“Typically, these are organizations that are in competition against each other for limited state dollars, but instead we are banding together to say there is not enough state money,” said Daniel Schwick, assistant to the president of Lutheran Social Services of Illinois.

The Responsible Budget Coalition, with 40 buses of supporters in tow, went to Springfield Feb. 16, where they held a press conference at the state Capitol, followed by a rally in support of House Bill 174 on Feb. 17.

“It’s hard; people don’t understand that this is really about them,” said John Bouman, leader of the Responsible Budget Coalition and president of the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law. “If we don’t get this done the right way, we will see everything from teacher layoffs to whole institutions closing.”

House Bill 174 would raise the state personal and corporate income tax from 3 to 5 percent and expand the state sales tax to certain consumer services. It would also provide tax relief by raising the personal exemption from $2,000 to $3,000, doubling the state property tax credit and tripling the Earned Income Tax Credit, which targets low-income families.

This increase would fall only on those who can afford it, said Rev. Alexander Sharp, executive director of Protestants for the Common Good, because the bill will include tax credits for those who cannot afford to pay more.

Instead of a progressive income tax that applies a greater share of the burden to wealthier taxpayers, Illinois is currently one of only six states to have a fixed income tax. So the state’s poorest residents pay 3 percent of their income in state tax, as do Illinois’ wealthiest citizens.

The bill was passed through the Senate last May, and is now waiting on an approval from the House.

Sharp said citizens are fighting against tax increases because they aren’t aware of the services they will lose due to a lack of funding.

“I think there is a mentality that is really unwilling to pay for services that we expect to be provided for us. We have to rise above that and realize the needs of our state,” Sharp said.

Kathy Ryg, president of Voices for Illinois Children, said it is crucial the bill is approved before the Nov. 2 general election, which is why the coalition has started the “We Can’t Wait” campaign.

“We feel very strongly that any delay on having a responsible budget will be very costly to the state as far as programs and services and successful initiatives go. They will either be gone, or their funding will be inadequate to meet the needs of the state,” Ryg said.

Ryg said the current deficit for the 2011 budget is $12.8 billion, which includes unpaid bills to social service agencies and state vendors.

Rep. David Miller (D-Dolton), a supporter of HB174, said he hopes now that the Feb. 2 primary election is past, the legislation will move forward.

“We have proved we can pass the bill in the Senate, now we need to see what we can do with it from here,” Miller said.

Lee remembers her first day of work last September, being nervous as she took the elevator to the 22nd floor of a Chicago high-rise. Her nerves soon settled, and now she completes daily office tasks with ease and confidence.

This is her second year participating in the corporate work-study program at Christ the King College Preparatory High School, which just moved classes to a new $28 million facility in Austin.

“I think it’s a great experience. It’s teaching me what my mom and other adults go through. I’m working to pay a part of my tuition, and I’m learning a lot of new things,” Lee said.

Lee, who — like many of the students attending Christ the King — lives in Austin, hopes to become a lawyer.

All of the 162 students at Christ the King participate in the work-study program once a week at over 160 participating employers around the city. Lee, along with the three other students in her “work-team,” alternates workdays throughout the week to provide the manpower for one full-time, entry-level position at Community Investment Corp. located in the Near West Side community.

“We saw that it was a great opportunity for students who are just coming out of grade school to know what it is to work. Even though the kids are young, they’ve done a great job,” said Monica Kirby, office manager at Community Investment Corp.

Fran Thompson, communications director for Christ the King, said the program creates an opportunity that students wouldn’t normally get from a traditional classroom setting.

“For some students, working these jobs gives them their first visit to the Loop, and there they are going up an elevator in a skyscraper to work in a financial office,” Thompson said.

Christ the King is part of a national group of 24 Jesuit schools operated by the Cristo Rey Network. Although this is the school’s second year in Austin, it moved into the new 100,000-square-foot, three story building earlier this month. The school is located at 5088 W. Jackson Blvd., on the site of the former Resurrection Parish.

Each one of the 24 Cristo Rey Network nationwide schools, including one in Pilsen, employs the work-study program.

“The premise began as a solution,” said Preston Kendall, vice-president of the corporate work-study program. “We wanted to open a college prep high school what would serve families with limited resources, and we wanted a model where we wouldn’t need to raise tuition.”

The work done by students in local businesses funds 65 percent of each student’s tuition, said Kendall. The other 35 percent is made up of family contribution and scholarships.

“It started out as a solution to a financial problem, but we soon discovered very quickly that this is a multi-faceted program. It gives students ownership of earning their education,” said Kendall.

Studies done by the Cristo Rey Network showed a need for schools in Austin, a community of more than 100,000 with high unemployment and no neighborhood public high school, said Thompson, communication director for Christ the King. It found that Austin needs 14,000 seats for students, yet only offers 7,000.

“There is a humongous shortage in this area,” Thompson said.

When at full capacity, the new school should hold around 600 students. The school, which currently has 162 students, will add a new class each year, Thompson said. It is currently running with only a freshman and sophomore class.

“We are not trying to only pull the cream of the crop students here, we are also looking for the average and above-average, hard-working students who otherwise may have fallen through the crack,” she said.

Kendall said the admissions office at Christ the King looks at academic and financial history, yet concentrates mostly on past behavior and attendance reports.

Currently, the majority of Christ the King students are coming from a few key areas, said Kendall, including: East and West Garfield Park, Lawndale, Humboldt Park and Austin.

Roger Ehmen, director of Westside Health Authority’s Prisoner Re-Entry Center, said a recent jump in numbers shows the dire need for the program in Austin.

