News

The coronavirus pandemic has made the situation more dire for people experiencing homelessness. Shelters had to reduce capacity, many people have lost jobs and housing and fewer people are out and about to offer help.

By Colin Boyle

CHICAGO — An Arctic blast will hit Chicago this weekend, bringing with it dangerous cold — and people who are homeless are particularly at risk.

The cold is expected to set in Friday and last through Sunday. Overnight Saturday is when the coldest weather will come: It could get as chilly as 10 below zero, but it’ll feel like 25 below zero, according to the National Weather Service. Snow is also possible during the weekend.

Continue reading Block Club Chicago: With Dangerous Cold Coming, Chicagoans Who Are Homeless Scramble To Find Shelter, Supplies. Here’s How You Can Help

By Laura Rodríguez Presa

When Tony Winters saw city human services workers approach a small homeless encampment in Chicago’s lower street levels east of Michigan Avenue, he crossed the street from his makeshift home to meet them.

Continue reading Chicago Tribune: Chicago’s yearly homeless count could help stem spread of COVID-19, officials say

Ald. Jim Gardiner (45th) said his volunteers cleared “unnecessary debris” from the Irving Park Blue Line station underpass — even though it was clearly someone’s belongings.

By Bob Chiarito

IRVING PARK — Northwest Side Ald. Jim Gardiner (45th) is coming under fire from several constituents after praising his supporters for clearing “unnecessary debris” from near the Irving Park Blue Line stop.

They weren’t throwing away garbage. They were throwing away blankets and food that belonged to a man experiencing homelessness.

Continue reading Block Club Chicago: Alderman Praises His ‘Gardiner’s Angels’ Volunteers For Tossing Blankets, Food Belonging To Man Who Is Homeless

By Amanda Vinicky

A federal judge has permanently banned Illinois’ panhandling law from being enforced on the basis the statute violates the First Amendment. The case was part of a yearlong effort by advocates including the American Civil Liberties Union and Chicago Coalition for the Homeless (CCH) to eliminate such laws.

Continue reading WTTW: Federal Court Rules Illinois’ Panhandling Law Unconstitutional

A string of fires and stabbings have many advocates worried, and challenges in reporting and investigating these crimes leave little hope for justice.

By Adam M. Rhodes

After what some say was an unprecedented pattern of violence against people experiencing homelessness in Chicago last year, activists are calling on the city to better investigate these crimes and to do more for the victims.

Continue reading Chicago Reader: Escalating violence and lack of police response put the city’s homeless even more at risk

Escalating homelessness in Chicago forced city officials to act boldly to mitigate the spread of Covid-19. Hotel 166, located in one of the city’s ‘fanciest shopping districts’, was then morphed into a homeless shelter.

Director – Nic Davis
Producer – Leah De Leon
Commissioning editor – Anna Pazos
Editor – Matthew Meredith
Director of photography – Sam Paakkonen
Field Producer – Lily Qi

Continue reading BBC Reel: How the pandemic is reshaping homelessness

By Mena Ahmad

Even before the pandemic, Chicago’s homeless population was on the rise. Back in January, Chicago saw its number of people experiencing homelessness increase for the first time since 2015. Now a pandemic, a battered economy and oncoming winter could mean a new wave of homelessness in the city. Reset takes a closer look at the issue.

GUESTS: Mary Tarullo, associate director for policy and strategy at the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless

Luwana Johnson, director of shelter operations at Franciscan Outreach

Continue reading WBEZ: COVID-19, Economy And Oncoming Winter Are A Perfect Storm Of Crises For Chicago’s Homeless

As schools continue operating remotely, many homeless students are facing even more barriers to education than they did before the pandemic. VICE interviewed CCH grassroots leader Elizabeth Maldonado and her four children about their experience with remote learning from an Englewood shelter.

By Emma Ockerman

Most nights, people fight and scream outside the small room where Elizabeth Maldonado and her four children sleep—or try to, at least—at a homeless shelter in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood. Maldonado’s 15-year-old daughter, in particular, fears that if she closes her eyes, someone will burst through the door.

It’s no wonder, then, that her kids—ages 17, 15, 12, and 9—often don’t log on to their virtual classes come morning, Maldonado said. They’re exhausted.

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Residents at the encampment need clothing, mattresses and other supplies after their belongings were set on fire, they said.

By Ariel Parrella-Aureli

AVONDALE — Multiple people were injured and had their belongings destroyed during a Monday fire at an encampment for people experiencing homelessness in Avondale.

Continue reading Block Club Chicago: Fire Destroys Avondale Homeless Encampment — And Residents Think It Was A Hate Crime