#LIVINGWAGEIL

Join our campaign to demand living wages for human service workers
so that communities can thrive across Illinois!

Living Wages, Thriving Communities is advocating for increased state funding for human services and pushing for wage increases
for workers in the sector in Illinois. Our campaign engages frontline workers, human services organizations, coalition partners,
legislators, and the public to push the State to responsibly invest in the well-being of all Illinoisans by fairly funding the
health and human services workforce.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN HERE

JOIN THE CAMPAIGN!

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Tionna Menzies, Case Manager at Anew: Building Beyond Violence & Abuse, speaks to the rally crowd at the campaign launch in the Capitol Rotunda.

Advocacy Day participants stop for a photo in the Capitol Rotunda on their way to meetings with legislators on February 26th.

Rally participants hold up signs in support of FAIR PAY NOW for human services in Illinois.

Watch our Campaign Rally Launch for
"Living Wages, Thriving Communities"
in Springfield

A screen grab from our Facebook Livestream of the campaign rally in Springfield, with a speaker at the podium.

WATCH OUR FB LIVESTREAM RECORDING

Anonymous worker quote that reads, “No one expects to get rich, but we should be able to afford a roof over our heads in a safe neighborhood. We should be able to pay our bills, so they are not one more thing to worry about.”

Anonymous worker quote that reads, “It's interesting working in this field, trying to help others not to be homeless, but as a worker also trying to navigate the same exact thing that clients are facing. We live paycheck to paycheck and struggle to make ends meet on a regular basis.”

Why Human Service
Workers Believe in
"Living Wages, Thriving Communities:"

Anonymous worker quote that reads, “Often times if I have to utilize a resource in the community, I am hesitant because I would not want to encounter a client. Also when I hear of new resources I have to listen in for my clients as well as for myself.”

*Quotes provided, anonymously, by survey participants in Illinois Partners for Human Service's report "Worker Well-Being is Community Well-Being. Why the Human Service Workforce Needs a Living Wage."

KEY FACTS TO KNOW

Graphic that reads: The human Service workforce is highly skilled and educated. Illinois Partners for Human Service’s research shows that among the more than 850 workers surveyed, more than 70% have at least a bachelor’s degree and yet more than 64% self-report not earning a living wage.

Graphic that reads: The pipeline of people entering the human services workforce has been steadily decreasing. Employees at community-based organizations are leaving the sector due to perpetual low pay, lack of benefits, and high student loan debt as many frontline positions require advanced degrees and professional licenses.

Graphic that reads: Human Services' portion of the Illinois General Revenue Fund is 25% less than it was 27 years ago, representing chronically underfunded state contracts amidst increasing demand for services, high caseloads, increasing costs of delivering services, and inflation, resulting in a waning, overworked and underpaid workforce.

Graphic that reads: Frontline human service workers at community-based organizations make significantly less than employees at state agencies doing similar work. As a result, the bulk of this care provider workforce–Black, Latiné, and Women workers--fail to make a living wage that would allow them to cover their basic needs and the rising cost of living in Illinois.

* Data cited from Illinois Partners for Human Service's report, "Worker Well-Being is Community Well-Being: Why the Human Service Workforce Needs a Living Wage."

Jessica O, a resource and grant coordinator from LaSalle, Illinois says,

​​Living Wages,​Thriving Communities.

​​Join our campaign to demand living wages for human service ​workers ​so that ​​communities can thrive across Illinois!

JOIN THE CAMPAIGN!

​Why Human Service​Workers Believe in​ "Living Wages, Thriving Communities:"

KEY FACTS TO KNOW

Living Wages,
Thriving Communities.

Join our campaign to demand living wages for human service workers
so that communities can thrive across Illinois!

Why Human Service
Workers Believe in
"Living Wages, Thriving Communities:"