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Chicago Tribune: City ousts relocated tent city; advocates withdraw bid to stop Uptown viaduct construction

Posted on by Anne Bowhay
With the start of construction to begin this week, dozens of homeless people living in tents under crumbling viaducts in the Uptown neighborhood are displaced to other locations. The city’s resolution is to move the homeless people living under the viaducts to Pacific Garden Mission, a homeless shelter on the Near West Side. (Alyssa Pointer/Chicago Tribune) – LINK to Tribune photo gallery

By Mary Wisniewski and Marissa Page

The city of Chicago cleared out what was left of the former homeless encampments under Lake Shore Drive in Uptown on Monday morning and required residents to leave a nearby parkway, while advocates abandoned their attempts in court to block the city from starting construction on the crumbling structures.

Representatives from the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless withdrew a request for a temporary restraining order they hoped would delay work on the Wilson and Lawrence avenue bridges, a six-month construction project that required more than two dozen homeless people living under the bridges to move elsewhere. The bridges were built in 1933 and are among the most traveled structurally deficient structures in the city, according to the American Road & Transportation Builders Association, a Washington-based trade group.

The coalition sought permanent housing options for the tent city residents, and say that the city’s plans for bike paths on the sidewalks at Lawrence and Wilson are intended to block the homeless from returning.

“We believe they are intentionally discriminatory,” coalition attorney Patricia Nix-Hodes told reporters after the hearing, referring to the construction plans.

Construction could begin as soon as Tuesday, according to Chicago Department of Transportation spokeswoman Susan Hofer, and is scheduled to continue until March 31.

The tent city residents had relocated their tents to a grassy parkway just west of the bridges Sunday. Streets and Sanitation workers tossed blankets, food, mattresses and a tent left under the Lawrence bridge into blue garbage trucks early Monday.

Later in the morning, police began ordering the former tent city residents to leave the new spot they picked along the public way bordering Wilson and Marine Drive.

Chicago police Cmdr. Marc Buslik said CDOT workers would seize tents and belongings from those who did not comply with the order to move, and that remaining residents would receive citations. However, Hofer said CDOT would not have confiscated tents and belongings.

“Our role is enforcing the freedom of the public way, and by filing complaints with the Police Department we did that,” Hofer said. She said the tents were so close to the street that if someone had tripped and fallen out of a tent, he or she could have been run over. “We wanted them to be safe.”

About 10:45 a.m., officers stationed themselves behind the encampment along Wilson as some residents began packing their possessions. City workers began removing tents and belongings just before 11:15 as supporters chanted, “Stop harassing the homeless.”

Deputy Chief Al Nagode said the residents’ personal effects were being taken to the North Area Community Service Center at 845 W. Wilson, which is operated by the city’s Family and Support Services Department.

Nagode said residents had to leave because their tents were in a permitted area for construction.

By noon Monday, most of the tents on the parkway had been dismantled and the enforcement left people scrambling to find alternatives. One man asked officers for some additional time to vacate the area, as he tried to secure a different housing arrangement. Several residents said they had not determined where they would head next.

City officials said they have been working with the homeless and trying to find them alternative housing. But many of the people interviewed say they don’t want the shelter offered.

Maggie Gruzlewski, 49, who has depression as well as multiple physical problems, said her pocket has been picked at a shelter and she doesn’t want to stay there.

“I have a hard time sleeping there,” she said. “It’s noisy. There are bedbugs.”

She said she’s on a waiting list for housing and has been homeless for six months.

A former resident at the Lawrence bridge, Senad Filan, 45, was in tears. He thought he would get a key to an apartment Monday from an advocacy group. But it didn’t come, and now he was not sure what would happen. He said he had been homeless for five years.

“You try to be calm and be patient,” said Filan, wiping his eyes as he stood by his collapsed tent, decorated with a Blackhawks scarf. “Some friends are going to help me.”

Andrew Worseck, an attorney for the city, told Cook County Circuit Judge Celia Gamrath in court on Monday that the city had also arranged for shelter beds in Uptown, and that more shelter options are being added daily. City officials had proposed moving the tent city residents to the Pacific Garden Mission in the South Loop, about 8 miles away.

But attorneys for the coalition countered that the shelter beds in Uptown were for men only, and that the Pacific Garden Mission did not have facilities for the mentally ill. Many tent city residents said they rejected an offer from the city to go to the South Loop facility for similar reasons, and also because it requires participation in religious services.

Yehuda Rothschild, one of the founders of Uptown Tent City Organizers, said residents and advocates were hoping that a permanent housing option from the city would materialize by Monday. Hope was a “long shot,” but residents had few other options, he said.

“These are people at the end of their rope,” Rothschild said. “They can’t help themselves or they would.”

Julian Andrews, 37, said he began living under the Lawrence viaduct after losing his previous housing. He said he scraped together enough money to stay in a hotel Sunday night and returned to the neighborhood to collect his possessions from the bridge.

By the time he arrived Monday morning, city crews had cleared the area, and his things were gone. He said did not know whether his belongings had been thrown away or moved someplace else.

“I’m lost, man. I’m lost more than I already was,” Andrews said through tears.

