From the category archives:

NsP updates

Northside P.O.W.E.R. & Coalition Call on Governor to Close Corporate Tax Loopholes

by admin on February 22, 2012

Everyone is talking about the massive cuts that Governor Quinn is proposing for Illinois’ FY 2013 budget.  They sound downright painful, especially the $2.7 billion in cuts he proposed to make to Medicaid, the state’s health care system for the poor.  A Just Harvest patron’s struggle to get nutritious food, pay rent, and buy medication as things currently stand.  Deeps cuts to Medicaid will only make their challenges greater.

Cuts to the state budget – like the 9% Quinn is proposing for many state departments – will have a ripple effect in the economy.  A recent study by the Alliance for a Just Society finds that for every percentage point we cut Illinois spending, we lose 6,230 jobs.  As people lose their jobs in the coming year to Illinois budget cuts many of them will turn to places like A Just Harvest for help.

We need to be looking at revenue sources, not simply cuts.  Quinn made a weak reference to raising $75 million annually by closing a tax loophole enjoyed by oil companies.  Check out IIRON’s take on corporate tax loopholes that, if closed, could actually raise serious revenue for Illinois – $1.5 billion over three years!  If you’re feeling wonky (and I mean this in a good way), read the original study by Good Jobs First detailing these loopholes.  Although this isn’t enough to solve all our budget woes, shouldn’t we be looking for ways to lessen the pain?

Northside P.O.W.E.R. participated in an action called “Fat Cat Tuesday” that called on corporations and our elected officials to repent and give up corporate tax giveaways for lent.  Click on the image below to see press coverage in Progress Illinois.

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Northside P.O.W.E.R. Celebrates MLK

by admin on January 26, 2012

“…until all have plenty, and no one is left in need.”  This is A Just Harvest’s vision of how the world should be.  We’d like to create a world where there is no need for emergency food distribution.  In other words, we’d like to put ourselves out of business.

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was articulating a similar vision when he launched the Poor People’s Campaign shortly before his assassination.  The Civil Rights Movement vanquished Jim Crow, but didn’t vanquish the poverty suffered by millions of African Americans.  Recognizing than great numbers of Americans of every race and ethnicity lived in poverty, Dr. King turned his sights on creating a multiracial movement that would vanquish poverty and create a more just economy – to ensure that “all have plenty, and no one is left in need.”

Although we no longer have state-sanctioned racial apartheid in America, we do live in an America with staggering economic inequality – an economic apartheid, if you will, which has only been increasing in recent decades.  A Just Harvest seeks to live MLK’s dream – to “Occupy the Dream”.

On January 15, 1,500 people of faith and community leaders came together to honor the legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and promote policies that will alleviate hunger, poverty and growing income inequality.

This is a 5 minute video synopsis of the event:  (Click here to watch the FULL EVENT on YouTube.)

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Creating Jobs Now

August 31, 2011

A Just Harvest is committed not only to meeting hungry people’s immediate need for food, but to supporting public policies which alleviate hunger and poverty.  Due to the persistently high employment rate, record numbers of Americans are seeking food assistance from the SNAP program (formerly known as food stamps) and from organization’s like A Just Harvest.  For this [...]

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YouTube Premier: “Cut Us In or Cut It Out!”

July 11, 2011

In this video A Just Harvest patrons, volunteers and Northside P.O.W.E.R. leaders and interns share their experiences in this recession.  They are struck by the fact that while they struggle with unemployment, underemployment and the possible loss of health care while the  large banks and Wall Street investment firms are handing out record bonuses.   [...]

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Cook County Foreclosure Outreach Comes to Skokie

February 5, 2011

In the Spring of 2010, Lakeside Community Development Corporation (CDC) obtained funding for outreach to let people know about the Circuit Court of Cook County’s Foreclosure Mediation Program. This program provides a Housing Counselor, a Lawyer and a Mediator, all FREE of charge, funded by the Cook County budget. The mediation program was created as [...]

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