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With the 2020 Census almost here, Chicago Coalition for the Homeless is helping ensure that homeless children, youth, and adults across Illinois are counted. This includes offering new CCH outreach materials aimed at informing those experiencing homelessness.

As one of 42 partner organizations with Forefront’s IL Count Me In 2020 program, CCH is providing outreach and education to support a fair and accurate count among hard-to-count communities.

Our message? People experiencing homelessness count, too!

As part of this initiative, CCH organizers and attorneys are providing census education at shelters, schools, drop-in centers, and events across Chicago in the months leading up to Census Day on April 1, 2020. This includes targeted outreach to homeless families, students, unaccompanied youth, and single adults; promoting the census to shelter providers; and distributing outreach materials. Between now and March 2020, we anticipate educating about 750 homeless people and 850 service providers as well as distributing more than 7,000 census-related handouts.

Our focus? To emphasize why a complete count is critical and inform people how to participate if they’re homeless.

“I’m doing everything in my power to make sure that our people step up and are counted,” said Gloria Davis, CCH’s Census 2020 project manager. “Past undercounting of people who are homeless is one of the reasons we have such a shortage of services for our community. We are hoping to change that.”

The U.S. Census Bureau invites most households to respond through the mail, but the process looks different for those without a permanent roof over their heads. To make sure this hard-to-count group isn’t overlooked, CCH staff designed census outreach materials tailored specifically for people experiencing homelessness.

A fact sheet covers all the basics — what the census is, when it’s happening, and why it matters. It also outlines the steps a homeless person can take to make sure they’re counted, whether they are living in a shelter, on the street, or doubled-up with a friend or relative.

Two other new pieces of outreach material — a poster as well as a palm card — provide a similar census overview for people experiencing homelessness.

Help us make sure all Illinoisans are counted in the 2020 Census, no matter their housing status:

• Share the CCH fact sheet with your community and networks.
• Doing outreach? Share the CCH Census 2020 palm card.
• Or help get the word out by posting the CCH Census 2020 poster.
• Pledge to participate in the census.
• Check out the U.S. Census Bureau’s official 2020 Census page.

Questions about the census? Contact Gloria Davis, Census 2020 Project Manager, at gloria@chicagohomeless.org or (312) 641-4140.

– Erin Sindewald, Development Manager

Five years ago, April Harris and her family had to flee their hometown, Pittsburgh.

April’s family was targeted after she asked the housing authority to put a stop to early-morning drug dealing by her home. The family moved to a new neighborhood, doubling-up with friends, but when the threats continued, they were advised to move out of state.

April’s family landed in Chicago.

“We went to the nearest police station. They took us to 10 South Kedzie,” said April, describing how her family was quickly placed in Chicago’s emergency shelter system.

That led to on-and-off stints in shelters over the next four years.

April and her husband, Greg, have chronic health issues, including Greg’s multiple sclerosis. They rely on Social Security disability income to support themselves and their two children. The family’s first six months in the Salvation Army’s Booth Lodge family shelter was followed by two years struggling to pay rent for unsubsidized apartments.

The family moved from their first apartment because Greg, who needs a walker, had difficulty using stairs. They became homeless again in fall 2017, after their basement-level apartment was deemed unsafe by a city inspector.

“We were placed at You Can Make It, a shelter on the South Side. That’s where we met Keith,” said April, referring to Keith Freeman, senior community organizer at the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless (CCH). “We got involved right away with Keith, going to actions, working on the Fight for $15.”

The family moved after four months to another shelter in the Austin neighborhood. April grew more active with CCH while searching online for housing. She felt some pressure, knowing frequent moves impacted her husband’s health and upset the children.

April’s daughter had tested into a magnet school, so she stayed in the same school. But the moves forced her son to transfer schools repeatedly in his early elementary years.

“He didn’t understand why we kept having to move. He was like, ‘Mom, I just want to be able to stay at the same school,’” she recalled.

After 11 months in shelters, the family secured a one-year placement in a subsidized apartment. The Harris family was grateful to be housed, but they still faced instability when the temporary placement ended.

“It’s kind of scary, because that year goes by fast, and you think, ‘How can we afford this when the subsidy is up?’”

April would track prospects for subsidized, accessible housing, signing waitlists and calling to check for openings. Those efforts helped her secure a long-term subsidized apartment last May, in a new Humboldt Park six-flat managed by LUCHA.

