The following is the opening letter from our latest research report, More than Essential: Reimbursement Rates and the True Value of Human Services. Visit our website to access the full report, and the one page infographic summary. Dear Reader, The last year has brought me an entirely new understanding of…

To our Coalition Partners, If you’re like me, you might feel at a loss for words as you try to describe the past year. I’ve said this countless times over the last 9 months, but if anyone had told me a year ago how my first year as Executive Director…

The pandemic and resulting economic crisis have shown how systems long taken for granted — in our government and in our wider society — have fallen short of supporting and valuing the needs of our communities. As a leader of a statewide coalition of 800 human service organizations that provide…

‘Nobody is free until everybody is free’ — Fannie Lou Hamer Today is Juneteenth, a holiday celebrating the end of slavery in the United States. June 19th commemorates this very day in 1865, when federal troops arrived in Texas to ensure that all enslaved African Americans were freed. This came…

This week, we are highlighting the Southern Illinois Coalition for the Homeless, which provides affordable housing and supportive services, while working to eliminate the causes of homelessness in the southern twenty-four counties of Illinois. …

Every week, Illinois Partners will be sharing stories from our Coalition Partners who are on the front lines of responding to the COVID-19 Crisis. We know the interconnections between health and human services are all the more evident in this time of crisis — to better understand this, we spoke…

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect us all, the interconnections between healthcare and human services are all the more apparent. To highlight Illinois’ organizations on the front lines, we are launching a series featuring interviews with health and human service leaders. …

Last week, Illinois Partners for Human Service facilitated virtual focus groups on the impact of COVID-19 with our health and human service coalition partners throughout the state. We spoke with 120+ providers in McLean County, Peoria, Southern Illinois, the South, West and North Sides of Chicago, Lake County and DuPage…

COVID-19 has presented our health and human services sectors with a unique set of challenges unlike anything we have seen in our lifetimes. As we grapple with what must be done to take on the challenges ahead, it is more important than ever to acknowledge the interconnected nature of community…