#GivingTuesday - Make an Impact with the Forum
Dear Friends,
The past year has seen the Latino Policy Forum mature into an organization helping make real, positive change in Latinos’ lives. We need your help to continue that mission!
So today, on #GivingTuesday, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Forum.
The Forum’s education team has worked extensively on helping develop portions of Illinois’ Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plan to expend the focus on English learners and address the shortage of culturally competent teachers in public schools. The team also led a successful effort to increase funding for English learners resulting in a total of $102 million, an increase of $38 million for bilingual education, part of the SB1947 School funding reform bill.
The housing team concluded a successful multi-year initiative, Operation H.E.L.P (Housing, Education, Leadership and Policy), that benefitted thousands of families by providing housing counseling services to renters and future home owners, as well as providing information and access on foreclosure prevention to current homeowners so they can preserve their homes and rebuild community wealth.
The civic engagement and leadership team continued working with lawmakers at the local and federal level to support the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that protects DREAMers, immigrants brought to the United States by their parents at a young age who are contributive members of society, from deportation. The Forum also advocated with partners in the Immigrant community for the successful passage of the strongest immigrant legislation of its kind, the Illinois Trust Act, which prevents local police from holding people for immigration purposes without court-issued warrants forbids police from stopping, searching and arresting anyone based on their immigration status and upholds the basic tenants of the United States of Illinois constitutions. Last but not least, the civic engagement team launched the inaugural Multicultural Leadership Academy that brought together leaders in African-American and Latino neighborhoods in Chicago to catalyze social change and bridge the cultural divide between these important communities.
By supporting the Forum, you are helping sustain its mission to build the power, influence, and leadership of the Latino community through collective action to transform public policies that ensure the well-being of the community and society as a whole. Through your commitment, the Forum’s work will continue to address the needs of communities and individuals.
Respectfully,
Sylvia Puente
Executive Director - Latino Policy Forum