Chicago Sun-Times, Mark Brown: Homeless relocate their tents and wait for city’s next move

Posted on by Vanessa Álvarez

Louis “Abdul” Jones and other homeless occupants of two tent encampments moved their belongings to a nearby parkway Sunday in hopes of avoiding a forced city eviction. | Mark Brown/Sun-Times

By Mark Brown, Columnist

Occupants of two homeless encampments under Lake Shore Drive relocated their tents Sunday afternoon in hopes of outmaneuvering the city’s plans to evict them.

About 20 of the tents that have been located beneath the viaducts were moved just west to a thin strip of parkway between the sidewalk and Wilson Avenue.

Advocates for the homeless argued they should be allowed to legally occupy that piece of public property, just as they did two years ago during an overnight protest that became the genesis of the Tent City communities.

“If we can’t live there, we’ll live here,” said Louis “Abdul” Jones, a leader of the homeless group that has occupied the viaducts.

City officials are bound to have other ideas given the perilous proximity to the roadway. Whether the new location would survive even until dawn was anybody’s guess.

Both a state and federal judge have refused to block the city’s order to vacate the viaducts by 7 a.m. Monday to allow for construction work to begin to repair the crumbling structures.

Although many of the homeless people, including Jones, have secured housing in recent days with the city’s help, an estimated 25 individuals faced Monday’s deadline with no place to go other than the city’s offer to take them to Pacific Garden Mission, which is not a popular place with most homeless people I have met.

Among those still without a plan was Carol Aldape, the 68-year-old grandmother I told you about a few weeks ago.

Aldape, who has been living out here in a tent since losing an apartment on Marine Drive in May, joined her neighbors in moving down the street.

Aldape’s particular complication is finding a place to live that will accept both her and her two dogs, Bella and Chief.

She was using her newly repaired motorized scooter to give the dogs a “walk” when I interrupted Sunday.

Aldape said the city has offered to put her in an assisted living facility, but she was not satisfied with the arrangement for her pets.

“They want me to give up the dogs, and I’m not going to do it,” she told me firmly.

But Aldape knows she can’t hold out much longer.

“I have to get in somewhere before the winter. I can’t take the cold,” she said.

Some of those still left under the viaducts already have a promise of housing but were waiting for the last minute to move.

“I like it out here,” said Steve Arthurs, who admitted he had been procrastinating. “I couldn’t push it off any longer. It’s time.”

Why does he prefer the street?

“I get fed better. I like the freedom. I feel very confined by an apartment, the rules,” he said.

Sitting outside Arthurs’ tent beneath the Lawrence viaduct was his friend Donald King, who was one of the first to obtain an apartment through the city’s pilot project for the viaduct homeless.

But even after a year, he returns regularly to the viaducts to visit.

“There’s a certain survival bond that’s formed,” Arthurs suggested.

While we talked, many residents of the nearby Uptown neighborhood walked intentionally in the street on their way to and from the Lakefront to avoid the homeless people on the sidewalk.

But as one young athletic couple came past on the sidewalk, Arthurs called out to them: “Looking good, guys. Looking good.”

They waved.

“They’re training for the marathon,” Arthurs explained.

As afternoon turned to evening with a threat of rain and possible police action, the strain began to show as tempers flared in the close confinement of the new setup.

“A lot of people are going to get left behind. Right now, I know everybody is feeling it,” Jones said.

“This is our last ditch effort,” he said.

By morning, the homeless people may be gone from under the viaducts. Just keep in mind: that doesn’t mean they’re gone.

Chicago Tribune: Uptown tent city homeless move west of viaduct as city plans renovations

Posted on by Vanessa Álvarez

Moving tent cityMark Saulys gets ready to move to a new apartment in Rogers Park on Sept. 17, 2017. Homeless people who have been living under the Wilson and Lawrence Avenue viaducts have a deadline to move by midnight. (Nancy Stone/Chicago Tribune) 

By Elvia Malagon & Tony Briscoe

As joggers and families walked through the Uptown neighborhood on a sunny Sunday morning, Carol Aldape sat in an electric wheelchair and sorted through a storage bin of her belongings under a crumbling viaduct near Lake Shore Drive.

She found a pair of leggings she had been looking for and stopped to eat granola bites for breakfast. Her two dogs, Chief and Bella, watched from outside another orange and gray tent.

“You know the cartoon with the final straw, and he’s holding on,” she said. “Well, seems like ours just broke. And sure this place needs fixing up, but sure there are a lot of low-income people that need housing.”

Aldape, 68, has called a tent pitched under the Wilson Avenue viaduct her home since May. The area is known as tent city, but the homeless people who have taken up shelter there were forced to move out after a federal judge ruled last week that the city of Chicago could move forward with a construction project.

The project includes plans to create bike paths under the viaducts, which would shorten the sidewalks, and calls into question whether the homeless people would ever be able to return. The viaducts are expected to close Monday, and construction could last until March 2018.

The challenge over the plan is expected to continue in court. A hearing is scheduled Monday regarding a complaint the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless previously filed against the city.

The city had proposed moving the displaced people to Pacific Garden Mission, a shelter nearly 8 miles south. But the homeless who were part of tent city didn’t move far.

