Issue Areas
Advocacy and Action for Justice, Equality and Opportunity
2022-2023 Platform For Renewal
The Platform for Renewal encompasses five key issue areas. Our Platform reflects extensive listening sessions, detailed policy analysis and our commitment, together with our member congregations and coalition partners, to the work of anti-racism and justice.
Police Accountability
Increase police accountability in Chicago through citywide coalition, constituency and capacity building.
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Shortly following the murder of Laquan McDonald on October 20, 2014, then-mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel created the Chicago Police Accountability Task Force, led by then-President of the Chicago Police Board Lori Lightfoot, to review the system of accountability, oversight and training that is currently in place for Chicago's police officers. This action prompted Community Renewal Society to adopt police accountability as an issue area in 2016 and to work to establish the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability and to implement the Federal Consent Decree.
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After working separately for five years, the Grassroots Alliance for Police Accountability (GAPA) and the Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC) joined together to create the Empowering Communities for Public Safety Coalition (ECPS) in 2021. This coalition of Chicago organizations and individuals advocated for greater police accountability in Chicago. Together, thousands of Chicago residents worked together to transform Chicago's broken systems of policing. In July of 2021, the Empowering Communities for Public Safety Ordinance was passed by a 36 to 3 vote of the Chicago City Council.
The ECPS Ordinance created the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA) which is made up of seven commissioners who work with 66 District Council Representatives, three for each of Chicago’s 22 police districts. These district representatives foster connections between the community and the police, enable community input on policing policies, expand restorative justice practices and play a significant role in selecting key police officials.
CRS and the members of the Police Accountability Issue Team recruit and train candidates for future District Council elections and monitor the work of the Community Commission.
Learn more about the ECPS Ordinance.
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The first federal court-enforceable consent decree, now in implementation stage, includes provisions for:
increased police accountability
ending the code of police silence
alternative diversion practices and crisis response teams
rights for people with disabilities
improved use-of-force policies, requiring police to document when pointing firearms at people
additional requirements for officer training
and improved assessment data collection and sharing.
CRS is proud to have stood alongside our coalition partners, American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, One Northside, Communities United, Equip for Equality and Next Steps, in the lawsuit that brought about the Consent Decree.
The Chicago Consent Decree Coalition continues to denounce the CPD's Home Raids Community Engagement Plan as insufficient against systemic racist violence.
Our Partners
Coalitions
Organizations
Restoring Opportunities &
Justice Reform
Increase employment, housing and educational opportunities for directly impacted people within jail or the prison industrial complex by advancing legislative reforms that restore rights and create economic opportunities for people with records.
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There are an estimated 1,400 bills, statutes and ordinances in Illinois that permanently punish individuals living with a criminal record, despite the fact that they have completed their sentence.
Informed by directly impacted men, women and youth, CRS will advance justice reform and restorative measures at the city, county and state levels. CRS works in this area with two coalitions, the Restoring Rights and Opportunities Coalition of Illinois and the Fully Free Coalition.
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As a member of the Restoring Rights and Opportunities Coalition of Illinois (RROCI), we will advocate for statewide legislative initiatives to increase employment and housing opportunities for people with criminal records.
RROCI is a coalition of organizers; advocates who have experienced the criminal system; and policy staff from Cabrini Green Legal Aid, Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, Community Renewal Society and Heartland Alliance.
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Fully Free, led by Heartland Alliance, seeks to end permanent punishments (i.e. collateral consequences) in Illinois and create an innovative, comprehensive approach to addressing collateral consequences wholesale by developing and documenting, carefully scrutinizing and advancing sets of omnibus-type collateral consequence legislation at the state level.
Just Economy & Reparations
Advocate for reparations and economic justice as restitution for moral injury, protracted trauma and cultural disinheritance.
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Many of our neighborhoods experience disproportionately high levels of violence. It ripples through our communities and should be a matter of concern for every resident in our state. We know that increased arrests and incarceration are not solutions. Instead, we need to invest economically in our communities to achieve equity.
We will continue our federal and statewide efforts with the Coalition to End Money Bond to stop incarcerating legally innocent people. Additionally, we will continue our work with the Responsible Budget Coalition.
