Chicago Coalition for the Homeless is participating in tonight’s public hearing hosted by the Illinois Commission on the Elimination of Poverty.
 
The commission is developing a "poverty elimination strategy" to halve the number of Illinoisans living in extreme poverty by 2015. This is to be done according to international human rights standards. Testimony is being collected during three public hearings across Illinois.
 

It is that time of year when high school seniors busy themselves filling out college applications and the FAFSA. But for the estimated 26,000 of unaccompanied homeless youth throughout Illinois, barriers to applying for financial aid and attending college can seem insurmountable.

CCH is proud to announce that Rashmi Ramaswamy, co-president
of the CCH Board of Directors, is being honored next month by the Chicago
Foundation for Women.

CCH nominated Rashmi for the prestigious Breaking Barriers award, given by the foundation's Asian American Leadership Council.

Hopefest 2010 was a great success and an amazing performance!  You do not have to take our word for it you can read the reviews coming in…

Concert review by Joshua Klein at the Chicago Tribune

In depth review by Dave Miller at ChicagoConcertGoers.com

We are excited to announce that at Hopefest this Saturday we are offering a spectacular prize for our raffle winner. It is a trip valued at $1,500. 

Anyone can purchase a chance to win - you do not need to be present at the drawing on Saturday, Feb. 20, 2010. 

Tickets are just $20 or you can purchase 3 for $50.

For more info or to purchase tickets, please go HERE. 

This year's No Child Left Behind state conference -- From Hope to Progress, Shaping Change in Illinois Schools -- has concluded.

We were delighted that, for the first time, the conference included multiple workshops on issues involving homeless education. Long-term homeless liaisons and Regional Office of Education staff (Faith Sanderson, Matt Hanafee, Ann Schwarm, Predonna Roberts, Eilleen Worthington, to name a few) and newer Illinois State Board of Education coordinators made for some excellent discussion and idea-sharing.

Tomorrow, we head to Springfield for a statehouse rally organized by the Responsible Budget Coalition.

Chicago Coalition for the Homeless will bring 70 people to educate their legislators about why Illinois needs to protect vital human services and increase taxes to end the mushrooming state budget crisis.

The job market may not be as hopeless as some seem to think. Check out today’s Chicago Sun-Times labor report, featuring event planner Julie Ratowitz. She volunteers for CCH, not only to help the homeless and with Hopefest, but also to make vital job connections with former clients in a tumultuous time.

“It’s reconnected me to a lot of people," she says of her experience.

The Institute for Children & Poverty of New York City released a policy brief today on homeless families in Illinois and Chicago. The brief describes how Chicago’s 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness has changed the way Chicago deals with homelessness by moving to a “housing first” strategy that aims to move people quickly into housing and providing them with services once they are housed. 

The HELLO group for street youth is profiled in a touching feature story published Jan. 31 in the Chicago Tribune's Sunday Magazine.

Our youth attorney Beth Cunningham co-facilitates the group, which began weekly drop-in meetings in January 2005 – five years later, they’re still meeting every Tuesday night at the Broadway Youth Center, on Chicago’s North Side.