A $5,000 Illinois Bar Foundation grant has been awarded to the Chicago office of the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law in support of its Safe Homes Initiative.

The goal of the project is to help the Chicago Housing Authority develop a model policy to ensure maintenance of safe, affordable housing for victims of domestic or sexual violence.

The Shriver Center provides direct legal representation and outreach involving victims, along with education and training of CHA staff, legal aid attorneys and pro bono volunteers.

An additional focus is on reduction of incidents of violence in public and subsidized housing, and participation in cases related to the Illinois Safe Homes Act.

The center was established in 1967 by Sargent Shriver as the National Clearinghouse for Legal Services. It was conceived as a local and national support network for attorneys who represent low-income clients.

Through the years, the mission was expanded to include a bold advocacy agenda for improvement of the lives of low-wage workers and to advance families toward economic security and opportunity.

Activities include publication of Clearinghouse Review, a national intellectual marketplace for legal aid lawyers, and several newsletters. Its online Poverty Law Library contains 500,000 legal documents.

The Shriver Center's 40th anniversary awards dinner will take place Thursday, Nov. 29, in the Hilton Hotel, Chicago, with actor Sam Waterston as host.

Former U.S. senator George McGovern will receive the 2007 Sargent Shriver Award for Equal Justice for lifelong dedication and devotion to alleviating hunger. He also is keynote speaker for the dinner.

The first director of President Kennedy's Food for Peace Program, McGovern received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2000. He was appointed in 2002 as the United Nations' first global ambassador on world hunger.

Raymond N. Nimrod of Jenner & Block is co-chair of the host committee.