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Join CRS in statewide efforts to learn, organize and advocate for reparations by signing our Reparations Pledge.
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In 2021, Illinois legislature successfully passed the Pretrial Fairness Act (PFA), also known as HB3653 HFA2, restoring the presumption of innocence and ending money bond and the unconstitutional practice of caging people pretrial simply because they cannot afford to buy their freedom. However, in December of 2022, the PFA was halted by an Illinois Supreme Court.
In July 2023, the Illinois Supreme Court issued the strongest possible decision finding the Pretrial Fairness Act constitutional and directing courts across the state to implement the law and end the use of money bond on September 18, 2023.
We will continue our statewide efforts with the Coalition to End Money Bond to monitor the implementation of the PFA and to provide education to the public. We stand ready to assist counties across Illinois in implementing the Pretrial Fairness Act and making our state a leader in pretrial justice.
LGBTQIA+ Faith, Race & Equity
Increase shared vision of The Beloved Community, commitment to justice, equity, inclusion, healing and advocacy in solidarity with LGBTQIA+ communities.
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The Equality Act is a piece of legislation that has been proposed in the United States to protect individuals from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. This legislation would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to explicitly include protections for LGBTQIA+ individuals.
One of the key aspects of the Equality Act is that it would provide protections in a number of areas where discrimination against LGBTQ+ individuals is currently legal, including housing, education, employment and public accommodations. Additionally, the act would also provide protections against discrimination in jury selection, credit and lending and federal funding, as well as update protections for all women and people of color.
With the recent increase in anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation by states, we invite you to join our call to the U.S. Congress to pass the Equality Act. Join our LGBTQIA+ Issue Team to help build power and to raise our voices together to support same-sex marriage and to work for passage of the Equality Act. Connect with our CRS Bayard Rustin Fellow to get involved.
Sign a petition from the ACLU urging Congress to pass the Equality Act.
Sign a petition from The Human Rights Campaign urging Congress to pass the Equality Act.
Read the full act.
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Across the country, our transgender siblings are facing aggressive attacks on their civil and human rights. Bills in at least 11 states have been enacted to restrict or ban gender affirming care for minors, and there are bills in over a dozen other states that, if passed, would violate the human rights of transgender people.
Sentor Markey (D-MA) and Representative Jayapal (WA-07) recently introduced the Transgender Bill of Rights to Congress. This resolution would protect the rights of transgender and nonbinary people, and would ensure equitable access to healthcare, housing, employment and education. This includes making sure transgender kids can live into their gender expression at school and in sports, and importantly ensuring access to life-saving care.
The bill also requires the development of community resources to protect against violence perpetrated against transgender people and designates a liaison within the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice to be dedicated to advising and overseeing enforcement of the civil rights of transgender people.
Send an email with one click to your officials to defend trans rights.
Originally published by the Illinois UCC and the UCC Justice & Peace Action Network
Healing Justice & Reconciliation
Engage in racial healing through our commitment to honor the full humanity of individuals impacted by the prison industrial complex, persons displaced and homeless and by honoring the narratives of those lives stolen by racialized violence, discrimination and police brutality. We are committed to building bridges and providing resources to facilitate healing in diverse capacities.
Community Renewal Society is a faith-based organization in Chicago that works to eliminate race and class barriers on the local, state and federal levels. For nearly 140 years, we have provided tools for making systemic change including organizing and training of civic leaders, community activists and congregations and in-depth investigations and articles by The Chicago Reporter.
By donating to CRS, you support our vision to create a more just and inclusive society where everyone can thrive. You are also helping continue our impactful work of advocating for policies that promote racial equity, criminal justice reform, economic opportunity and civic engagement.
Your donation, no matter how big or small, will make a difference in the lives of the many people who face challenges due to racism and poverty.
We are reminded of the profound message of hope and healing that lies at the heart of this sacred season, including observations of Ramadan, Passover and Easter — each respectively steeped in Abrahamic traditions. It is a time when we reflect upon the ultimate act of love and redemption — the resurrection of Jesus Christ.