Volunteers with Uptown Tent City Organizers picked up their tents and belongings and walked less than 500 yards west of the Wilson viaduct. Volunteers also pitched newer but smaller tents. Some of the people living under the Lawrence Avenue viaduct were expected to move to that area Sunday as well.

Brien Cron, a local advocate for Uptown Tent City Organizers, said he thought the group had a right to set up the tents on the grassy area along Wilson Avenue between the sidewalk and the road.

“This is a public right of way, so we are evoking that right as an Illinois state resident to use this area as a public way for our homeless people that are living under the viaducts,” he said.

Andy Thayer, an activist with the group, said the location was also chosen because it would keep the issue of homelessness visible.

Organizers on Sunday were having difficulty squeezing all the tents into the space, prompting leaders to huddle and make the decision to expand closer to a bus stop at the northeast corner of the intersection.

Some described the move as chaotic. Others said they were worried about disagreements between the two encampments. But all were united in their gripes about leaving the viaducts.

Outside each tent was a picket sign planted in the ground, reading: “Housing is a human right!”; Stop harassing the homeless!”; and “$ for housing, not policing.”

Just north of the new encampments, Jesse Tolwinski placed his tent away from the group, under the shade of trees just west of the viaduct where he had been living for six months. Water bottles, a lawn chair and a small outdoor grill were just outside his tent. Other residents of the informal tent city had warned him that the city could force him to leave this spot, too, but he said he was willing to take his chances.

“I’m stubborn, I ain’t going to move,” he said. “If they lock me up, at least I’ll have a roof over my head, and they have to feed me.”

South of Tolwinski’s encampment, Aldape’s new tent was smaller than the one she used under the viaduct. The only thing that fit was a makeshift bed that her dog Bella quickly jumped on top of while volunteers continued the move. Volunteers began placing Aldape’s belongings in a second tent.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Aldape told a volunteer as she stared at her things near the curb.

Aldape wants to stay in the Uptown area; it’s where her doctors are located and where she previously lived with assistance from the government. She is waiting for housing at an assisted living facility, but she won’t accept anything unless her dogs can come with her.

Her friend Mark Saulys was going to store some of Aldape’s belongings in his new apartment. Last week, he got the keys to an apartment in Rogers Park that he obtained through a government program.

Saulys, 56, joked that he might keep an office for the group. He had been living in the encampment for more than a year, and he was in charge of all the donated tents. He said the group gave him a sense of community, and he thought the environment was more helpful than staying at a shelter.

“Pacific Garden Mission, you wouldn’t send your worst enemy there,” he said.

Before he became homeless, Saulys lived on the city’s West Side. He had planned to take a biking trip in the country’s Northeast, but he never managed to leave.

“I got stuck,” he said. “You think you’re going to be homeless for a short period.”

As his friends continued to sort through their belongings, a van from Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago parked under the viaduct. Saulys loaded his belongings into the van and was driven to his new apartment.

At the Lawrence Avenue viaduct, many broke down their tents, packed their belongings and waited for trucks to move them to the easement along Marine Drive.

Others, though, refused to leave, saying the city had promised affordable housing vouchers by the time the construction was set to take place.

Among those who planned to stay were Diane Rubo, 54, who has lived underneath the viaduct since December after disagreements with her landlord. Rubo, who collects disability benefits, said she needs surgery for disks in her neck and back, which has prevented her from working.

Adding to the stress of the situation, the South Side native said she doesn’t want to return to the rampant violence of her old neighborhood.

She and others said they’re staying underneath the viaduct to protest what they see as a broken promise, and their message is simple.

“Work with me, not against me,” Rubo said. “Why don’t you want people to have good housing? Put one of their children in our place: Would they want them treated like this?

“They tore down the projects, put them on the street, but didn’t want to do anything for them,” she said.

Rubo, who wore a silver crucifix necklace, said her faith has kept her grounded.

“This is only just a scratch, but it won’t shake me,” she said. “Because I have an unshakable God.”

NPR, Illinois Issues: No money for shoes

Posted on by Vanessa Álvarez

Kellia Phillips is pictured with four of her children: Journee, 7 months, Jaleece, 15, Janae, 13, and Johnnie, 6.Kellia Phillips is pictured with four of her children: Journee, 7 months, Jaleece, 15, Janae, 13, and Johnnie, 6.  (Photo by Keith Freeman/Chicago Coalition for the Homeless)

By MAUREEN FOERTSCH MCKINNEY 

Illinois’ child poverty rate is just as high as it was in 2010. Is the state doing enough to bring it down?

Kellia Phillips’ teen-aged daughters Jaleece and Janae run track. They have had to do so in ill-fitting shoes sometimes as old as three years.

Janae, 13, loves to knit and crochet. Her mother, says, “I could only get her yarn like every three months and she was so much into knitting and crocheting. I still can’t do that for her right now because I have no income.’’

Janae and her siblings would like bikes and a television, but that’s not in the picture any time soon.

“It’s very difficult right now, and I’m trying to pull it together so they can have the stuff they require and actually need,’’ says Phillips, who spent 4.5 years in shelters in Chicago with her children and now lives in Bronzeville on the city’s south side.

