The Trump administration’s recent executive actions, along with proposed cuts to vital health and social service programs, pose an existential threat to our nation’s human service infrastructure — a threat Illinois knows all too well.
During our state’s budget impasse, hundreds of community-based organizations shut down. Thousands lost jobs. Critical services — mental health care, early childhood education, domestic violence shelters, supports for older adults and people with disabilities, housing assistance and more — were drastically cut or eliminated. Infrastructure built over decades collapsed in months. Rebuilding has taken years, and many communities still haven’t recovered.
That’s why the latest threats from Washington are more than policy disagreements. They are direct assaults on systems that keep people safe and stable. The proposed freeze on federal funding to nonprofits, for example, would have triggered mass layoffs and closed programs, leaving families with nowhere to turn. In this sector, payroll supports communities: a mental health counselor guiding a teen in crisis, an advocate for a domestic violence victim providing safety, a day care worker helping children thrive.
Nonprofits employ over 11% of the Illinois workforce and generate nearly $110 billion annually — funds reinvested into local communities. These organizations are essential to urban and rural areas. When funding is disrupted, it doesn’t just harm those in need, it destabilizes local economies and pushes families closer to the edge.
Federal directives that cut nonprofit and health funding are not just administrative decisions. They are life-altering policies that erode public trust. And once trust is broken — like human service infrastructure — it doesn’t return quickly. Illinois has already lived through this. We are still living it.
At a time of growing inequality, rising costs and escalating mental health and substance use crises, now is the time to strengthen, not weaken, community-based services. The Health and Human Service Coalition of Illinois, representing over 20 statewide associations and thousands of community organizations, stands united in calling on federal and state leaders to protect and invest in the people who hold our communities together.
We urge Congress — especially the Senate now that House has passed the bill that would devastate health coverage for millions of Americans — to reject harmful budget cuts and executive overreach. Protect funding for Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and other essential programs. Fund the services that feed children, house families and save lives. Our communities deserve better. Our workforce deserves stability. And our future depends on the choices we make now.
Lauren Wright, executive director, Illinois Partners for Human Service, and lead, Health and Human Service Coalition of Illinois
Criticism of Israeli government is not antisemitism
Was the senseless killing of two people — Israeli Embassy employees — a horrific act? Of course. Was it committed by an individual who is antisemitic? It certainly would seem so. But don’t make the mistake of equating being antisemitic with opposition to the policies of the Israeli government. Certainly far too many individuals are antisemitic and hate Jews and the state of Israel solely due to the fact of being Jewish. This is reprehensible. No one should be judged by their religious beliefs. However, disapproval of the policies of the Israeli government toward Palestinians does not mean one is antisemitic. One can oppose the starving of children and the ongoing slaughter of Palestinian civilians as opposition to the stated goal of the Israel government.
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The Israeli government states that it will continue its actions until it destroys Hamas, a terrorist organization. But the ongoing killing of civilians, including children, and the starvation of the population is just breeding a new generation of hatred for Israel. Whether it will take the form of future Hamas members or some new terrorist cell, the current policy of the Israeli government is not going to end the threat to Israel. It is just going to help continue the cycle of violence in the Middle East and help to continue to foster hatred in the region. There needs to be a true effort to resolve the need for Israel security and the rights of Palestinians. The ongoing policy of the current Israeli government does not foster this effort. To oppose the current Israeli administration’s policy is not necessarily antisemitic, any more than opposition to the current U.S. administration is anti-American. Rather it is opposition to the ongoing slaughter.
Peter Felitti, Ravenswood
Can’t forget Holocaust horrors
I am the only American-born member of an entire family of Holocaust survivors. I was at Auschwitz for the first time a day after guest student columnist Sarah Enescu’s piece on her visit to the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site appeared in the Sun-Times. These were not just concentration camps. They were killing factories, and not just for 6 million Jews, but 5 million non-Jews, journalists, Blacks, homosexuals and more. Erasing these memorial sites would be a disservice to future humanity, education and the memory of those who were murdered, including my grandmother, off the train on arrival, torn from my mother’s arms. Two-thirds of American millennials don’t know what Auschwitz was. To see a sealed glass room of human hair is a horror aside from the gas chambers and crematorium. Education is key. That is why I do Holocaust presentations about my family’s horrific stories of survival as a responsibility of the next generation. Sarah is right. We must preserve even the painful part of history. Never forget. Never again.
Marty Zak, Glenview
Black Student Success Plan uplifts many CPS students
As a member of the Chicago Public Schools Black Student Success Plan working group, I’m deeply frustrated by the U.S. Department of Education’s investigation into the program, announced a few weeks ago. The working group was convened to bring intentionality and focus to the demographic group that most needs support to catch up to their peers. This is not “favoring students based on race” but acknowledging past and current inequities and attempting to rectify them. As CPS notes in its description of the program, while students of all races face challenges and barriers to their academic and career success, there are systemic and historical barriers that are unique to Black students and must be addressed accordingly.
