Response, Care, and Advocacy for the Communities We Serve

The Shriver Center on Poverty Law has been closely monitoring the COVID-19/Coronavirus pandemic across Chicago, Illinois, and the nation and we have instituted a concerted plan to protect the health and wellbeing of our staff and their families, our partners, and the communities we serve.  

Here are the steps that we are taking:

Our Chicago staff will work remotely from home until further notice. We have encouraged our advocates and team members to limit in-person presence at external meetings and gatherings when possible. We are offering teleconferencing and video conferencing services to community-based organizations who may need these alternate communication channels.

We have postponed the national convening of our Legal Impact Network until a later date and cancelled the Senior Management Track of our Racial Justice Institute to 2021. We will continue to organize our networks digitally to support and strategize around response efforts in states across the country. We will continue our training and capacity building work through web-based learning.

This pandemic affects people in poverty in many intense ways.  Our advocacy has quickly pivoted to developing a new policy agenda with recommendations for local, Illinois, and federal measures to protect and support communities experiencing financial insecurity and systemic inequities. Read our letter to Governor Pritzker on COVID-19 policy priorities for Illinois.

Our work continues to matter in these uncertain times. More than ever, we need to advocate for systemic change that ensures healthcare, paid sick time, access to secure shelter/housing, and support for the justice-involved. Fuel our work with a gift today. 

We will continue to stay in touch as this situation unfolds. Please take care of yourselves and each other.