Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn wants lawmakers to financially rescue Illinois child care providers, one week after 40,000 state-subsidized providers were told the state ran out of money to pay them for the rest of the fiscal year. At stake is whether 85,000 low-income parents who work or attend school can continue to access child-care.
Illinois businesses have qualified for $67 million in federal tax credits for hiring veterans, SNAP recipients, and other state residents in need of employment.
By most measures, 2011 will be remembered as one of the most
challenging years for many of the state’s food banks, pantries, shelters
and soup kitchens.
Efforts to feed those residents who don’t know
where their next meal is coming from has been a daunting task - as the
level of demand has risen to some of its highest levels in recent
memory.
With government and private donations on the decline,
many charitable food providers have been forced to do more with less in
order to continue operating, which has raised concerns that conditions
for the state’s hungry might get even worse in 2012.
With the holiday season in full swing, the news is grim for hunger in
Chicago – more and more Cook County residents don’t know where the next
meal is coming from and food pantry donations are down.
Also,
Congress is scheduled to reauthorize the farm bill next year – and the
new legislation might include cuts in the Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program, i.e. food stamps.
On Monday, hunger relief workers and
city officials testified at a City Council hearing on food
insecurity in Chicago, convened by the committees on Health and
Environmental Protections as well as Economic, Capital, and Technology
Development.
For the first time, data pertaining to food insecurity and hunger exists on a neighborhood and suburban level for the Chicagoland area. The numbers reveal stark contrasts between Chicago neighborhoods as well as suburbs. Citywide, a staggering 20.6 percent of the population suffers from food insecurity, which is defined as reduced quality, variety or desirability in a diet that leads to disrupted eating patterns and reduced food intake.
The study by the Greater Chicago Food Depository (GCFD) is based on U.S. Department of Agriculture numbers released in the Food Insecurity in the United States 2009 data set.
The most recent numbers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) shows the country now has a record-breaking number of people receiving food stamp benefits. Alabama saw a huge uptick following a major natural disaster but one root to their problem is their high poverty rate --something the Chicago-area knows well too.
By most measures, 2011 will be remembered as one of the most
challenging years for many of the state’s food banks, pantries, shelters
and soup kitchens.
With the holiday season in full swing, the news is grim for hunger in
Chicago – more and more Cook County residents don’t know where the next
meal is coming from and food pantry donations are down. 
For the first time, data pertaining to food insecurity and hunger exists on a neighborhood and suburban level for the Chicagoland area. The numbers reveal stark contrasts between Chicago neighborhoods as well as suburbs. Citywide, a staggering 20.6 percent of the population suffers from food insecurity, which is defined as reduced quality, variety or desirability in a diet that leads to disrupted eating patterns and reduced food intake.
