By Maxwell Evans Mar. 25, 2021
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Upon leaving, Brown experienced the struggles of homelessness and life in shelters — including her first shelter, where poor living conditions and institutional control left the 21-year-old “feeling like I was in jail,” she said.
Brown has since found a residence through the Expedited Housing Initiative, but some of her friends — like 58,000 other Chicagoans, according to pre-pandemic estimates — are still without a permanent place to live.