With her family’s home secured, April blossomed as a community leader with CCH. She joined its Speakers Bureau, works part-time in the CCH office, and serves as a grassroots leader on its city housing campaign, Bring Chicago Home. April says she found her passion.

“I’ve done phone-banking. I went to Springfield. I talked to my alderman and my state representative and they’re both on board for Bring Chicago Home.

“It’s a lot of volunteering, but it’s worth it. I feel like I’m giving back and I’m taking some of my power back. It makes me stronger. It makes me feel like I made it.”

Derrick Lyons is grateful for a life and career that are on track after years of being homeless.

He credits rediscovering his faith and his voice, including his volunteer work as a community leader with the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless.

“I thought it was the end of the road,” Derrick says of life two years ago. “I was so depressed… I took a big look at myself and thought you know what, something has to change.

“I started going to church, and then I joined CCH, where there are people fighting to end homelessness. That kind of encouraged me, until I started working again.”

In April, Derrick landed a position as kitchen facilitator at The Hatchery, a new food and beverage business incubator on Chicago’s West Side. He applied after asking for a referral from the men’s shelter where he lived, Breakthrough Urban Ministries.

With an associate degree from Malcolm X College and certificates in culinary and kitchen sanitation, Derrick finally landed the full-time job opportunity he’d trained for. Now living with a cousin, helping to care for her ailing mother, Derrick hopes to overcome community reentry barriers to secure an apartment of his own.

Derrick first experienced homelessness after his family lost their home to foreclosure over a decade ago. Unable to secure full-time work, he could not afford housing.

“I was going to interviews with a big old suitcase. I would make an excuse, saying I had been on a trip, but it was all my clothes,” he recalls.

Derrick last became homeless after fire destroyed his sister’s house five years ago. Over the years he has lived in parks, under a bridge, in abandoned buildings, rode the El overnight, and stayed in nightly shelters. He sometimes doubled-up with friends or relatives, offering to cook and clean in exchange for a place to sleep.

“People will let you stay with them maybe three months, then they ask you to leave,” he says.

Last year, Derrick was encouraged by another Breakthrough resident to meet CCH Senior Organizer Keith Freeman. Through shelter outreach, Keith offers information to people experiencing homelessness, organizing those who are interested to work with him on the Bring Chicago Home housing campaign.

“We were talking about housing and I heard about how Chicago Coalition for the Homeless marched in the Fight for $15. I went to the first meeting and I was like, ‘You got me.’ I didn’t look back,” says Derrick, now a member of the campaign’s Grassroots Leadership Committee.

Helped by service programs that assist adults facing reentry issues, Derrick recently secured court expungement for an old record. He also earned a scholarship to Chicago State University. Working for a degree in health information administration, Derrick commutes two hours each way to attend classes two nights a week. And at his West Side church, Derrick is excited to have been chosen for a solo in the fall choir concert.

“I feel great about myself now,” he says, smiling.

“At 57, I feel that it’s been a long time coming. I finally landed a break. Life is finally changing.”

– Anne Bowhay, Media

– Photos by Allison Williams Photography

 

WHAT

For the tenth year in a row, a coalition of Chicago-based homeless service providers and advocacy agencies will hold an interfaith candlelight vigil and memorial service in the sanctuary of Old St. Patrick’s Church to remember Chicagoans who died without a home.

The 750-seat church fills for this hour-long service, held to remember by name the 66 homeless people who died this past year in Chicago. The service includes a performance by the Harmony, Hope & Healing choir.  Families, youth, and adults experiencing homelessness will be hosted at a dinner prior to the event.

WHEN

Tuesday, December 17, 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.

WHERE

Old St. Patrick’s Church, 700 W. Adams Street, Chicago

WHY

Based on most recent census data, 86,324 Chicagoans experienced homelessness in 2017, per an analysis by the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. Eighty-one percent lived doubled-up in the homes of others, often in overcrowded conditions. Our city’s homeless community included 34,870 children and adults living in families. Each year, an estimated 2.5 million to 3.5 million Americans experience homelessness, according to the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty.