Phillips’ family, which includes six children between the ages of 7 months and 18, is a living example of the child poverty problem in Illinois.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation annually compiles a national report with statistics on child well-being. In terms of economic well-being — defined as areas where factors such as the child-poverty rate and children whose families lack secure employment were measured —Illinois ranked 25th.

Anna Rowan, Kids Count project manager for Voices for Illinois Children, says, “Areas where we do well: We have a low rate of uninsured and a high percentage of children in early childhood programs. Where we don’t do so well are the indicators of economic well-being, specifically in our high poverty rate. We have 19 percent of our kids in the whole state who are living in poverty. That’s over half a million of our state’s kids. We need to focus on getting them and their families out of poverty.

“And the alarming thing is that this number hasn’t really changed since 2010, which was the height of the great recession, and our data only go up to 2015, so it’s important to know that we haven’t seen any possible impact of the state’s budget crisis on our numbers.”

What organizations working to assist the poor know is the mission has been harder in the face of a budget crisis. Though a Fiscal Year 2018 budget was approved in July, agencies are still waiting for money. As of Tuesday, there was a bill backlog of $14.5 billion, and $6.1 billion of those bills had yet to be sent to the comptroller’s office. A recent report by the Chicago Foundation for Women detailed some of the consequences of the impasse on organizations that help women and children.

“When this continued for a second year, were started to see a falloff in the number of women and children being served,’’ says K. Sujata, who is president and CEO of the foundation. “When we started talking to the organizations, we started hearing about layoffs and waiting lists and burnout. Certainly, in terms of our own anecdotal sense …we are seeing that people are not receiving services.’’

Mitch Lifson, senior policy analyst for Voices and a contributor to the report, says, “When you look at the demographics of those who are in poverty and what happened as a result of this budget impasse with the curtailment of cutback of services, it had a disproportional impact on women and children of color, and that, of course, makes the circumstances that they’re in more difficult for just getting by on a daily basis.”

But Meghan Power, director of communications for the Illinois Department of Human Services, counters, “Throughout the budget impasse, IDHS worked hard to maintain many programs that served Illinois’ children and families, including the Early Intervention program, the Women, Infants, and Children food assistance program, Family Case Management services, and our Child Care Assistance Program. … IDHS is continuously evaluating our programs in order to create systems that are effective and also sustainable in these hard times.

And Jason Schaumburg, director of agency communications for Gov. Bruce Rauner, wrote in an email:

“Since taking office, the Governor has worked on many initiates to address the needs of children and their families who are living in under-resourced communities.”

Among the initiatives directly related to poverty cited by the Rauner administration:

“Last year, the governor signed into law a bill that expanded the school breakfast program to an additional 175,000 children. Senate Bill 2393 made breakfast an official part of the school day for low-income schools in Illinois. It guarantees that every student has access to the healthy food they need to learn.”

Like hunger, there are real consequences for the children who are in need of services to help mitigate the effects of poverty.

Children living in poverty face greater chances of suffering from malnutrition, exposure to violence and other trauma and see limited educational opportunities as compared to kids who don’t have to deal with being poor, says Katie Buitrago, who is director of research at Heartland Alliance’s Social IMPACT Research Center. The alliance is an organization with initiatives that include anti-poverty programs.

Cristina Pacione-Zayas is director of policy at the Erikson Institute, a Chicago graduate school that focuses on child development and provides services to families.

“One area where poverty absolutely has an impact on how a child gets the resources and services they need that can either enhance their development or continue to depress their development. Another area to think about is their access to high quality early childhood education,’’ she says. “A lot of that is dependent on where your family lives: how easy it is to enroll in a program and if there are available slots, and, ultimately, if the program matches the schedule that this family needs for this child. We do know in research that early high quality education and care absolutely helps to mitigate the circumstances around poverty and the conditions of poverty.”

Cristina Pacione-Zayas is director of policy at the Erikson Institute, a Chicago graduate school that focuses on child development and provides services to families.

What are some of the effects of lack of school readiness?

“It has everything to do with is the child ready to be in a formal setting, and what I mean by that is does the child socialize well with his/her peers? Does the child follow instructions? Does the child know how to focus and attend to an activity or is the child going to be distracted and then do what it wants to do?” Pacione-Zayas asks.

“Children who are not ready for school can be labeled as having behavioral issues and then potentially get integrated into a special education program when actually it had nothing to do with what the child’s development but everything to do with was the child was prepared for and exposed to what they need to be successful in kindergarten.

“All of that has sort of a long-term impact because if the child gets misdiagnosed in terms of special education, … We all know there is a strong connection with what happens in early experiences and how you are tracked early on and the outcome you will have later on in life.

“There is also a strong connection between what happens behaviorally in preschool in terms of how young children are being categorized or miscategorized with behavioral issues and how that leads to premature expulsion or suspension and that connects to a long legacy from the school-to-prison pipeline.”

Then why has Illinois placed a greater emphasis on early childhood education and health insurance than child poverty?

Lifson of Voices for Illinois Children has a theory on why the state appears to have done better in the areas of health insurance and early childhood education than poverty.

“It’s clear that while there has been progress in a number of areas, there is still work to do. I would say part of the reason that you see the improvement in terms of children who have health insurance and in terms of some of the education access to education, such as early childhood programs, it’s because the state made a deliberate effort to expand early childhood services, and it made a concerted effort to register children for health care. And so that’s been a success, and really, it’s an indicator that when the state makes a commitment to changing those measures positive things can happen.