I see the realities of these challenges every day in my role as CEO at Chicago Scholars. Ninety-four percent of our scholars are people of color; 34% are Black. The only demographic groups our application process selects for are students from low-income households or who will be the first in their families to go to college. It’s not a coincidence that we receive comparatively few white applicants. It is evidence of long-standing discrimination and systemic barriers that keep highly motivated, ambitious and talented students of color out of high schools with robust college counseling, prevent them from finding mentors and connections in professional careers and limit the opportunities available to their parents. It is not favoritism to recognize when one group simply has more options and easier access to opportunities than others.
If Chicago Scholars’ demographics prove anything, it’s that Chicago’s students of color want to succeed and are willing to find the resources they need to do so. They just need someone to open the door.
Jeffery Beckham Jr., CEO, Chicago Scholars, Bronzeville
No surprise that parts of bland guide were fake
I’m not surprised that the reading list in the “Guide to the Best of Summer” was artificial-intelligence- generated. I was looking forward to this section and was met with great disappointment. All the information was generic, obvious and pretty useless in its suggestions. (Sorry, we can’t build a fire pit on the roof of our high-rise.) What I was hoping for was content relevant to Chicago — a guide to such things as events at Millennium Park (and all parks, for that matter), lakeside happenings, lists of restaurants with rooftop and alfresco dining, theatrical performances, outdoor concerts, movie showings, outdoor dance classes, farmers market pop-ups, art fairs. In other words, all the reasons why we love summer in this city. Please get your reporters to work on compiling such lists. Millions of Chicagoans and tourists crave that information.
Laura Marier, Lake View
DOGE deeds
I sent my tax return, along with a check, on April 14. My most recent bank statement shows the check being cashed on April 17. I am confused. Has the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency whipped those freeloading federal workers into shape, or have they not fired enough of them?
Neil Johnson, Lansing
Dictator days
Donald Trump promised to lower the cost of groceries on Day 1. He promised to end the war in Ukraine on Day 1. He promised to be a dictator on Day 1.
He’s 1 for 3.
Daniel Welch, Glen Ellyn
Let down by my alderperson
Shame on my representative, Ald. Jim Gardiner (45th), who last month, voted with two other City Council members — Alds. Nicholas Sposato (38th) and Anthony Napolitano (41st) — against an ordinance that prohibits Jan. 6 rioters from getting city jobs. Thousands of Chicagoans have flooded the streets in recent months to stand up against Donald Trump’s attack on the rule of law, but not Gardiner. Instead, Gardiner chose to prioritize city jobs for people who were convicted of breaking the law while trying to overthrow the results of the 2020 election. Gardiner and his fellow MAGA City Council members will claim they support “law and order,” but with this vote he’s made it clear that he thinks Trump and his backers are above the law. Taxpayers in Chicago should know whose side he’s on, because it isn’t ours.
S. Gronkiewicz-Doran, Jefferson Park
Rahm-colored glasses
In her story last month, “Mayor Johnson takes aim at Rahm Emanuel, ex-mayor’s neoliberal agenda,” Fran Spielman repeatedly lionizes Emanuel (“a pragmatic centrist who has never backed down from a political fight”) and disparages Johnson (“far-left,” “embattled”). The characterization of Brandon Johnson, a relatively mainstream progressive Democrat, as “far-left” is frequently peddled by right-wing outlets like the National Review, yet Spielman slips it in as a given.
Spielman quotes three sources attacking Johnson, two of them personal friends of Emanuel, and zero defending Johnson or criticizing the ex-mayor. Emanuel "[spending] political capital […] to double Chicago’s property tax levy to chip away at the city’s pension crisis” is presented as a savvy strategic decision; Johnson’s lobbying trip to Springfield […] “to avert a stalled, $300 million, high-interest loan at the Chicago Public Schools,” not so much.
Between highlighting Emanuel “potentially lay[ing] the groundwork for another run for elected office — perhaps for president, senator, governor or, once again, the city’s mayor” and uncritically repeating 1992 Bill Clinton strategist James Carville’s claim that “he’s probably got the most accomplished resume of any American that hasn’t been president in the last 30 years,” this seems less like news reporting and more like a puff piece — or even a trial balloon for a Rahm return.
Harold Jaffe, Edgewater
Sox slump
Unsurprisingly, the Cubs swept the hapless White Sox in last weekend’s series, outscoring the Reinsdorfers 26–8 over three games. The sorry Sox appear to be well on their way to losing over 100 games for the third season in a row as Jerry Reinsdorf and his minions continue to demonstrate their incompetence as operators of a Major League Baseball franchise. Sell the team, Jerry!
Chet Alexander, Alsip
