Among a packed room, standing-room only, young people expressed how state-funded programs saved their lives, took them off the street and prepared them to enter the work force.

“While we debate about fair wages and job opportunities, we need to understand the domino effect of our struggling economy,” said Senator Mattie Hunter, chair of the Illinois Senate Human Services committee. “Since the Great Recession, we have had to dismantle our safety net, and youth have fallen through the cracks.”

Today, the Illinois Senate passed a conservation jobs plan with strong bipartisan support. Sponsored by State Senator Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago), the initiative would put youth, aged 18-25, and veterans back to work through the creation of the Illinois Young Adult Recreation Corps.

“Conservation jobs will help preserve Illinois’ national parks while putting at-risk youth and veterans back to work,” said Hunter, Majority Caucus Whip. “The Illinois Young Adult Recreation Corps will improve our communities by empowering young people and giving them transferable professional skills.”

Diabetics and guardians of children with diabetes face public health scares when they have to find locations to administer insulin. The Illinois Senate passed State Senator Mattie Hunter’s (D-Chicago) measure to legalize public self-administration of insulin.

“Timely insulin injections are necessary for the health and safety of diabetics,” said Hunter. “This measure will reduce health scares for adults and children suffering from this disease.”

State Senator Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago) passed legislation in the Senate that will promote equality and break down socioeconomic residential barriers by extending the Housing Opportunity Abatement Program until 2024.

“In Chicago and across the state, there is an unspoken division between residents of different socioeconomic backgrounds,” said Hunter, career advocate for housing equality and Chair of the Illinois Human Services Committee. “Property value and geography dictates a family’s quality of life. Low-income families should have equal access to geography-based services.”