CCH collects autographed memorabilia and other prizes from the musical acts playing the festival and offers fans a chance to win them. This year we are excited to present 11 signed guitars from acts like Bad Religion, Social Distortion, Violent Femmes, and more. Concert posters, albums, drumheads – if you collect memorabilia, you owe it to yourself to check our tent out!
Photos of many of the prizes can be found on CCH’s Riot Fest Instagram page HERE.
We are so grateful to the hard working people at Riot Fest for making CCH a staple of this event.
As another school year begins this week, data released today shows that homelessness remains a major issue for students in Chicago’s public education system — particularly in wards with predominantly African American populations. This data has prompted several aldermen with the highest numbers of homeless students in their wards to urge Mayor Lori Lightfoot to support a dedicated funding stream to combat the problem.
Alderman Walter Burnett – Photos by Sam Carlson
“Everyone is very concerned about the budget deficit right now and I am as well,” said Alderman Walter Burnett (27th Ward). “But the underfunding of housing and support services that has left thousands of children in our schools homeless is also part of our budget hole. It is time to make addressing homelessness a priority in our city and in our budget.”
The top 10 city wards with the highest numbers of homeless students, all on the South Side and West Side, have schools attended by 8,250 homeless students, or 50% of all the identified homeless students citywide. The homeless student population in the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is disproportionately African-American: 81.2% of homeless students were black, 15.6% Latinx, 1.7% white, and 1.5% other ethnicities in 2018-19. Among the whole student body, only 36.6% of students were African-American.
Almost 90% of homeless CPS students are temporarily sharing housing with others due to a loss of housing. HUD does not recognize this form of homelessness, often called “doubled-up,” and therefore the vast majority of CPS students cannot access federal programs to provide housing for people experiencing homelessness.
Alderman Jeanette Taylor (20th Ward), with Ald. Burnett and Carols DeJesus Rivera
“As a former high school principal and homeless service provider, I have seen first-hand how homelessness creates an impossible environment for students to study and perform,” said Carlos DeJesus Rivera, Director of Housing Special Initiatives at the Center for Housing and Health. “We need a permanent solution to this problem that has plagued the city for years. The solution is significant, dedicated, local funding to meet the needs of the 16,451 CPS students who are without a safe, permanent place to call home.”
The Bring Chicago Home campaign is working to increase the city’s real estate transfer tax (RETT) to provide dedicated funding for housing with services to address homelessness. Locally generated funds could assist homeless CPS students because a local fund would not have to meet the HUD definition of homelessness.
Bring Chicago Home introduced a resolution in July, supported by 27 aldermanic co-sponsors, that would place a question on the ballot to get permission from voters to raise the city’s RETT. Advocates are pushing for a hearing before the end of September in order to meet the legally mandated deadline to put the question on the March 2020 ballot. Aldermen Michelle Harris and Scott Waguespack, chairmen of the Rules and Finance committees, promised to schedule a hearing, but so far have failed to get a date on the calendar.
As always, the Law Project at the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless will offer free legal aid and advice to city and suburban families and students experiencing homelessness if they encounter issues upon their return to school. Those recognized as homeless includes households living in shelters or doubled-up in someone else’s home.
Common issues include being allowed to remain in the original school attended before becoming homeless, being allowed to enroll in the school nearest where you now live, or being recognized as homeless and entitled to transportation assistance.
For help or information, call the Law Project, call 1 (800) 940-1119 during weekday office hours, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
The staff of the Law Project ran extensive outreach this summer at a dozen back-to-school fairs in the city and suburbs.
At a recent CPS training, leader Bridgette Barber, Attorney Alyssa Phillips, and Organizer Bisma Shoukat
Equal Justice Works Attorney Alyssa Phillips also managed the Law Project’s assistance at eight CPS trainings for over 900 homeless liaisons and school clerks. Working with CCH organizers Bisma Shoukat and Claudia Cabrera, she recruited service providers to participate in the August trainings, including New Moms, The Night Ministry, and Erie Family Health Center.
Alyssa also explained the laws protecting the educational rights and options for homeless children and teens under state and federal laws. CCH parent leaders talked to school staff about their own experiences, Alyssa said, “explaining what was helpful and what was hurtful” when working with schools on behalf of their children or grandchildren.
Kudos to parent leaders Bridgette Barber, Margaret Bingham, Marilyn Escoe, Pat Franklin, and Maxica Williams for the time they gave to these trainings.
Advocates call on her to clarify her position and adopt a viable strategy
At Thursday’s budget speech, Mayor Lori Lightfoot laid out potential ways to address the city’s budget shortfall. Among the plans she presented was her proposal to raise the real estate transfer tax (RETT) on high-end properties, and immediately followed that statement by saying, “We are committed to addressing homelessness and housing instability, and putting real resources toward these problems.”
The Bring Chicago Home coalition, while heartened that she lifted up homelessness as an issue that she plans to address, is left with questions about what commitment she made, and what her plan is to turn that commitment into reality.
