News

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 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

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

By Alex Nitkin, August 23, 2023

If approved, Chicago would join cities like New York, Los Angeles and Evanston who’ve turned to the tax in recent years to pad their budgets — all to different effects.

Currently, all property buyers pay a flat 0.75% rate, regardless of the sale price. The Bring Chicago Home proposal, first pitched by housing advocates in 2018, would more than triple that one-time tax for properties over $1 million, including commercial properties. Proponents predict the tax could generate more than $160 million in annual revenue for the city to spend on homelessness and rehousing efforts.

Illinois law only allows municipalities to restructure their real estate transfer taxes if voters approve it in a binding referendum. The Chicago City Council still must approve the ballot measure before it reaches voters, and the language and specific tax rates they propose may change. But as currently written, Bring Chicago Home would charge a 2.65% tax on all property sales of more than $1 million.

Continue reading Next City – As Chicago Considers A ‘Mansion Tax,’ Evanston And LA Show Potential Paths Forward

By Fran Spielman, August 23, 2023

If Chicago voters and the City Council approve Mayor Brandon Johnson’s tiered plan to raise the real estate transfer tax on high-end home sales, the city will have $100 million in new money to combat homelessness every year.

Against that backdrop, a new report indicates at least one of the programs the Department of Family and Support Services already operates is spending city dollars wisely and with sensitivity.

In an audit released Wednesday, Inspector General Deborah Witzburg examined “Accelerated Moving Events,” which is when residents of homeless encampments “complete all the steps required” to secure housing and support services in one day.

Continue reading Chicago Sun Times-New audit by inspector general lauds city outreach to homeless encampments

By Laura Rodríguez Presa, August 22, 2023

Nearly 100 asylum-seekers who made a home at a community-run shelter in Pilsen must leave the building by Sept. 3 due to a confluence of bad luck that includes a lack of funding and volunteers.

Officials learned last week of the fate of the building said Lucia Moya, chief of staff of Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez, 25th, whose office initially helped to gather volunteers and stakeholders in the community to open the space as a shelter in May to relieve crowding at the 12th District police station on the Near West Side.

Continue reading Chicago Tribune – Pilsen shelter set to close first week of September, forcing nearly 100 asylum-seekers back to police stations