New reports from the Local Reporting Initiative of the Chicago Community Trust are up at the Community News Project blog:

Highlighting the settlement Tuesday of a lawsuit requiring the state to help nursing home residents move into their own homes (see above), the Neighborhood Writing Alliance tells the story of one man who recently made the transition, with help from Access Living.

NWA also interviews the director of the only domestic violence program for people with disabilities in the Chicago area.

In These Times reports on “The Poverty of School Reform” and the disconnect between top-down reform models favored by corporate and political leaders and the realities of life in low-income communities.

Illinois Health Matters finds a “gaping chasm” between policymakers implementing health reform and South and West Side residents with serious health issues.

Photojournalist Bill Healy seeks out stories of the residents of Auburn Gresham.

Entre Nostoros, a multimedia blog by Radio Arte, covers Latina youth artists, activists and issues.

The Grassroots Collaborative looks at TIF spending in Chicago and finds that “a program meant to address blight in fact reinforces it” – while it also increases income inequality.