Rescue Our Communities. Not Big Banks or the Police.

Right now, Chicago City Council is deciding what programs and city services will be funded in next year's city budget. We need to ensure communities hit hardest by the pandemic and generations of systemic neglect get what is needed to not just survive, but thrive.

In order to make sure this budget is not leaving Black and brown communities behind, this budget must:

Dedicate $10M to rebuilding public mental health clinics that can provide care to people who need mental health support and build infrastructure that will allow a crisis response line for people experiencing mental health emergencies without involving armed officers
Cancel funding for ShotSpotter, a failed surveillance tool used by Chicago Police Department to profile and harass predominantly Black and brown communities that costs the city roughly $10 million per year
Stop paying for over 900 Chicago Police Officer vacancies that will cost the city $50 million, while vital community services go unfunded
Stop the Chicago Police Department from increasing their advertising budget from $2400 to over $200,000!
Include an additional $15 million for community-based violence prevention programs, bringing the total to $100M
Include $70 million to preserve existing Single Room Occupancies and another $10 million for eviction counseling to help prevent homelessness in the middle of the pandemic
Include $50M to replace Chicago's lead pipes and begin to address the decades of environmental racism targeting Black and brown communities

With nearly $2 billion in federal COVID relief, we have a historic opportunity to address people's urgent needs with transformational funding for mental health care, affordable housing, childcare, public safety, environmental protections and more. However, in order get this budget that we deserve, the Mayor and your alderperson needs to hear from you!

Contact your alderperson and Mayor Lightfoot and urge them to pass a 2022 budget that will give ALL Chicagoans a thriving future.