Harvest Commons: Housing, Health, and Financial Security Under One Roof

In this report, IMPACT sets the stage for an evaluation of Harvest Commons, a supportive housing program that brings together Heartland Housing, Heartland Human Care Services, Heartland Health Outreach and St. Leonard's Ministries -- all in one building (with garden and chicken coop)! Through resident surveys, program data analysis, and staff interviews, we learned that living at Harvest Commons is making a significant, meaningful impact on residents' lives, especially in a few key areas: stability and safety, and health and wellness. Read more about the building, residents, services, and impacts of the program in the report

The Game of Credit: A High Stakes Game That Perpetuates the Racial Wealth Gap

Everyone deserves the opportunity to build a financially secure future for themselves and their families. Access to equal opportunities is the cornerstone of America's core values and is also a necessity to growing a healthy economy. Unfortunately, the reality is a far shot from that piece of the American dream. Income and wealth inequality are at levels that we have not seen since the Great Depression. The Great Recession further expanded an already growing racial wealth gap. Many families have little hope of upward mobility. In fact, day-to-day life is more expensive for those struggling to make ends meet due to unequal access to the tools we all need to build financially secure futures. This includes a basic checking & savings account, a retirement savings account, a college savings account, home and student loans with low interest rates, and a solid credit score that gives you access to these important loans. Many households of color have been denied access to these crucial financial tools needed to build credit and put them on a path to financial health. As this report will show, this inequity has led to a stark racial disparity in credit scores as well as related indicators, such as education level, student loan debt, employment, income, homeownership, and home loan debt. Fortunately, there are programs and policies that can help close the gap and therefore strengthen the economy, which are also outlined in this report

Running on Empty: Nutritional Access for Children in Cook County, IL, Executive Summary

In an effort to make informed program expansion and improvement decisions, the Greater Chicago Food Depository commissioned the Social IMPACT Research Center of Heartland Alliance to conduct a study of child nutrition program coverage and child nutrition and hunger in Cook County, Illinois. ** This study examined the geographic coverage of child nutrition programs to identify areas that have the greatest number of unserved children and have the worst program coverage. The study also took an in-depth look at the nutritional lives of children attending summer nutrition programs. Insights in these two areas are vital to helping organizations like the Greater Chicago Food Depository make sound programmatic and expansion decisions that will best meet the nutritional and hunger needs of Cook County's most vulnerable children

2010 Report on Illinois Poverty

This 2010 report caps a decade of Heartland Alliance's annual reports on poverty. The project was initiated at a time when economic prosperity seemed widespread and the future outlook was infused with optimism. The goal with these reports at that time was simple: to serve as a caution that the rising tide of prosperity in the late 1990s had not lifted all boats and that many in our communities were being left behind.Today the situation is very different. The Great Recession has crumbled economic stability for millions of families in the form of massive job loss, cut backs in hours, the elimination of work benefits, skyrocketing foreclosures and bankruptcies, and the eroding value of retirement investments.The implications of massive service cuts to those experiencing poverty -- many of whom rely on state-funded services in their communities literally for survival, particularly those in extreme poverty -- will be nothing short of devastating. Without leadership to enact a responsible budget, Illinois can expect to see deepening hardship and further entrenchment of social problems

Trapped by Credit: Racial Disparities in Financial Well-Being and Opportunity in Illinois

This report examines an important aspect of economic racial disparity -- disparity in credit scores. The relationship between credit scores and minority presence illustrates a clear racial disparity in credit in Illinois. Though many related factors help to explain some variability in credit scores, even when controlling for them, racial differences in credit persist.Having a credit score is important for gaining access to things like education, better jobs, homeownership -- the very things that feed financial and social opportunity. While credit disparities exist in large measure due to the same historic policies that have limited access to broader financial opportunities for minorities, credit scores are particularly important to consider because they also impact individuals' future financial opportunities.In effect, credit scores can create a trap, one that minorities are more likely to fall into, thereby feeding the continued growth of income and wealth disparities

The Social and Economic Value of Human Services

This paper examines publicly-funded human services and highlights a body of evidence that speaks to both the social and economic value for society when investments are made into human services. The story that emerges points to the advantages of investments in human services in three distinct ways: Human services provide a lifeline for many of the state's most disadvantaged residents -- seniors, people with disabilities, people who are poor, those experiencing homelessness, children -- thereby honoring concepts of human rights, equality, and the inherent dignity and worth of each and every individual. There are a variety of documented positive impacts of a variety of human services programs including enhanced quality of life and stronger and more economically competitive individuals, families, and communities. Such programs are wise investments, staving off the much larger immediate and/or future costs that would be incurred if the social problems they address were left unchecked

Harvest Commons: Final Implementation and Outcome Evaluation Report

This report is the final outcome evaluation of Harvest Commons, a supportive housing program on the near west side of Chicago that offers an enhanced, health-focused model of supportive services. Along with typical services such as case management and employment support services, residents of Harvest Commons -- virtually all of whom had been homeless -- have the opportunity to participate in on-site urban farming, nutritional counseling, and cooking classes. Through surveying and interviewing staff and residents and analyzing program data, IMPACT learned that Harvest Commons has had a positive impact in many different areas of residents' lives. The enhanced, health-focused model appears to have led to more positive health outcomes, and the collaborative model of service provision has created both special opportunities and challenges in creating cohesive, seamless, and impactful programming for residents. Read more about the findings and IMPACT's recommendations in the full report

Opciones Saludables: Outcome Evaluation of a Holistic Maternal Health Program

Opciones Saludables was a public health pilot program of Heartland Alliance, engagingmarginalized and hard-to-reach pregnant and parenting youth (PPY) at a critical tipping pointin their lives, along with their families, schools, and community organizations, in education andempowerment programming. The program aimed to reduce health disparities and increase thequality of life for young parents and their children now and in the future through direct service andsystems change

Altgeld-Riverdale Consortium: Outcome Findings

Since 2013, IMPACT has been working with the Altgeld-Riverdale Consortium (ARC) to evaluate their impact on safety in the community. The ARC consists of a variety of community partners -- nonprofits, schools, service providers, and local leaders -- whose collective goals include improving and strengthening community safety, creating vehicles for consistent communication, and increasing utilization of community resources. In 2014, IMPACT documented the collaborative work and key accomplishments of the ARC in the Altgeld-Riverdale Consortium: Evaluation Findings report. In the second chapter of the evaluation, Altgeld-Riverdale Consortium: Outcome Findings, IMPACT dives into local crime data to investigate the ARC's impact on community safety. Read the reports to find out what we learned

Exploring the Racial Wealth Gap: Financial Well-Being and Opportunities in Illinois - Preliminary Findings

The disparities in assets and ownership between communitiies of color and whites are a systemic problem. African-American, Latinos, and other communitiies of color have been consistently denied access to wealth building opportunities leading to negative consequences for individuals, families, and society. This session will define the racial wealth gap, how it is measured, and how groups across the country are closing the gap. We will also examine Illinois credit score data as a startling example of racial wealth inequality