A call to action!

By now you’ve probably heard that Governor Rauner has cut $26 million from the Illinois Department of Human Services for Fiscal Year 2016, terminating funding for 22 critical programs, like Teen REACH, that supports thousands of Illinois residents every year.

This is devastating news.

Universidad Popular became one of hundreds of organizations across the state last week who received notice that some of our services will no longer be funded, and we would need to return any funding we had not already spent. So this June, after six years of providing access five days a week to a safe space, caring adults, academic support, and civic engagement, our year-round youth development program, UPrising, will be forced to close its doors to dozens of local youth who rely on us for daily opportunities for social and emotional growth.

You can help.

We are asking our supporters to partner with us to make sure UPrising can continue to serve vulnerable youth in our community. There are two ways you can make a difference:

• Contact your elected officials and tell them to demand Governor Rauner restore funding to Teen REACH, keeping free after-school programming available to our families.
• Donate to Universidad Popular by visiting us at www.universidadopular.us and clicking on DONATE or sending a check, written to Universidad Popular, to our main office at 2801 S. Hamlin Ave., Chicago, IL 60623.

We hope we can count on you, because only together can we continue to work with youth to build a better community for everyone.

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