Heartland Alliance

Heartland Alliance is an anti-poverty, human rights organization that provides housing, health care and human services to improve the lives of impoverished Chicagoans. Once known as Travelers & Immigrants Aid, we've been helping the most marginalized men, women and children through services and advocacy since 1888.

You can make a difference in the lives of impoverished Chicagoans through volunteer work, donating goods or making a financial contribution. Help us provide paths from harm to hope for impoverished Chicagoans.

Would you like to know how to help...?

that woman you see everyday who "lives" on the street?
refugees displaced from their homeland and now calling Chicago home?
provide long-term solutions to urban poverty?

Thank you! There are several ways that you can provide for the needs and protect the rights of marginalized men, women and children.

For people you see living on the streets, you may respond to their immediate appeal for help by offering them a fast food meal, buying them a pair of gloves or a t-shirt, giving them some spare change or helping them call the City of Chicago's non-emergency number (311) so that they can be referred to a shelter.

Today's hotspots and crises bring refugees to Chicago's doorstep. You can help a refugee by volunteering your expertise in law through the Midwest Immigrant and Human Rights Center or your expertise in psychology at the Marjorie Kovler Center for the Treatment of Survivors of Torture. Refugees also need the basics to begin their new lives in Chicago. You can help by donating items such as household goods or winter clothing - or tutoring a child - to help these families move from harm to hope.

You can make a difference in the life of a refugee, a homeless child or a family fleeing persecution. And you can help secure basic needs and basic rights for future generations.
Your generosity with time or resources will turn poverty and fear into opportunity and hope.

Publications

To download a free pdf version of recent newsletters, annual reports, or recent research reports, alternate click on the report title below and select <Save Target As> to save the file to your local drive. You can also view these publications online simply by clicking on the title.

Donor Publications

2003 Annual Report (903k)

2002 Annual Report (3,027k)

In Alliance Winter 2003 (318k)

In Alliance Fall 2003 (279k)

In Alliance Spring 2003 (229k)

Illinois Poverty Summit Reports and Briefs

The Illinois Poverty Summit (IPS) is coordinated by Heartland Alliance. Research for IPS is conducted by Heartland's Mid-America Institute on Poverty.

Affordable Housing Primer (316k, Aug 2002)

Etapes d´un investissement locatif

Atlas of Illinois Poverty (2,233k, Spring 2003)

Income Supports For Working Families (495k, Nov 2002)

2004 Report on Illinois Poverty: An Analysis of Rural Poverty (905k, Jan 2004)

2003 Report on Illinois Poverty (826k, Jun 2003)

2002 Report on Illinois Poverty (543k, Jun 2002)

2001 Report on Illinois Poverty (358k, Jun 2001)

2000 Report on Illinois Poverty (1,281k, Jun 2000)

Mid-America Institute on Poverty Research Reports

Heartland's Mid-America Institute on Poverty (MAIP) conducts research, policy analysis, and advocacy that facilitates the identification and illumination of emerging poverty issues and the development of solutions.

Apply Online: Technological Innovation for Income Support Programs in Four States (executive summary only, 246k, no hard copy available)

Apply Online: Technological Innovation for Income Support Programs in Four States (657k, no hard copy available)

Building Linguistic and Cultural Compentency: A Tool Kit for Managed Care Organizations and Provider Networks That Serve the Foreign-Born (Aug 1999, $20 for hard copy)

Chicago Stepping Up Focus Group Report (636k, $10 for hard copy)

Childhood Immunization, Teaching and Reaching the Refugee Family: Lessons Learned through the Refugee Immunization Project (Sep 1994, $10 for hard copy)

Crisis In Illinois Long-Term Care: Options for the Future (Aug 1999, $5 for hard copy)

Does Privatization Pay? A Case Study of Privatization in Chicago; Analysis of its Effect on Workers and Cost Savings Estimates (Mar 1997, $15 for hard copy)

Finding the Fit: A Review of Three Intervention Models For Working With HIV/AIDS Impacted Substance Users Who are Homeless (425k, Feb 1999, $10 for hard copy)

From Education to Employment: An Analysis of School-to-Work Programs (Aug 1992, $10 for hard copy)