WHO

This service is affiliated with National Homeless Persons Memorial Day, one of more than 150 events across the U.S. organized by the National Coalition for the Homeless. Chicago’s service is supported by:

• Ignatian Spirituality Project works to end homelessness by providing Ignatian retreats to men and women who are homeless and in recovery.
• Chicago Coalition for the Homeless organizes and advocates to prevent and end homelessness, based on the belief that housing is a human right in a just society.
• Harmony, Hope & Healing offers creative, therapeutic and educational music programs, providing emotional and spiritual support to homeless and underserved women, men and children in the Chicago area.
• Old St. Patrick’s Church extends hospitality to all that find the church on their path, and to serve the life and work of the laity in the world.
• Franciscan Outreach serves more than 7,600 men and women who are experiencing homelessness each year, by providing healthy meals, safe shelter, and comprehensive services.

Mark Brown, Chicago Sun-Times: Chicago homeless memorial to honor pair who became volunteer leaders

Facing imminent homelessness, three women with disabilities sued a supportive housing program for formerly homeless people after the program stopped paying their rent.

The Law Project of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless and Legal Aid Chicago allege a failure to provide due process and reasonable accommodations of their disabilities in a case that was filed November 27 in state court.

Kenora Roberts, Carissa Marshall, and Janice Johnson all have disabilities and are low-income, making it impossible for them to secure housing on their own in the private housing market. For example, Ms. Marshall, who lives with her two minor children, suffers from a traumatic brain injury and is permanently disabled as a result.

The women’s rent was subsidized by defendant Human Resource Development Institute (HRDI). Through no fault of Ms. Roberts, Ms. Marshall and Ms. Johnson, HRDI stopped making rental assistance payments in August 2019. HRDI’s failure to pay rent put the women at risk of eviction and facing homelessness yet again.

Ms. Johnson and Ms. Roberts landlords have both filed eviction actions against them. Ms. Johnson’s eviction case is set for trial on December 9.

Ms. Roberts told the Chicago Tribune that the prospect of being homeless again “feels even lower than what it was (before), because… you did everything that you were supposed to do.”

Chicago Tribune, Dec. 4: Formerly homeless people file lawsuit against Chicago agency after it suddenly stopped helping them

HRDI failed to provide sufficient notice and review before stopping the rental assistance payments, failed to transition the women to other supportive housing programs and failed to make reasonable accommodations of their disabilities. In a previous interview with the Tribune, HRDI blamed a loss of HUD funding.

“This is a systemic failure and all relevant agencies should work together to take responsibility and prevent our clients from becoming homeless again,” said Legal Aid Chicago Supervisory Attorney Michelle Gilbert.

“At this time of year, with cold weather approaching, we hope this case will prevent vulnerable people with disabilities who previously experienced homelessness from losing their housing yet again,” said Law Project Associate Director Beth Malik.

The lawsuit was filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County. Plaintiffs filed a motion for a temporary restraining order and for preliminary injunction Wednesday and will be in court on December 12.

– Patricia Nix-Hodes, Director, The Law Project

CBS Chicago, Sept. 23: Chicago housing assistance program loses federal funding, puts people’s housing situations in jeopardy

 

 

Dec. 4 UPDATE:

With thanks to 391 generous donors, CCH exceeded its match challenge, with gifts totaling $60,184. 

Many thanks to all!

We invite you to be a part of our #GivingTuesday effort this year!

We are grateful that this Giving Tuesday, December 3, all donations to the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless (CCH) will be matched dollar-for-dollar, up to $50,000 total. This match is made possible by a generous challenge grant from an anonymous donor family.

Now in its 8th year, Giving Tuesday is a global day of giving backed by the power of social media.

Your support with a tax-deductible gift of any size will help us reach critical fundraising goals – supporting vital work to prevent and end the homelessness that impacts thousands of Chicago area families, youth and adults.

Supporters are asked to share our #GivingTuesday message on social media — or consider joining those who are helping us as “Giving Tuesday Ambassadors.”

Sign up by going to www.chicagohomeless.org/giving-tuesday and clicking the “Create my own fundraising page” link. You will be sent an email with a link to edit your goal, photo, and bio. Then you’re all set to share your link with friends and family on Giving Tuesday.

CCH is the only non-profit in Illinois solely focused on advocacy for and with people experiencing homelessness.  Rated a 4-star charity by Charity Navigator, CCH is among 77 U.S. organizations on Charity Navigator’s “Perfect 100” list for their scores on financial health and accountability.

