News

By Danielle Sanders, September 21, 2023

The Lyte Collective is a community rooted in their love of young people. Located in Chicago’s Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood at 549 E. 76th Street, the Lyte Collective supports people impacted by poverty and homelessness.     

Founded in 2016 by a group of social workers who wanted to create a more equitable system, the Lyte Collective works to end harmful practices such as lack of available low-cost housing, poor economic conditions, and insufficient mental health services that cause young people to experience homelessness. In 2021, an estimated 68,440 people experienced homelessness in Chicago with 11,885 being youth, according to a report by the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. Despite Black Chicagoans representing 29% of the city’s population, 53% of Chicago’s unhoused community are Black.

Continue reading The Tribe – The Lyte Collective takes a comprehensive approach to supporting unhoused youth

By Mariah Woelfel, Tessa Weinberg, September 14, 2023

Organizers in black shirts with the yellow slogan “Bring Chicago Home” across the chest have long shown up in droves to City Council meetings, led by multiple mayors at this point, to advocate for their proposal.

If passed, the ordinance introduced Thursday would prompt a citywide referendum next March asking voters whether the city should increase the transfer tax when properties valued over $1 million are sold, and decrease for lesser valued properties. If voters gave it the go-ahead, the revenue would create a dedicated stream to fund homeless prevention services.

Continue reading WBEZ – How Thursday’s Chicago City Council was a big moment for progressives

By Alice Yin and Lizzie Kane, September 14, 2023

Chicago Coalition for the Homeless has counted 68,440 people experiencing homelessness in 2021, an increase of nearly 3,000 people from the previous year, according to the group’s most recent estimates. The research shows shifts in the way people experienced homelessness, noting 7,985 more people were staying on the street or in shelters as opposed to those temporarily staying with others, compared with 2020 data.

Continue reading Chicago Tribune – Mayor Brandon Johnson-backed plan to fight Chicago homelessness by hiking taxes on high-end property sales takes a step forward

By  Elvia Malagón, September 13, 2023

For about six months, Electa Bey lived with relatives as she saved up money for a new apartment and took the time to find one.

At the time, she didn’t consider herself unhoused. She had just lost her husband, and she was temporarily staying with relatives. She says that she now realizes she was among those doubling up in homes across Chicago.

“I didn’t know I was homeless,” Bey said. “I’m like, OK, I’m staying with family — doesn’t mean I’m homeless. But it did. I had to look at it and say, wait a minute, I have to go sooner or later.”

Continue reading Chicago Sun Times – Nearly 65% of homeless population in Chicago lives in doubled-up, temporary housing

By Mariah Woelfel, Tessa Weinberg, September 14, 2023

In a statement Tuesday afternoon, the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless said the plan raised questions and concerns, including whether new arrivals will be given the option to go to a traditional shelter, plans for connecting people to permanent housing and services and whether people will have restrictions on coming and going from the winterized tents.

“Solutions being proposed now to support new arrivals are only temporary,” the statement read. “These resources will run out, and Chicago will be in a worse position than when it started.”

Continue reading WBEZ Chicago – Here’s what we know about Mayor Brandon Johnson’s plan to set up migrant ‘base camps’

By Willie Wilson, September 7, 2023

What about the burgeoning homeless and affordable housing crisis? More than 200,000 families are on Chicago Housing Authority waiting lists, according to the CHA’s fiscal year 2023 report. The wait for public housing can take six months to 25 years. The Section 8 waitlist is currently closed. The CHA says the city has not received a major increase in vouchers over the last 30 years.

Continue reading Chicago Tribune – Willie Wilson: Why aren’t officials prioritizing unhoused Chicagoans in the same way they are asylum-seekers?

By  Belhú Sanabria, September 5, 2023

En su último reporte, la Coalición de Chicago para los Desamparados (CCH, por sus siglas en inglés) reveló que hay al menos 68,440 personas sin techo en Chicago, y de ellas el 82% son personas de color.

55,857 de las personas que viven sin techo en Chicago se identifican como negros, afroamericanos, asiáticos, isleños del Pacífico, indígenas americanos, nativos de Alaska, y multirraciales; 19,970 personas se identificaron como hispanos o latinos. Sólo 12.6% de las personas viviendo sin techo son blancos.

Continue reading La Raza – Más de 68,000 personas sin techo en Chicago luchan ante falta de vivienda

August 31, 2023

A new report from the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless (CCH) estimates 68,440 Chicagoans experiencing homelessness at the beginning of 2022. This reflects a 2,829-person increase from the previous year—up 4.30 percent. This estimate is inclusive of more than 44,000 people experiencing an often-hidden form of homelessness: doubling up or temporarily staying with others. Homelessness is not one-size-fits-all and there are many ways one person can experience it. Someone may sleep in a shelter, on the street, at a train station, and double up with others all in one week. All these living situations should be considered homeless. In 2022, Chicago tallied 3,875 people experiencing street and shelter homelessness. The Point-in-Time count tallies people experiencing street and shelter homelessness on a designated night of the year—usually every January. The Department of Housing and Urban Development does not include people doubling up with friends and family who are considered homeless and therefore is not counting them in their annual estimates and does not include them in who is eligible for housing.  CCH developed a method of estimating homelessness using American Community Survey data that includes those living doubled-up.

Continue reading Lawndale News – New Report Sheds Light on Chicago’s Growing Homelessness Crisis, Advocates Point to Bring Chicago Home as a Solution

By Lizzie Kane, August 24, 2023

The number of people experiencing homelessness in Chicago increased between 2020 and 2021, according to a new estimate from Chicago Coalition for the Homeless.

The group finds that 68,440 people experienced homelessness in 2021, a 2,829 increase from the previous year, according to the coalition’s report published Thursday. The research shows shifts in the way people experienced homelessness, citing that 7,985 more people were staying on the street or in shelters as opposed to those temporarily staying with others compared with 2020 data.

Continue reading Chicago Tribune – An estimated 68,440 Chicagoans experienced homelessness in 2021, new report says

By Tessa Weinberg, August 24, 2023

An estimated 68,440 people were unhoused in Chicago in 2021 with a sharp jump in the number of people staying on the street or in shelters, according to a new report released Thursday by the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless.

The coalition’s analysis included data both of people on the street or in shelters and the number of people who are “doubled up” or temporarily staying with others.

Continue reading WBEZ – Chicago’s homeless living on streets and in shelters sharply increased in 2021