Help Wanted: Low-Income Single Adult Job Seekers and the Programs Serving Them (1,721k, May 2001, $10 for hard copy)

Impacts of Medicaid Managed Care on Immigrants and Refugees: A Practices Review with Policy Recommendations (May 1996, $15 for hard copy)

Legal and Court Interpretation Services (413k, $10 for hard copy)

The Living Wage: In the Public Interest? Increasing the quality of Life for Families and Communities (Jun 1996, $3 for hard copy)

New Start/New Home: Final Evaluation Report (Nov 2000, $10 for hard copy)

Meeting the Health Needs of Cultural and Language Minority Patients (May 1993, $10 for hard copy)

No Work, No Welfare: Able-bodied Men on the Street of Chicago, Meeting the Employment and Training Needs of the City's Destitute Men (Aug 1993, $10 for hard copy)

Not Even a Place in Line (900k, Dec 2003, $10 for hard copy)

Opening Doors: Adapting Housing & Substance Abuse Services to Meet the Needs of HIV/AIDS Impacted Persons (Jun 2000, $10 for hard copy)

Opening Doors Conference Report (1,223k, $10 for hard copy)

Policy Brief on the Chicago Residency Ordinance: Job Site Monitoring Results (Dec 1995, $5 for hard copy)

Policy Recommendations for Promises Made, Promises Broken... Crisis and Challenge of Homeless Families in Chicago (1990, $10 for hard copy)

The Power to Shape the Future: An Analysis of Decision Making in Regional Transportation Planning Process and Impacts on Urban Poor (Oct 1995/Revised Jan 1996, $5 for hard copy)

Transitional Community Jobs (217k, Jul 2002, $10 for hard copy)

Without a Net: A Study of Early Impacts of Supplemental Security Income Benefits Elimination for Persons with Disabilities due to Drugs and Alcohol Abuse in Cook County, Illinois - Impacts, Policy Alternatives and Action Steps (May 1998, $10 for hard copy)

Heartland Alliance Careers

Thank you for considering a career at Heartland Alliance. The staff of the Human Resources and Administration Office is eager to assist you with the application process, and to tell you more about the rewards of working for an organization dedicated to the advancement of human rights and dignity. Please do not hesitate to contact one of us.

Employees are expected to act with integrity in a professional and service-oriented manner; and demonstrate respect for divergent opinions, beliefs, lifestyles, and cultural traditions.

Staff Members

Staff members within the Human Resources and Administration Office take pride in the service they provide to employees and those interested in working at Heartland Alliance. If you need assistance, do not hesitate to contact one of us.

LeTroy Cooke, Human Resources Generalist

Shaneka Fields, Payroll/Human Resources Specialist

Sabrina B. Harkrader, Benefits Manager

Betsy Leonard, SPHR, Director, Human Resources

Alethea Moraes, Human Resources Assistant

Felipa Reyes, Human Resources Generalist

Anthony E. Spahr, Ph.D., Vice President, Human Resources and Administration

Lisa Young, Payroll and Benefits Accounting Manager

Heartland Alliance makes all hiring and employment decisions without regard to race, creed, color, age, gender, gender identity, marital or parental status, religion, ancestry, national origin, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, immigrant status, political affiliation or belief, ex-offender status (depending on the offense and position to be filled), unfavorable military discharge, membership in an organization whose primary purpose is the protection of civil rights or improvement of living conditions and human relations, or HIV infection, in accord with the Agency's AIDS Policy Statement of September, 1987.

What's New

New Housing Report Released

A new report published by Heartland's Mid-America Institute on Poverty , titled Not Even a Place in Line, is now available.

Click here to download the report from our publication page. For more information on the report, please contact Amy Rynell at 773-728-5960.

Heartland Alliance Partners Have New Names

Heartland Alliance's partner names have changed, but our programs and services remain the same. Our commitment to lasting, meaningful change for the most poor and vulnerable is unwavering. Click here to download the Announcement postcard.

Also, our website is being redesigned to better reflect our updated identity. For more information on our updated identity, please contact Bonnifer Ballard at 312.660.1314.

Human Rights and Public Policy

Human Services

Health Care