CCH also holds top rankings from Guidestar and is a 2019 Great Nonprofit, based on online endorsements from volunteers and donors.

Please contact Director of Development Michael Nameche with any questions.

During National Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week, CCH shares essays by people who work with us, writing about what inspires their work.

Our final essays are written by Margaret Bingham and her son, John Tyrese Daniels. They are grassroots leaders on the Bring Chicago Home housing campaign.

My name is Margaret Bingham. I became homeless ever since I lost my mom in the year 1991. I didn’t have nobody to turn to. I started sleeping on the bench in the park and my baby Mariah would be sleeping in her stroller. Then I started going to different places to live and went house to house. I would stay with my family members but could not stay with them for too long because the houses would be too crowded. Also, there were multiple deaths in my family since 1991 to 2018, so I have been living doubled-up for years.

I have a 10-year-old daughter named Mariah. She’s been in seven schools since she has been born and lived in different houses. Also, she has been bullied at all the schools she’s been to. But she is a smart girl and all her teachers say that about her.

I like being involved with the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless because they help me get resources. I like helping to fight for affordable housing and help homeless people that are living on the street. I want to help the 86,000 people who are homeless right now like me.

I like going to the meetings with the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless because they go to Springfield to talk to senators and representatives to help get housing for the homeless in Chicago because we need it.

If you walk down the street today, you will see more people out there sleeping in the parks, at the bus stops, and train stations. It hurts me when I see people living out there in the cold and snowy weather. The city should be helping the homeless. Right now, I need a home that I can call my own.

I will continue to fight until we have housing for everyone.

+++

Hi, my name is John Tyrese Daniels. I am an 18-year-old male. I was young when I was taken away from my mother. Finding her again and coming home to my mother has been stressful because she doesn’t have a stable place to live. On top of that, I have a 10-year-old sister who has experienced hardship through homelessness at this very time.

Homelessness is a problem. This problem can affect people in many ways. One way is that it puts stress on the table for the family and in this case my single mother. My mother on top of taking care of my little sister with her school also must worry about providing her a warm shelter.

I stress daily thinking about this situation because how can the city not be providing services to families in need.

Margaret and John work with CCH Community Organizer Bisma Shoukat.

Photos by Claire Sloss

During National Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week, CCH shares essays by people who work with us, writing about what inspires their work.

By Ezra Lintner, intern with the CCH Law Project

I once read that great advocacy is comprised of 50% anger and 50% love. While math has never been my strong suit, I suspect these percentages are correct. This calculation, simply put, is what inspires my work at CCH.

Unfortunately, anger is not hard to summon when one works with communities experiencing homelessness and poverty. I often experience a deep anger that our economic system is such that a handful of incredibly wealthy people continue to grow wealthier at the grave expense of the majority of Americans. Indeed, our system constantly attempts to oppress the people it claims to benefit. To make matters worse, it is sold as something that can be beneficial to all – if one just works hard enough to “make it.”

I have seen, in my personal and professional life, that this is simply untrue: despite endless hard work, millions of Americans are stuck in a system that ultimately cannot yield the comfort, safety, and prosperity that all people deserve. With these systemic failures in mind, it is not hard to confidently state that my work is 50% advocacy based in anger.

Anger alone, though, is never enough. The question then becomes: what do we do with that anger? To answer this question, I believe we must turn to, and ultimately be driven by, love for the communities we desire to serve. My work would be impossible if it was only inspired by anger! While anger creates the need for my work, love provides the truest source of inspiration.

The communities we serve at CCH are incredibly vibrant and tenacious. The clients I have serve are some of the most tireless advocates I have had the pleasure of working alongside. Working with our clients, then, becomes a joint endeavor in advocacy and a true partnership. I am a firm believer that we cannot defend a community without also dedicating time to celebrate the beauty and accomplishments of the community itself. If we fail to root our inspiration in love, we are left with only anger to fall back on – and indeed, that’s only half the equation.

Ezra is a third year law student at DePaul University College of Law.

Portrait by Claire Sloss

During National Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week, CCH will offer essays by people who work with us, writing about what inspires their work.

By Niya Kelly

I am the Director of State Legislative Policy, Equity and Transformation at the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. In my role at the organization I work to advance our legislative agenda on a statewide level. I have worked with the organization for four years.

Our work at CCH is unique because we believe that we can and will end homelessness. We know that with the right resources, funding, and supports we could live in a world free from housing insecurity.