Before Mayor Lori Lightfoot revealed her projected budget deficit in a “State of the City” address, members of the Bring Chicago Home coalition rallied Thursday outside her Harold Washington Library Center event, again calling on the mayor to keep the promise she made to the coalition during her campaign.
In recent weeks through the media and communications from her staff, Mayor Lightfoot revealed her intention to shrink the city’s budget deficit in part by raising the city’s Real Estate Transfer Tax (RETT) – a one-time fee applied to real estate purchases – on property sales that exceed $1 million. If she does this, Mayor Lightfoot would raid the same revenue source she had promised to use to combat homelessness and a dire shortage of affordable housing. Continue reading Bring Chicago Home: Community leaders rally outside ‘State of the City’ address, call on mayor’s broken promise on homelessness
Three Illinois municipalities voted this month to repeal unconstitutional panhandling ordinances, responding to a warning letter sent by attorneys from the Law Project at the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, ACLU of Illinois, and the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty.
Including Chicago, 12 Illinois municipalities have repealed panhandling ordinances after receiving warning letters within the past year.
More than 75 municipalities across the U.S. have repealed after being advised by advocates working with the national Housing Not Handcuffs campaign.
Chicago Coalition for the Homeless (CCH) is grateful to have been chosen as the beneficiary for Skender Foundation’s 8th annual Harvesting Hope fundraiser. Proceeds from the event will support CCH’s Youth Futures mobile legal aid clinic.
Harvesting Hope will take place on Thursday, October 17 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Venue West in the West Loop. Styled as a cocktail reception, tickets are $75 and entitle guests to an evening of delicious food and drink, music spun by a live DJ, a silent auction, and various games and prizes. Continue reading Support Youth Futures at Skender Foundation’s Oct. 17 fall fundraiser
Mayor vowed during campaign to support funding mechanism to reduce homelessness, now wants to confiscate that revenue for city’s general coffers, reports say
As Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot celebrated 100 days in office, members of the Bring Chicago Home (BCH) coalition held a press conference Wednesday outside her Kenwood Academy event, calling on the mayor to keep the promise she made to the coalition during her campaign.
Reentry legislation dubbed the “Housing as a Human Right Bill” was signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Friday.
Senate Bill 1780 makes it a civil rights violation to refuse to engage in a real estate transaction based on specific components of someone’s criminal record. As part of the Illinois Human Rights Act, it will be illegal to discriminate against a person seeking housing based on an arrest record that did not lead to a conviction, a juvenile record, or a sealed/expunged record. The law takes effect Jan. 1.
Saying they have been punished just for asking for help, two men sued state and local officials after being ticketed and prosecuted repeatedly for panhandling in suburban Downers Grove.
The Law Project of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless (CCH), ACLU of Illinois, and the law firm of Schiff Hardin allege violations of the men’s First Amendment rights in a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday.
Michael Dumiak and Christopher Simmons have been harassed, ticketed, and prosecuted by local authorities when the men stood on a raised median strip seeking donations from people in vehicles stopped at the intersection of Butterfield and Finley roads. They have not caused safety or traffic problems. Firefighters and others use that median in the same manner to raise money for charitable organizations, but they are not ticketed or prosecuted.
“All I want to do is to ask for help when I need it. I’m not blocking traffic or putting myself at risk – I’m just holding a cardboard sign. If other people and organizations can do it, I should be able to as well,” said Mr. Dumiak.
Mr. Dumiak and Mr. Simmons have been charged under an Illinois statute that makes it a misdemeanor to stand on a median to solicit contributions, employment, business, or rides from passing vehicles. The state statute does not prohibit other interactions with drivers and passengers, such as gathering petition signatures or distributing leaflets. It allows municipalities to exempt certain charities from the law, even as local police enforce it against individuals who ask for money for their own use.
A Downers Grove ordinance similarly prohibits standing on a median strip to solicit funds from vehicles, but expressly exempts some charitable solicitation.
The case comes after the ACLU and CCH sent letters to 19 municipalities in the past year to warn that their panhandling ordinances are unconstitutional.
A 2015 U.S. Supreme Court ruling made it clear that most laws targeting panhandlers are unconstitutional. Although the case (Reed v. Town of Gilbert) was not about panhandling, the Supreme Court clarified that government regulation of speech based on its subject matter or purpose is almost always unconstitutional. Since Reed was decided, panhandling ordinances across the nation have been repealed or struck down by courts. To date, 10 Illinois municipalities, including Chicago and Oak Park, have repealed their panhandling ordinances after receiving letters from the ACLU and CCH.
“By choosing to ban only certain topics of speech, the state of Illinois and Downers Grove are unjustly targeting people who need help making ends meet. We are calling on the court to put a stop to this wrongful enforcement,”” said ACLU Senior Staff Attorney Amy Meek.
“Our clients in this case are just two of many homeless people across Illinois who have been targeted by these inhumane and unconstitutional laws. We hope to stop Downers Grove from unjustly criminalizing their speech and affirm that everyone has the right to ask for help,” said CCH Community Lawyer Diane O’Connell.
For the eighth year, CCH is proud to be a charity partner of Riot Fest, a three day music festival and carnival held in Chicago’s Douglas Park.
