CHICAGO (AP) — With Illinois’ debt to its largest social services agency now topping $25 million due to the ongoing budget impasse, Chicago’s Catholic Charities is asking priests and parishioners to lobby politicians in Springfield.
The Chicago Tribune reports that a budget stalemate over how to solve a $6.6 billion deficit has led to billions of dollars in unpaid bills, including services Catholic Charities provides to Cook and Lake counties, such as in-home care, early childhood education, feeding the homeless and substance abuse treatment.
In a letter to parish priests, Chicago’s Catholic Charities CEO Monsignor Michael Boland is urging parishioners to remind their legislators that lives are at stake if the financial crisis isn’t resolved.