“It’s important to continue to make those investments and to see what else we can do to reach those individuals to whom, for whatever reason, don’t have access to early childhood programs or, for whatever reasons, don’t have health insurance,’’ Lifson says.

State Rep. Greg Harris, a Chicago Democrat, is the chairman of the House’s Human Services Committee. He says he doesn’t believe the state has done enough to tackle child poverty or to boost early childhood services or health insurance numbers. He points to cuts made by the administration of Gov. Bruce Rauner as a factor

State Rep. Greg Harris, a Chicago Democrat, is chairman of the House Human Services Committee.

“We’ve seen growing poverty in the last number of years. We’ve seen increase in uptake in programs that serve families in poverty with food assistance, medical assistance, and other related services. And at the same time, we’ve seen the governor trying to reduce child care, try to limit the availability of food stamps, try to restrict enrollment in the Medicaid program, and it’s making it harder and harder for these families to meet the basic needs of their kids.”

His Republican counterpart, state Rep. Patty Bellock of Hinsdale, agrees with the need to do more about helping child poverty but says, “I think one of the major things we have to look at is the economy in Illinois. We need to create more jobs so more people can support their families. That’s crucial to bring children out of poverty. 

Rowan of Voices, says, “If we’re talking also about helping families get out of poverty, that’s about creating economic opportunities for our families. Are there jobs for children’s parents? Are they jobs that pay a living wage? We know there’s been wage disparity so we want to make sure that we’re getting more families into living-wage jobs. So, does that require job training, additional education so we’re getting people access to full-time year-round positions that pay a living wage?”

Good government programs are a necessity, says Sujata of Chicago Foundation for Women. “We in philanthropy cannot fill the void that the government has put in place. We just don’t have the money, even collectively speaking, to step in and fill the voids when government doesn’t step up and provide …  the safety nets that people require.”

Illinois Issues is in-depth reporting and analysis that takes you beyond the headlies to provide a deeper understanding of our state. Illinois Issues is produced by NPR Illinois in Springfield.

Chicago Tribune: Homeless group close to suit over bike path plan in Uptown

Posted on by Anne Bowhay

By Mary Wisniewski

The more than three dozen people who live in tents under the Lake Shore Drive bridges at Wilson and Lawrence avenues know better than anyone that the structures need repair.  Continue reading Chicago Tribune: Homeless group close to suit over bike path plan in Uptown

Chicago Sun-Times, Mark Brown: Homeless tent city residents given 30 days to scram

Posted on by Anne Bowhay

By Mark Brown, columnist

As I keep saying, if only they knew where to go.

“It’s crunch time now,” said Louis Jones, the street savvy leader of the Wilson viaduct group who expects the situation to “get a whole lot worse” before it gets better.

Louis Jones, who lives in a tent beneath Lake Shore Drive at Wilson Avenue, is among 45 homeless people who will be displaced by construction projects to rehab viaducts over Wilson and Lawrence. File Photo. | Mark Brown/Sun-Times

Although long anticipated, the deadline will add to the normal stress of living on the street as the homeless contend with relocating.

With backing from the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, the people occupying the Uptown viaducts are asking the city to provide them with permanent housing.

So far, there is no indication the city expects to be able to do that.

Counts of the homeless population at the two locations vary.

Lisa Morrison Butler, commissioner of the city Department of Family and Support Services, said her outreach workers counted 43 tents and 25 people on their last visit, leading her to estimate a population of 25-43.

Jones, known on the street as Abdul, said the average nightly count is closer to 50.

“I’ve got nine new clients in the last week and a half,” he said, adopting social worker-speak. Jones noted that two of the recent arrivals had just been released from Cook County Jail. “Wherever they’re running people off in the city, they’re coming here.”

Morrison Butler said the city may be able to house 19 of these individuals with affordable housing openings that went unused during a 2016 pilot program aimed at vacating the two tent encampments. The tent residents are being evaluated to determine who is most in need of housing, she said.

Most of the 75 individuals living in the encampments at the start of the 2016 pilot program were relocated, but others moved in to take their place.

In addition to the 19 openings for temporary or permanent housing, Morrison Butler said the city should have beds available in its homeless shelters for the tent residents.

But people living under the viaducts often refuse to live in shelters, preferring the homeless encampments for a variety of reasons ranging from having more freedom to feeling more safe.

The tents have been a point of tension with some neighbors who complain the homeless are blocking access to Lake Michigan.

I wish those people could see how hard Jones tries to run a tight ship, ordering his homeless neighbors to clean up their messes and to control rowdiness.

In a strange way, the camps have performed a valuable community service by putting homelessness front and center on the Lakefront instead of buried in the city’s nooks and crannies where nobody sees it.

Lawyers from the Coalition for the Homeless said they have yet to meet with the city in response to their written threat to file a lawsuit over the construction project.

Nobody denies the need for the repair work.

But the coalition contends the design of the project, which will place bike lanes on the sidewalk where homeless people now have tents, is a violation of the Illinois Bill of Rights for the Homeless Act because it’s purpose is to prevent them from returning.

