December 2005

In every community we find people who live in the State of Poverty. However, let us not simply recognize that it exists; we now must build the political will to overcome it with comprehensive and reasonable solutions. The Shriver Center will continue to lead in this cause by advocating laws and proposing model policies to benefit low-income families across the country.

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 880 and the State of Illinois have reached a tentative agreement on a contract for home child care providers. The contract would cover the more than 49,000 home child care providers who care for children participating in the state's child care assistance programs (CCAP) for low-income families.

Over 650 guests gathered in Chicago at the Seventh Annual Awards Dinner on December 1, 2005. The successful benefit for the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law drew attorneys, public officials, corporate partners, and nonprofit and foundation leaders to support the Shriver Center's antipoverty mission.

A new law requiring the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to renew project-based Section 8 contracts after foreclosure could change the landscape for properties facing potential foreclosure. Locally the troubled Lawndale Restoration project on Chicago's West Side may benefit from the new law.

With the new changes taking place in the Medicaid program this January, families need help in accessing preventive health care. Without such help, simple health issues are exacerbated and become costly health emergencies. This need not be the case.