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Commission will Host Hearing on Poverty in Early April

By THE SOUTHERN STAFF
Posted FRIDAY MARCH 26, 2010 10:50 am -


CARTERVILLE - A state commission seeking to end poverty in Illinois will be looking for suggestions from Southern Illinoisans in early April.

The Illinois Commission on the Elimination of Poverty will host a public hearing from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday, April 8 in the John A. Logan College Conference Center, rooms 118 and 119. Commission members are seeking input from everyone but are particularly interested in hearing from those people who are currently experiencing or have experienced poverty. Testimony received at the hearing will be considered in the commission's development of a comprehensive statewide plan to address the issue.

"The commitment to interrupting generational poverty calls for more than a cursory glance," said Al Riddley, a commission member and executive director of the Illinois Coalition for Community Services. "We must take the time to listen to and incorporate the ideas of individuals who are faced with poverty as we work to develop a strategic plan for our state."

The commission, formed by the cooperation of the state legislature and the Heartland Alliance for Human Needs and Human Rights, seeks to cut the rate extreme poverty experienced by Illinois residents in half by 2015. It is charged with creating a substantive, measurable plan grounded in human rights standards.

"Carterville is a good place to hold the hearing because extreme poverty is high in Williamson and the surrounding counties," said Sharon Hess, also a commission member and executive director of the Southern Illinois Coalition for the Homeless. "It's a good way to bring attention to the fact there is poverty outside of urban areas and to see what poverty looks like in Southern Illinois."

People seeking to make suggestions but won't be able to attend the hearing can email statements to Doug Schenkelberg of the Heartland Alliance at dschenkelberg@heartlandalliance.org or mail them to his attention at Heartland Alliance, 33 W. Grand Ave., Suite 500, Chicago, Ill. 60654.

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