Springfield Lobby Day - 2/22/23

By Max Seeley

​Walking into the Illinois State Capitol building in Springfield for the first time, it is easy to feel a sense of awe. Knowing that these are the same halls that a young Barack Obama walked at the start of his political career and the same chambers where Abraham Lincoln served leads to a sense of inspiration and hope. This building that’s dedicated to democracy and progress for the Prairie State is filled with citizens from all walks of life, advocating for policies that they believe will make our state a better place to call home. This is what brought me to Springfield on February 22.

(Sign up below if you want to participate in Joining Forces' next Lobby Day) 

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I came to Springfield to participate in a lobby day with the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, where we advocated for increased funds for homeless services programs. Our day started with the first meeting of the House Housing Committee for the 103rd General Assembly. This subject matter hearing focused on the efforts our state is taking to end homelessness, a priority that Governor Pritzker highlighted in his state of the state address. We heard from a representative from the City of Rockford, which has taken strides to end chronic homelessness. They emphasized how coordinating across city departments and social service agencies was a key to the progress they have made in combating chronic homelessness.
  
After the testimony from Rockford, the State Homelessness Chief, Christine Haley, presented the Home Illinois plan to end homelessness. This plan intends to put our state on the pathway to reaching a “functional-zero” level of homelessness, meaning chronic and street homelessness would basically be eliminated. To support this plan, the Governor has proposed $200 million in funding for the program’s implementation. While we as homeless service providers were excited about the large investment in the state’s homeless service infrastructure, questions about what exactly this funding will go towards loomed over us. 
 
Once the committee meeting ended, we turned our attention to the capitol building’s rotunda to pull representatives aside as they made their way to house chambers for the day’s session. We presented them with our ask, a $75 million investment in new funding across the four main homeless service program line items: prevention, homeless youth programing, supportive housing, and emergency and transitional housing. During these conversations, I provided representatives with insight on the work we do here at Connections for the Homeless, highlighting the effectiveness of our programing at the Margarita Inn. I explained that to effectively end homelessness, we need to provide funding for improved services and programming across the state. Most of the representatives that we spoke with understood the need to increase funding for homeless service programs and supported our budget ask. 

The state capitol building gives a sense of seriousness, an impression that this is a place where real work is done. It was gratifying that the legislators that I spoke with were interested in hearing how service providers like Connections for the Homeless are working to support those experiencing homelessness and how an increase in funding would help our state end homelessness. This experience left me energized and optimistic that our advocacy is really making a tangible difference. 
 
We at Joining Forces want to give more people the opportunity to experience advocating for affordable housing and ending homelessness. That is why we are organizing a Lobby Day for this Spring! This experience will feature: 

• Training on the issues we will advocate on 
• Transportation to and from Springfield plus all meals 

• A full day of talking to legislators and their staff 
• Hands-on learning about how our state government works 
• Opportunities to experience our state’s capitol 
• Overnight lodging (for those who wish to stay overnight, we will assist with the costs of lodging as needed) 

We are still determining the exact date, but if you are interested in participating in Joining Force’s Lobby Day please sign up below to receive updates and invitations to our training. We have a limit on the number of people we can bring to Springfield, so please sign up soon!
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