The city denies any such intent, pointing to a bicycling plan released in 2012 that calls for Lawrence to be a major bike route connecting to the Lakefront Path.

Another factor in the drama ahead is a group called Uptown Tent City Organizers, which helped supply many of the tents the homeless people are using.

The activist group pushes a more aggressively political agenda, but also has been effective in highlighting the plight of the homeless.

I’ve seen this movie before. It never ends well for the little guy.

Streetsblog Chicago: Let’s not use sidewalk bike lanes as defensive architecture

Posted on by Anne Bowhay
The Wilson viaduct. Photo: John Greenfield

The Wilson viaduct. Photo: John Greenfield

By John Greenfield

Did you ever notice how the glass panels of standard CTA bus shelters don’t go all the to the roof, so that when you wait for a ride during a heavy rainstorm you tend to get wet anyway? Have you used a public bench that was sort of uncomfortable because city planners wanted to make sure it would be almost impossible to sleep on? Ever notice that urban bridges often have large boulders placed underneath them to create an uneven surface, or how window frames sometimes feature spiky fixtures to keep people from sitting on them? That’s called defensive architecture, strategies to discourage loitering, which often have the effect of making public space less useable and welcoming for all of us.

It appears that the city of Chicago wants to use bicycle infrastructure as a form of defensive architecture, by installing bike lanes on the wide sidewalks in Lake Shore Drive’s Lawrence and Wilson viaducts in Uptown. For years people experiencing homelessness have camped out on the sidewalks within the underpasses, many of them using tents provided by homeless advocates. On occasion the city has forced these folks to remove their belongings, such as before a 2015 Mumford & Sons concert at nearby Montrose Beach, which has often resulted in protests by advocates and threats of lawsuits. The situation has been a constant headache for city officials, especially bike-friendly local alderman James Cappleman.

To varying degrees, I’m sympathetic to all involved parties. It’s generally not lawful to camp out in public space in Chicago, and it’s understandable that some of Cappleman’s constituents don’t feel they should have to pass through an illegal homeless encampment in order to walk to the beach.

On the other hand, these tent cities provide the residents with shelter from the elements, safety in numbers, and a sense of community. These locations make it easy for them to be located by people who wish to offer donations of goods and services and check on their wellbeing. Moreover, the encampments are a high-profile symbol of our city’s failure to adequately address its homelessness problem, which is one reason they’re so embarrassing for politicians.

As reported by the Sun-Times’ Mark Brown, the city is planning to install bike lanes on the sidewalks of the viaducts as part of the reconstruction of the underpasses, which is slated to begin next month. Presumably the new bikeways will be similar to the sidewalk lanes in a Metra viaduct on Randolph between Canal and Clinton in the West Loop.

The sidewalk bike lane in the viaduct on Randolph at Canal. Photo: John Greenfield
The sidewalk bike lane in the viaduct on Randolph at Canal. Photo: John Greenfield

While there’s no question that the crumbling Lawrence and Wilson underpasses should be rebuilt, the bike lanes would make it impossible for homeless people to return to the viaducts after the renovations are finished. Therefore on Wednesday the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless announced its intention of suing the city if it follows through with the bike lane plans. In a letter to city officials, the group demanded that permanent housing be found for all people currently living in the underpasses, and that the project be redesigned so that there will be space for tents in the future. There was a protest over the issue yesterday.

When I checked in with Chicago Department of Transportation spokesman Mike Claffey about the bike lane plans today, he provided the following statement:

The improved viaduct will better accommodate the high volume of pedestrians, bicyclists and vehicles that travel to and from the lakefront more safely, including improved sidewalks and dedicated off-street bicycle paths. Designs are final and a contractor has been selected for the work. Construction work is expected to start in September and is estimated to take eight months.

When developing and designing projects such as the Lawrence and Wilson viaducts, CDOT makes a determination about layout based on traffic volume, conditions on nearby roadways and longer-term development plans in the adjacent communities. Each project is different and what works for one viaduct may not be the best design for others. In this case, CDOT began the design process by incorporating the recommendations in the Streets for Cycling Plan 2020, which was published in December 2012. Lawrence Ave. from Austin to the Lakefront Trail is included as a crosstown bike route. Wilson from Spaulding to the Lakefront Trail is designated a neighborhood bike route.

[It was determined that], given the available right of way, built environment, and traffic volumes, the best option would be to utilize the unusually wide right of way for separated bike lanes and pedestrian ways, while preserving traffic capacity. This is consistent with other repairs and building of bridges along Lake Shore Drive, with an upgraded pedestrian/bicycle bridge at North Avenue and ongoing work on the Navy Pier Flyover. New pedestrian/bicycle bridges are also being added to the south side, at 35th St. (finished in 2016) and 41st St., currently under construction.

While, all other things being equal, putting bike lanes on these sidewalks would be a good strategy to make biking through these tunnels somewhat more comfortable, as things stand these are not particularly hazardous passages for cyclists. Under the current configuration, tents included, families and less-confident riders can already ride slowly or walk their bikes on the wide sidewalks within the viaducts. As an Uptown resident myself, my experience has been that the folks living in the viaducts are friendly to passers-by and careful to leave plenty of room on the wide sidewalk for pedestrians.

