Horizons’ virtual showcase is now available to stream on Facebook and YouTube. A special prescreening of the program for participants, grassroots leaders, staff, and board was held Thursday, June 24 via Zoom.
Horizons is a creative writing outreach program offered at family shelters, facilitated by Special Projects Organizer Claudia Cabrera. Twice-a-month sessions involve more than 100 people a year.
Continue reading Grassroots leaders share original poetry at Horizons virtual showcaseBy Niya K. Kelly, Director of State Legislative Policy, Equity and Transformation
During this successful legislative session, CCH policy and organizing staff alongside our grassroots leaders worked on various initiatives to remove barriers for people experiencing homelessness.
CCH advocated with Heartland Alliance and the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law to remove the eligibility restriction that bars people with drug-related felony convictions from receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), House Bill 88, (sponsored by Leader Mary Flowers in the House and Senator Patricia Van Pelt in the Senate). TANF is a cash grant providing families living in extreme poverty with assistance to meet their basic needs.
Continue reading CCH advocacy leads to two new bills removing barriers and $1 billion in housing funding
Horizons’ virtual showcase will be available to stream on Facebook and YouTube beginning June 25. A special prescreening of the program for participants, grassroots leaders, staff, and board will be held on Zoom the previous afternoon. The streamed event will feature original poetry read by 12 grassroots leaders with lived experience of homelessness and their children. This years’ showcase will be emceed by grassroots leader Edrika Fulford.
Continue reading Horizons to host virtual showcase on June 25By Niya K. Kelly, Director of State Legislative Policy, Equity and Transformation
We encourage youth to reach beyond their present to change their circumstances, but often overlook impediments preventing them from reaching their dreams. A bill designed to remove these impediments and deliver the assistance necessary for students experiencing homelessness to successfully complete their education – SB190 –unanimously passed the Illinois House on May 21, after passing the Senate in April.
Many students experiencing homelessness who enroll in higher education share similar stories of getting to college and feeling overwhelmed. In high school, they had a liaison who assisted with fee waivers, transportation, and pointed them to services in the community, but for most this does not exist at the college level.
Continue reading College Access Bill passes Illinois General AssemblyOn May 4, Bring Chicago Home and the Right to Recovery Coalitions convened over 150 people via Zoom to demand the city take the necessary next steps to address the housing crisis that exists in Chicago. “Before COVID-19, 77,000 Chicagoans were already experiencing homelessness on the streets, in shelters or doubling-up,” said Jasmine Crawford, shelter manager with Franciscan Outreach, “and now the situation is even worse.”
The groups pointed to a survey done by the Census Bureau this past March, which showed how over 400,000 Chicagoland households expressed slight or no confidence in their ability to pay next month’s rent. In addition, calls to Chicago’s Homelessness Prevention Call Center increased by as much as 300% compared to previous years.
Continue reading Bring Chicago Home hosts citywide housing forumBy Patricia Nix-Hodes, Director of the Law Project
The U.S. Department of Education recently announced plans, as part of the American Rescue Plan, to distribute $800 million in federal funding to ensure that students experiencing homelessness are identified, enrolled in school, and provided with services to ensure their success. This week, $200 million of the funding was released to states. Illinois will receive a total allocation of more than $33 million with $8.2 million already released.
Continue reading Help for students experiencing homelessness is on the way
Bring Chicago Home (BCH), in partnership with Right to Recovery, CCH, and other BCH steering committee members, will host a virtual citywide housing forum, We Demand Better.
Continue reading Bring Chicago Home to host a citywide housing forumYesterday there was a measure of accountability for one person in the form of three guilty verdicts. We send our love and support to George Floyd’s family and loved ones in this moment.
Continue reading CCH Statement: Derek Chauvin verdicts a measure of accountability, but not justiceChicago Coalition for the Homeless (CCH) stands in support of the Chicago Inclusionary Housing Ordinance put forth by many of our partners in the fight for affordable housing in Chicago. We are disappointed that Mayor Lightfoot’s alternative ordinance fell so far short of what was needed to stem gentrification and to begin to close the housing affordability gap. Chicago needs 120,000 more homes affordable to our city’s residents who are living on low wages and/or experiencing homelessness.
Continue reading CCH Statement: Mayor Lightfoot’s reform of the Affordable Requirements Ordinance falls shortThe murder of Adam Toledo at the hands of Chicago Police is indefensible. As an organization that works regularly with Chicago youth, we see in Adam what we see in other young people we work with every day – people that are important members of our community who make our city stronger and better. He was killed because the foundation of our policing system is violence and racism, and it runs through every piece of the machinery.
Continue reading CCH Statement: We condemn the murder of Adam Toledo