Chicago Democrats back human services funding plan

SPRINGFIELD – Critical dollars may soon keep youth employment and after-school programs open for at-risk youth, hot meals at the doorsteps of seniors and timely breast and cervical cancer screenings available for women and men.

Today, State Senators Mattie Hunter and Donne Trotter backed a bipartisan funding proposal to restore the state’s critical social services.

"Keeping our social safety net intact will help residents in needs find the services that keep them healthy, safe and for many youth, off of the streets," said Hunter, a member of the Senate Human Services and Public Health committees. "These critical dollars will help prevent our youth from entering the criminal justice system by creating educational and occupational opportunities for them."

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Residents, youth find alternative careers at Sen. Hunter's fair

CHICAGO - Local students and residents attended an alternative, educational career fair hosted by State Sen. Mattie Hunter on Tuesday at VanderCook College of Music.

Sen. Hunter's Alternative Pathways Career Fair offered creative and diverse occupational opportunities including the military, cosmetology, massage therapy and the performing arts.

"We’re helping connect Chicago students with non-traditional post high school opportunities, as they create their own unique path to adulthood,” Hunter said. “In addition to empowering interested teens with the many alternative routes outside of a traditional four-year college experience, we’re also giving recruiters access to Chicago’s brightest youth. Encouraging young people to map out their plans following high school, is crucial in this day and age.”

The event was open to high school teens, parents and adults seeking alternative educational career opportunities.

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Sen. Hunter holds youth unemployment hearing in Chicago on 4/28

CHICAGO – Elected officials, community leaders and youth to discuss nearly 90 percent unemployment rate for minority youth during an Illinois State Senate hearing at 1 p.m. on Thursday, April 28 at the Bilandic Building in Chicago.

"Our youth are the hardest hit when communities suffer from unemployment," said State Sen. Mattie Hunter, who organized statewide hearings in 2014 to create youth jobs. "We live in a state where nearly 90 percent of our black and brown youth are unemployed. We cannot pretend our youth are going unharmed by our dissolved social net, or that the budget impasse isn't causing our state to fail our young people."

Roughly 89 percent of Black males aged 16-19 and 87 percent of Hispanic males were jobless in Chicago in 2014, according to a study by the University of Illinois Chicago's Great Cities Institute.

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Sen. Hunter supports emergency funding for higher ed, human services

SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois State Senate passed an emergency funding bill, with bipartisan support, to keep public universities open, help MAP grant recipients attend classes and provide human services.

“We’ve been fighting the governor since last May to keep the doors of our colleges and human service organizations open,” said State Sen. Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago). “Today, I supported keeping colleges and vital human services afloat while we continue working on ending the budget impasse.”

Senate Bill 2059 will provide funding for public universities, community colleges, city colleges and MAP grant recipients.

The Illinois Senate also passed Senate Bill 2047, which provides emergency funding for critical human services.

Senate Bills 2059 and 2047 passed the Senate 55-0. Senate Bill 2047 now goes to the House for further consideration.