal scores than did children who lived in better communities. This was true whether the children's families were low- or middle-income.And youngsters who moved into these segregated, troubled communities saw their progress slip, suggesting that the neighborhood social problems -- violence, segregation and lack of good schools -- are the roots of the problem.The study revealed that living in a disadvantaged community for at least two years lowered...