Moreover, there are hundreds of viaducts in this city. If it’s simply a coincidence that the two underpasses where tent cities are causing a public relations nightmare for the city are the ones that are getting bikeways that will displace those encampments, as CDOT claims, that’s a heck of a coincidence.

More likely, this is a very intentional attempt by the city to use bike infrastructure as defensive architecture, to try to keep the homeless from occupying public space in the future. Other bike advocates may disagree with me on this issue, but in this case I say “Not in my name.”

Chicago Sun-Times, Mark Brown: Homeless coalition threatens suit over Lake Shore Drive project

Posted on by Vanessa Álvarez
Carol Aldape, 68, is one of the homeless people who would be displaced by a construction project on Lake Shore Drive at the Wilson Avenue viaduct where she lives in a tent. |Mark Brown/Sun-Times

By Mark Brown, columnist

The Chicago Coalition for the Homeless threatened Wednesday to file suit against the city over two planned Lake Shore Drive viaduct construction projects that will displace long-time Uptown homeless encampments.

In a letter to Corporation Counsel Edward Siskel, lawyers for the coalition accused the city of intentionally discriminating against homeless people in the design of the new underpasses at Lawrence and Wilson avenues.

The projects include installing bike lanes on the sidewalks where homeless people now pitch tents, effectively preventing anyone from returning there after the work is complete.

The coalition is demanding the city provide permanent housing for everyone currently living beneath the two viaducts and to re-design the planned work to avoid narrowing the sidewalk.

The city has said previously it expects construction work to begin in September. No deadline has been announced for removing the tent residents.

One of those who will be displaced is Carol Aldape, a 68-year-old grandmother who has lived under the viaducts since early May.

Aldape told me she lost her lease in a nearby Marine Drive apartment when the owner decided to sell.

She was unable to find another apartment in the area that would accept both her Section 8 housing voucher — and her two dogs, Bella and Chief.

Aldape decided it would be better to live on the street than to give up her pets, so she rode her electric scooter over to the Lawrence Avenue viaduct and asked to “see the manager” about the cost of renting a tent.

Informed there was no manager and that the tents were free, Aldape decided it was the “answer to my prayers,” which speaks more to her desperation than the modest accommodations.

“It was scary the first couple nights — and cold, too,” she told me Tuesday night sitting outside her tent, the dogs safely inside.

Yet Aldape seems genuinely grateful for this meager lifeline while she seeks another option.

Aldape said she suffers from multiple sclerosis, diabetes, heart trouble and a bad back. With her doctors nearby at Weiss Hospital, she is determined to stay close.

“I guess they expect me to get worse with the MS as time goes on. But that’s in God’s hands,” she shrugged.

It was the bad back that forced her to retire from work and go on Social Security disability.

Before that, she’d spent 20 years working in a nail salon. She also held jobs at Dominick’s, as a waitress and at an animal shelter.

Aldape was never married, but raised one son. She said she doesn’t know whether he knows she’s homeless, but doesn’t want to bother him.

“We’re sort of on the outs,” she said, then after a pause: “We’re on the outs. I do things my way. We really don’t talk. I’d rather he do his life. He came through me, not to me. I can take care of myself, basically.”

Aldape said she has no other remaining family, but has good friends in the neighborhood who “make sure I’m OK.”

She said she was homeless once previously, but back then, there was a women’s shelter in the neighborhood that has since closed. Shelters aren’t an option this time anyhow, with her dogs.

Aldape’s family moved here from Nebraska when she was 6 and lived above a Near North tavern that was torn down to make way for a Sandburg Village high-rise. In the years since, waves of gentrification have pushed her from Lincoln Park to Lakeview to Uptown.

“It’s all gone the same. It’s prime property, and I’m sure they want it for the prime people,” she said.

Eventually, city officials will step up to help Aldape, I believe.

What I worry about more is what happens to the next person in her situation who won’t even have the survival option of pitching a tent under the viaduct because the “prime people” want a bike lane.

Center for Community Change: Housing Trust Fund, home-sharing surcharge to house Chicago families experiencing homelessness

Posted on by Anne Bowhay

LaTanya Gray, Senior Director of Early Childhood for the Primo Center for Women and Children, at the April 20 press conference announcing FIT: “Most of our families have spent years without secure housing, sleeping on couches or floors, never sure if they’re going to have a place to stay the next night.”

LaTanya Gray, Senior Director of Early Childhood for the Primo Center for Women and Children, at the April 20 press conference announcing FIT: “Most of our families have spent years without secure housing, sleeping on couches or floors, never sure if they’re going to have a place to stay the next night.”

The City of Chicago and the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless launched a new initiative, Housing Support for CPS Families in Transition (FIT), to provide permanent housing and services for 100 families experiencing homelessness in high crime communities.  The goal of FIT is to help Chicago’s most vulnerable families to establish stability so that their children can succeed in school and life. The initiative will be funded with a $1 million investment by the Chicago Low Income Housing Trust Fund (CLIHTF) matched with funds via the City’s 4% surcharge on AirBnB and other home sharing programs.

