Lack of dedicated resources

A 2006 University of Illinois/CCH survey indicated that approximately 73,656 individuals experience homelessness in the Chicago area each year. Despite the need, according to the Chicago Jobs Council, of the more than $270 million in workforce development funding was allocated for Chicago in 2004, a small percent was targeted for homeless individuals and only 1.5 percent for ex-offenders.

Although Illinois has a good workforce development system that has helped hundreds of thousands of individuals successfully seek training, we need to ensure that homeless people can also access this system.

Living wage campaign

Since 2004, the Jobs Project has worked extensively with the Grassroots Collaborative to expand Chicago's living wage ordinance to include big box stores. CCH leaders were there during the final Chicago City Council vote July 26, 2006, when the living wage was OK’d by a veto-proof majority of 35-14. It was derailed by the mayor's veto seven weeks later, but our leaders then rallied to help the governor’s push to boost the state minimum wage. It rose to $7.50 per hour in July 2007.

You can help by Joining the Living Wage Campaign today!

Increase state job training funds for homeless adults

In 2007, CCH launched a transitional job training campaign for homeless adults that would allocate state resources to disadvantaged workers, including those who are homeless, ex-offenders or exiting the welfare system. CCH proposed a $2 million model that would assist 250 disadvantaged workers through residence-based job training linked to living wage jobs, using Career Advancement Network’s "work therapy" model.

To learn more about CCH's transitional job for homeless adult, please see our fact sheet. (PDF)

To learn more about Career Advancement "work therapy model" and how it can help homeless adults, please see our fact sheet. (PDF)