Ehmen said the center saw an increase of 104 percent more clients over the last two years. In 2008, the office helped just over 5,000 clients, while last year the program assisted close to 11,000.

The biggest concern now is that the numbers will continue to rise, and many more ex-offenders in need will be left without services.

“The problem is we don’t have the capacity to see more. There isn’t enough staff or room in our facility,” Ehmen said. The current facility is a one-story, seven office space that makes use of cubicles in its open areas.

Ehmen said the center never turns clients away, with an average of 28 new clients coming in the door each day and 600 each month.

“And here’s the problem: the waiting list for even 28 new clients a day can take up to two or three weeks. People who don’t want to wait either give up or go somewhere else. And they may not get the attention they need,” Ehmen said.

Nine full-time employees — including job placement coaches, case workers and aides — work at the center.

The Westside Health Authority’s Prisoner Re-Entry Center has been operating in the Austin neighborhood for nearly 10 years. Austin has the one of the highest number of ex-offenders in the state of Illinois, said Ehmen, and according to the Westside Health Authority, there are over 300 individuals returning to Austin from prison each month.

The program, funded by the city, is faith-based and offers assistance in re-entry, such as: job placement, training, mentorship, GED and ACT classes, and counseling. The program is 100 percent free to clients and also includes assistance with food, clothing and shelter.

Ald. Emma Mitts (37th) said programs like the center are crucial in areas such as Austin.

“In our kind of community, we have to meet the needs of these people because they represent us. We can’t run from it,” Mitts said. “We must work hard to ensure that adequate resources are available in the returning communities to assist those most at risk for recidivism.”

Micheal Tidmore, who works with new clients at the Teamwork Englewood Community Re-Entry Resource Center, said its program has also seen a rise in new clients.

Tidmore was unable to give specific numbers but said the last few months have shown a substantial increase in released prisoners needing assistance.

Ehmen said he believes the rise in numbers can be attributed to multiple causes, including an increase in released prisoners due to state budget cuts, along with people being more aware of the services offered to ex-offenders.

“In some ways, we are a product of our own success,” Ehmen said. He said the center has proven successful because of its faith-based nature, where the center couples traditional training with spiritual learning.

“Most of the ones who really make it, who have been very successful, have also taken on the spiritual side of this,” Ehmen said.

The Westside Health Authority has secured land with hopes of building a larger, more comprehensive prisoner re-entry center once funding is secured, said Ehmen, “but that doesn’t help us in the short term.”

Ehmen said the center has no plans for when they will break ground on the project.

Check out Chicago Talks’ related story: West Side Program Helps Ex-Offenders Get a Second Chance

In a bustling office in Austin, Ezzard sits, while snow falls outside on a brisk winter afternoon. Inside this well-kept space, half a dozen men sit at computers placed against one wall searching on-line job postings, while others work on resumes and speak to caseworkers.

The one thing that makes this office different from many others, though, is that its clients, including Ezzard, have one thing in common: they are newly released prisoners. They’ve come to the Westside Health Authority’s Prisoner Re-Entry Center to get a second chance at life.

Ezzard, 47, who was born and raised in Austin, has been a client of the program for two years now, after being released from an Illinois prison after serving 19 months. He was convicted of sexual assault with a deadly weapon, a Class X Felony.

The Westside Health Authority’s Prisoner Re-Entry Center assisted over 10,000 clients last year and has been working in the Austin neighborhood for nearly 10 years. The far West Side community has the highest number of ex-offenders in the state of Illinois, and according to the Westside Health Authority, there are over 300 individuals returning to Austin from prison each month.

“There are so many ex-offenders out there that are just so frustrated with the system, and they’ve lost hope. They don’t even know a second chance is available to them,” Ezzard said.

Ald. Ed Smith (28th) said it is often hard for released prisoners to turn their lives around because they don’t know where to start.

“It’s sad, they can’t find work, no one will take a chance on them because the state says they are criminals for the rest of their lives, and that’s not fair,” Smith said.

Ezzard said the label of being an ex-offender, in many cases, affects the way a person is seen for a lifetime.

“It makes it really hard to sit down and have a conversation with another person because you are wondering: ‘How do they see me?’” he said. “Do they visualize me only as this deviant person?”

Ezzard has been volunteering with Ald. Emma Mitts (37th) for just over a year now, assisting her with community outreach programs for at-risk residents in Austin.

Mitts said she believes everyone should have the opportunity for a second chance.

“In our kind of community we have to meet the needs of these people because they represent us. We can’t run from it,” she said.

“He is a great person that understood that he wanted to turn his life around. He just needs to make sure to surround himself with people who are doing the same,” Mitts said.

Ezzard said a second chance was given to him through the help of the center, where he is now working toward lifelong goals. He is currently enrolled in Harold Washington College and expects to graduate with his bachelor’s degree in 2012. After graduation he plans to attend law school in hopes of working to help other ex-offenders. Prior to incarceration, Ezzard drove semi-trucks cross country for a living.

“I want to roll up my sleeves,” he said. “I want all the pressure, and I want to whine about classes like other students because I want to earn this degree.”

The program, funded by the city of Chicago, is run by a faith-based organization that offers assistance in all areas of re-entry such as: job placement, training, mentorship, GED and ACT classes and counseling.

Ezzard, who received mentoring and job placement assistance over the last two years, will continue to work with the center and said without its help he would most likely have given up.

“Had I not been here, I probably would have gotten frustrated and said screw it, just take me back,” Ezzard said. “Everyone has the right, if you’re going to be a law abiding citizen, to start again—and that’s what I’m doing.”

Check out Chicago Talks’ related story: Program to Help Ex-Offenders Nearly Overwhelmed by Growing Demand for Services