Families that are homeless are at a significantly higher risk for experiencing violence, a dynamic that is magnified in communities where there is a high level of violence. Responding to the lack of housing options and support for the more than 9,925 families with school age children experiencing homelessness in Chicago, the Coalition initiated the HomeWorks Campaign.  Working with parent leaders and housing providers, HomeWorks advocates for improved school services and more family-sized housing with supportive services, including housing for families through the Chicago Low-Income Housing Trust Fund and the Chicago Housing Authority. The HomeWorks campaign made very clear that despite the overwhelming need for housing by these families, less than 1% were accessing permanent supportive housing.

Drawing from the methodology and lessons from the Ending Veterans Homeless Initiative and the Chronic Homeless Pilot programs, the City and the HomeWorks campaign partnered to lead the FIT initiative.  FIT identifies families with children experiencing homelessness enrolled in the six targeted public schools and provides an assessment for the families using a standard Vulnerability Index. Resources will be targeted to those who are considered to be the most vulnerable. The FIT definition of homelessness includes families that are doubled up and therefore are not eligible for many HUD funded homeless programs.

“We are so excited to see dedicated state and local housing resources going towards permanent housing for homeless families, “ said Julie Dworkin, Director of Policy for the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. “In particular, we applaud the city for including “doubled-up” families in those considered eligible for the program as this group has had great difficulty accessing housing assistance due to limited definitions of homelessness.”

This summer, the Coalition, the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH), and Chicago’s the Department of Family and Support Services began the first phase of this effort by reaching out to families enrolled in the Students in Temporary Living Situations program in six targeted schools to inform them about the program. The second phase will include assessment of all the families and placement of the eligible families into 100 new permanent supportive housing units to be added by the Chicago Low Income Housing Trust Fund. Families identified for the program will receive housing vouchers, support from a housing provider to locate housing, and wraparound services to support them in maintaining their housing.

The Chicago City Council enacted the 4% surcharge on AirBnB and other home sharing programs in 2016 by a vote of 43-7.  Proceeds for the surcharge are dedicated to funding supportive services and housing for homeless families as well as people who have been chronically homeless.  In addition to the surcharge, the ordinance requires registration, licensing, and data sharing for short-term rentals. The surcharge will generate an estimated $2 million annually.

Read this and other news stories by the Housing Trust Fund Project at the Center for Community Change.

To learn more about FIT, contact Chicago Coalition for the Homeless Associate Policy Director Mary Tarullo at mary@chicagohomeless.org or (312) 641-4140.

Rockford Register Star: Letter to the editor – Rep. Kinzinger should vote no on current health care reform bill

Posted on by Anne Bowhay

Last week, a group of professionals representing the Illinois Public Health Association, Northern Illinois Public Health Consortium, EverThrive, Chicago Coalition for the Homeless and the Protect Our Care Illinois Coalition supported a press conference in front of Congressman Adam Kinzinger’s Rockford office.

Our message was simple: Please meet with local health department leadership and other health care stakeholders from his 16th District before voting on the next version of health care reform. We also delivered a letter signed by 24 public health and social service organizations from the district asking Rep. Kinzinger to vote no for the health care reform bill as it is currently written.

Out goal for this proposed meeting was to educate Kinzinger regarding the major implications that the current proposed health care reform will have on public and preventative health. the letter was not partisan. During tough budgetary times, public health leadership must speak out for the funds they rely on from the state and federal government to provide essential services to their communities. the current proposed legislation would jeopardize those funds and services.

Prior to last week, our group reached out to Kinzinger’s field staff to schedule this critical meeting and were told that he would not be able to meet with us at all. After a second request following the press briefing, we were offered a brief and cordial conversation with the field representative and were told he would get back to us.

After we left, some of Kinzinger’s staff made comments misrepresenting how things had occurred and questioned our involvement. We must reiterate that the press conference and discussion were both completely pleasant and positive. The group implored the staff to let Kinzinger know that what the public health leadership and health care professionals were asking for was a comprehensive and constructive meeting to discuss the impact of the current proposed legislation.

Many of us work in local, regional and state government, and we believe that working with our elected officials is the best way to assure a strong and robust government system and a successful democracy. The first critical step from Kinzinger’s office would be to respect our efforts toward collaboration and schedule this important meeting.

Given the constant budgetary constraints, health departments must be allowed to tell their stories to prevent further funding cuts. Public health must advocate at the state and national level for recognition of our work to protect the public and promote health.

We are very concerned about the speed at which things are moving in Washington. Kinzinger does not have all the facts about the impact of the bill including that more than 33,000 people in his district would lose health care coverage either through insurance of Medicaid. Nationally, 23 million people would lose coverage. The drastic Medicaid cuts proposed would devastate health care access, including treatment for mental illness and addictions right at a time our nation is in crisis in both of these areas.

Our arguments are not about taking political sides, nor are we suggesting the Affordable Care Act is perfect. This is to ask that both parties work together to improve the ACA rather than quickly repealing it with an inadequate and downright harmful replacement. Because this vote is expected to be so close, it is imperative that Kinzinger be able to make a well-informed decision. We are going to continue to push for a meeting as it is our professional responsibility to protect the health and promote the wellness of our communities and the constitutents of Kinzinger’s districts.

— Tom Hughes, Illinois Public Health Association executive director, and Cathy Ferguson-Allen, IPHA president