Blog

For the eighth year in a row, Chicago Coalition for the Homeless was honored to be a part of Riot Fest, held in Douglas Park on September 13, 14 & 15.  The Riot Fest staff has been staunch supporters of our work since 2012, and this partnership has helped CCH raise over $200,000 to fulfill our mission.

We could not be more grateful to Team Riot Fest, the artists that donated prizes, and to the wonderful volunteers that helped out this year!

CCH’s tent was stuffed to the rafters with prizes to win – over 90 in all.  Headliners among the raffle prize inventory were the 11 autographed guitars, signed by such veteran acts like Bad Religion, Social Distortion, and the Violent Femmes. Continue reading A record set, with thanks to Riot Fest

Below are the winners of our Riot Fest 2019 drawing. Thank you to everyone who participated! Continue reading Riot Fest 2019 Winners

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.

“Everyone is very concerned about the budget deficit right now and I am as well,” said Alderman Walter Burnett (27^th 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.”

Continue reading Bring Chicago Home: Aldermen denounce the high number of homeless CPS students on the South Side and West Side, call on Mayor Lightfoot to support an immediate solution

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.

This year’s festival runs Friday, September 13 through Sunday, September 15.  Tickets are still available at www.riotfest.org

Here is a map of where to find our tent! Continue reading Going to Riot Fest? Stop by the CCH tent in Douglas Park to win signed music memorabilia

To encourage attendance when Chicago Public Schools reopen this Tuesday, September 3, the CTA is again offering free rides to school for all CPS students. Students and adults accompanying them can ride for free on the first day of classes.

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. Continue reading Chicago schools reopen Tuesday: Free CTA rides, legal aid available for homeless families facing school issues

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.

Continue reading Bring Chicago Home: Mayor alludes to using real estate transfer tax increase for homelessness and housing, but intention and plan remain unclear

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.

Continue reading Twelve Illinois municipalities have now repealed unconstitutional panhandling ordinances

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.

Earlier this month, Mayor Lightfoot divulged her intention to try to shrink the city’s budget deficit 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. Continue reading Bring Chicago Home: Community leaders converge on Mayor Lightfoot’s 100-Day celebration to denounce broken promise on homelessness