This work is important to me because I get to see significant changes both through the policy lens and with our grassroots leaders. Yes, we pass legislation, we change policies and embark on lofty campaigns, but our work is driven by people with lived experience.

In my time here I have seen people who were hesitant to engage become grassroots leaders who are now always ready to reach out to public officials and advocate for change. I get the privilege of working on a white paper that turns into legislation that later becomes a law while also watching the trajectory of a person. They may have been stayed quiet during a focus group but become the person who testifies in committee about the importance of a program in their life and later meet the governor.

Sometimes armed with my facts and figures, I get to step back and marvel at the fortitude of CCH leaders as they share intimate details of their lives, hoping that their story breaks through with the legislator. Electeds often take that moment, listen and feel moved to act not only for the sake of the person standing in front of them, but for others in their communities.  That is systemic change. I am extremely grateful to do this work, in this space, with amazing people who advocate in ways that I regard with the highest esteem. I know that in working beside them that we will one day reach our goal of ending homelessness.

During National Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week, CCH will offer essays by people who work with us, writing about what inspires their work.

By Juanita Rodgers, Grassroots Leader

My name is Juanita Rodgers and I am one of the newest grassroots leaders for the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. I am originally from Jackson, Mississippi and I have lived in Illinois since I was 16. I moved to Chicago two years ago. I have three daughters who are adults now and have all completed college. I majored in journalism, criminal justice, as well as human service management, and will soon go back to college to finish at least one of my majors.

Homelessness impacted me throughout my entire life. I grew up in foster homes and shelters at a young age in Mississippi. When I moved to Illinois it was no different, because I was asked to leave with my daughter just shy of my 18th birthday. The high school that I attended saw potential in me and reached out to help. They provided a place for me to stay so that I could focus on graduation.

Before I moved to Chicago, I had told myself and others that I was moving to Chicago to “be a part of the solution and not part of the problem.” That was my motivation. That has always been my motivation over the years. Unfortunately, I did not know that I was going to have to sleep in my car to be a part of that solution. I did not know how to get access to programs that I needed to get back on my feet. I was denied everything, even a medical card.

It is extremely important that we work towards ending and preventing homelessness because nobody wants to be homeless. Some of these homeless individuals have no hope. They refuse help because of the broken system. Some people are homeless because of issues beyond their control.

Preventing homelessness also will decrease some of the crime rates. Homeless people can be easy targets. With less people on the streets there would be fewer innocent targets for random robberies, rape victims, and even murders. Everyone deserves the opportunity to have their own home. Shelter and transitional living are supposed to be temporary. The waiting list should not be that long.

What inspired me to write “Bring Chicago Home” came from a poem I wrote called “City Streets.” I had written it a while ago and lost the original copy. I have been trying for years to retrieve that poem to re-write it for my poetry book, “Diamonds on A Black Sheep.” When I was working downtown and saw people sleeping on the sidewalk, I heard the streets of Chicago again. When I was presented with an opportunity to enter a poetry contest sponsored by the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, the words to “Bring Chicago Home” just came out. Now I can continue writing my book that focuses on the injustice we face in the inner cities nationwide.

I will continue this fight to end homelessness for all. I will continue to the fight to Bring Chicago Home!

+++

Bring Chicago Home

A poem by Juanita Rodgers

As I walk along these city streets

I see people who just want to eat and sleep.

People who just want a chance;

To live in a home without demands.

People who have somehow become lost;

In a system of greed without any cost.

People who are human like you and me.

But have been stripped of their rights and just want to be free.

These people are humans who are just looking for help.

Yet, they get the door slammed in their faces, due to greed and wealth.

Blaming these people for the situation that they are in.

Telling these people that they do not stand a chance.

So why is it so hard to get these people off the streets?

Because it does not affect you or even me?

Until something happens to us to force us to stand out in the rain.

So, who are we to judge these people we see standing in the cold, shaking their cans?

Well, it’s time for us to make demands!

It’s time for us to take a stance!

It’s time for us to push our politicians!

It’s time for us to make them listen.

So, what, are you going to stand there and continue to walk by?

Shed a tear or maybe even cry?

It’s time out for that because they don’t stand alone.

It’s time for us to Bring Chicago Home!

 

Juanita works with CCH Community Organizer Bisma Shoukat.

Link to more information on National Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week