📍 Targets of This Petition

Illinois Attorney General’s Office
Illinois Department of Labor
Cook County Board of Commissioners
Cook County Office of the Independent Inspector General
City of Chicago Office of Labor Standards
Appropriate municipal, licensing, funding, and law-enforcement authorities

📝 Petition Body

We call for an immediate, independent, and comprehensive investigation into Zam’s Hope Community Resource Center, its leadership, and all operated, managed, contracted, or affiliated residential facilities, programs, training sites, and worksites.

Former residents, workers, program participants, witnesses, and community members have raised serious concerns about possible unpaid labor, worker misclassification, inadequate employment documentation, misuse of publicly supported programs, unsafe conditions, and retaliation against individuals who report misconduct or preserve evidence.

Qualified government agencies must examine these allegations through a fair, confidential, evidence-based process.

The investigation should not be restricted to one address. It should cover every location, program, legal entity, contractor, affiliate, and funding arrangement connected to Zam’s Hope within the investigating agencies’ jurisdiction.

Vulnerable People Deserve Full Workplace Protection

People experiencing homelessness, housing instability, court supervision, electronic monitoring, probation, parole, or financial hardship remain entitled to the full protection of applicable labor and civil-rights laws.

Housing assistance, program participation, or residential placement must never be used to pressure individuals into performing uncompensated labor or prevent workers from asserting their legal rights.

Reported concerns include allegations that some individuals performed substantial operational duties, including supervisory, team-lead, maintenance, transportation, administrative, security-related, and house-management responsibilities, without receiving regular wages or complete employment documentation.

An independent investigation should determine:

Whether residents or program participants performed work that legally qualified them as employees;
Whether all workers received applicable minimum wages and overtime compensation;
Whether work hours, assignments, job duties, payroll records, deductions, and payments were properly recorded;
Whether workers received legally required hiring, tax, and employment documents;
Whether residential intake forms were improperly treated as substitutes for employment documentation;
Whether housing, transportation, court restrictions, or program rules were used to control workers or prevent workers from leaving assignments;
Whether complaints about compensation or working conditions resulted in threats, removal, housing consequences, police contact, adverse reports, or other retaliation; and
Whether the same or similar practices occurred at additional Zam’s Hope-operated or affiliated locations.

Public Funding and Community Trust Require Transparency

Zam’s Hope and its affiliated programs should also be examined for compliance with all requirements connected to public funding, nonprofit status, government contracts, donated property, training programs, and services intended to assist vulnerable community members.

Concerns have been raised about whether money, equipment, property, training benefits, certifications, or other resources intended for residents, students, workers, or program participants were properly distributed and documented.

Investigators should determine:

• What public grants, contracts, reimbursements, donations, or other benefits were received;
• Which people, entities, programs, and locations received or controlled those resources;
• Whether the resources were used for their authorized purposes;
• Whether students and program participants received promised equipment, instruction, credentials, or benefits;
• Whether payroll, participant, attendance, inventory, and training records are complete and accurate;
• Whether related organizations, contractors, or affiliates received undisclosed benefits; and
• Whether government agencies adequately monitored program performance and legal compliance.

Workers and Witnesses Must Be Protected

People must be able to report suspected misconduct, request earned wages, communicate with attorneys, preserve evidence, and participate in legal proceedings without intimidation or retaliation.

Authorities should examine any documented allegation that a complaint about wages, conditions, funding, or organizational practices was followed by threats, housing consequences, adverse reports, interference with evidence, police contact, or other retaliatory conduct.

No conclusion should be reached without reviewing the evidence and giving all affected parties an appropriate opportunity to respond. However, a person’s housing status, financial hardship, or court supervision must never prevent a complaint from receiving a meaningful and impartial investigation.

✊ Our Demands

1. Independent Multisite Investigation

Conduct a coordinated investigation covering all Zam’s Hope-operated, managed, contracted, or affiliated facilities, residences, programs, training sites, and worksites within the agencies’ jurisdiction.

2. Complete Wage-and-Hour Audit

Review payroll records, work schedules, time records, job assignments, communications, tax documents, residential records, transportation records, and witness statements to determine whether residents or program participants performed legally compensable work.

3. Recovery of Unpaid Compensation

If violations are substantiated, require payment of all legally recoverable wages, overtime, damages, penalties, interest, and other compensation owed to affected workers.

4. Protection Against Retaliation

Establish confidential reporting channels and protect residents, workers, former participants, witnesses, and whistleblowers from housing retaliation, threats, adverse program actions, evidence destruction, or other interference.

5. Public Funding and Program Audit

Examine government contracts, grants, reimbursements, donated property, training funds, nonprofit benefits, participant services, and related financial records for compliance with applicable requirements.

6. Immediate Evidence Preservation

Require the organization and relevant agencies to preserve all potentially relevant:

• Payroll and timekeeping records;
• Work schedules and assignments;
• Resident and participant files;
• Training and certification records;
• Contracts and grant materials;
• Emails, text messages, and other communications;
• Surveillance footage and property-access records;
• Vehicle and transportation records;
• Financial, tax, and organizational records; and
• Complaints, incident reports, police reports, and
• retaliation-related records.

7. License, Contract, and Tax-Status Review

If investigators substantiate serious violations, require the appropriate authorities to consider corrective action, repayment, contract termination, suspension, license sanctions, or review of nonprofit and tax-exempt status, as authorized by law.

8. Public Findings and Corrective-Action Plan

Release a public summary of the investigation to the extent permitted by law, identify substantiated violations, explain corrective measures, and establish independent monitoring designed to prevent future violations.

Why This Matters

Individuals experiencing homelessness, financial hardship, or court supervision may have fewer practical opportunities to leave an unsafe placement, reject uncompensated assignments, or challenge people controlling housing, transportation, or access to essential services.

That vulnerability makes meaningful independent oversight especially important.

Organizations serving vulnerable communities must meet a high standard of transparency, lawful operation, financial accountability, and respect for individual rights.

Charitable status, public funding, residential authority, and community influence must never shield an organization from meaningful review.

Sign This Petition

Sign this petition to demand an independent investigation, fair compensation, protection for workers and witnesses, responsible oversight of public resources, and accountability at every Zam’s Hope-operated or affiliated location.

Vulnerability is not consent to exploitation.

All locations. All programs. All workers. Everyone deserves protection and justice.