The state’s current funding for schools falls woefully short of what is needed to provide a quality education for students across the state. And, the resources that are available are not distributed in an equitable manner.

Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez continues her approach of deadly inaction, refusing to work with the Reclaim Campaign to reform our broken justice system and prevent violence in our communities.

Today, we are marching to State's Attorney Anita Alvarez's office, on behalf of the thousands of Cook County residents to deliver Deadly Inaction: A Proposal for State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez to Prevent Violence.

Nobody who works full-time should have to live in poverty. Vote yes to raise the minimum wage and help to Get Out the Vote for the November 4, 2014 election.

This will be a close election. Take action and vote early today for the mid-term election. Talk with people in your church about the importance of voting. Our votes can make a difference.

On Saturday October 4, the Reclaim Campaign held a public meeting where Cook County Commissioners commitment to actively seek a $1 million increase for the violence prevention, intervention, and reduction grants in the 2015 Cook County Budget.

This is good news, but we still have much more work to do. The current budget increases spending on the Cook County Jail by $27 million but makes no increase for preventing violence in our communities.

An important part of Community Renewal Society’s (CRS) work is to bring together congregations to fight for social justice. Every fall CRS holds an Annual Membership Assembly to set priorities for our organizing and policy work. On Saturday, October 4, CRS membership voted to initiate two new campaigns and renew three campaigns launched in 2013.

We’re committed to strengthening our community by getting voters registered. As part of our 2014 voter registration drive, Community 

Renewal Society has joined thousands of other organizations across the country to celebrate National Voter Registration Day on September 23, 2014.  

There is plenty of evidence that our current public safety strategy is not working. It's time for Cook County to invest in preventing violence instead of reacting to it. We cannot arrest ourselves out of this problem.

As we learned from the Civil Rights Movement, united and organized people can achieve life changing results. Every voter, every vote and every election matters. Join us to build our power and raise our voices together for justice.

Governor Quinn signed a law to fund meaningful community-based services for survivors of human trafficking and encourage a more effective law enforcement response to end demand for sexual exploitation.

Like in Ferguson, young leaders in our communities report needing to be protected from the police, instead of by the police.

There were shouts of joy and celebration on Thursday, July 24, as 500 Reclaim Campaign leaders began a partnership with Cook County Chief Judge Evans to prevent violence by creating a new Restorative Justice diversion and reforming the court system.

The Joint Criminal Justice Reform Committee of the Illinois General Assembly met for the first time this week. We are advocating for the committee to look at long-term criminal justice sentencing reform.

The Cook County justice system is broken. Its policies perpetuate the cycle of violence plaguing our communities by draining our limited resources and devastating people’s lives. Instead of rehabilitating individuals who need support and treatment we impose costly punishments that often lead to isolation and despair. This is what the Cook County justice system did for Russell Cunningham, a CRS leader and member of the Reclaim Campaign from First Baptist Congregational Church. 

After the end of a difficult legislative session in Springfield, CRS Executive Director, Rev. Curtiss Paul DeYoung, shared the following encouragement with CRS leaders at the summer Leadership Council on June 21, 2014.

On Wednesday, June 25, 2014 the Chicago City Council unanimously passed the Responsible Sale of Firearms Ordinance to help prevent gun trafficking. The vote comes in advance of a federal court-ordered July 14 deadline to allow gun shops in the city.

Overall this was a very difficult legislative session in the Illinois General Assembly. But, we are not giving up or slowing down.

Failure to vote on HB 2897 by the Illinois House of Representatives before the end of the spring session will delay the Cook County Drug Field Test Pilot Program. This initiative would have run for one year starting September 1, 2014 and could have saved the county millions by significantly reducing the amount of time pretrial defendants wait in Cook County Jail.

The Illinois General Assembly adjourned the spring legislative session on May 30, 2014.  Join us in celebrating these victories!