Block Club Chicago – Chicago’s Progressive Alderpeople Retain Seats, Look To Expand Influence On City Council — And Even Mayor’s Race

By Joe Ward, Alex V. Hernandez, and Maxwell Evans, March 6, 2023

Progressives have a laundry list of goals they’d like to accomplish in the next City Council.

Those include the passage of the Bring Chicago Home ordinance, a homelessness prevention measure as well as the police reform bill known as “Treatment Not Trauma.” The revival of the city’s Department of Environment is also a priority, multiple returning alderpeople said.

Continue reading Block Club Chicago – Chicago’s Progressive Alderpeople Retain Seats, Look To Expand Influence On City Council — And Even Mayor’s Race

The Salt Shed Seasons its Concert Series with Support for CCH

This past August, Chicago was introduced to its newest live music/entertainment venue, The Salt Shed.  A grand repurposing of the historic 4-acre Morton Salt complex located on the Chicago River, The Salt Shed launched with an inaugural series of 12 outdoor concerts featuring acts like Fleet Foxes, Andrew Bird, and Death Cab For Cutie.   

Continue reading The Salt Shed Seasons its Concert Series with Support for CCH

South Side Weekly-City Struggles with Low Attendance and Protest at Budget Forums

By Grant Schwab  August 15, 2022

Over the last two weekends of July, the City held three public engagement forums for the 2023 budget. The forums were meant to give participants an opportunity to help inform the City’s budget planning through small roundtable conversations with leaders in local government. Yet numerous problems, from low turnout to a protest that halted the third forum, raise questions about how meaningful public feedback on the budget can be. 

Continue reading South Side Weekly-City Struggles with Low Attendance and Protest at Budget Forums

WTTW – Campaign Calls for Dedicated Funding to Address Homelessness in Chicago

By Erica Gunderson  July 31, 2022

In June, the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless gave Mayor Lori Lightfoot a failing report card on her administration’s progress on the issue. Now, they’re rallying support among City Council members for their Bring Chicago Home campaign.         

Continue reading WTTW – Campaign Calls for Dedicated Funding to Address Homelessness in Chicago

Austin Weekly News – Bring Chicago Home campaign urges alderman to support homelessness proposal

By Igor Studenkov  July 22, 2022

Around 50 to 60 members of the Bring Chicago Home coalition marched to the office of Ald. Jason Ervin (28th), located inside of the JLM Abundant Life Center, 2622 W. Jackson Blvd. in East Garfield Park, on July 18, urging him to lend his support to an ordinance that would create a dedicated funding stream for homeless prevention. 

Continue reading Austin Weekly News – Bring Chicago Home campaign urges alderman to support homelessness proposal

Austin Weekly News – Bring Chicago Home campaign urges alderman to support homelessness proposal

By Igor Studenkov July 22, 2022

Around 50 to 60 members of the Bring Chicago Home coalition marched to the office of Ald. Jason Ervin (28th), located inside of the JLM Abundant Life Center, 2622 W. Jackson Blvd. in East Garfield Park, on July 18, urging him to lend his support to an ordinance that would create a dedicated funding stream for homeless prevention. 

Continue reading Austin Weekly News – Bring Chicago Home campaign urges alderman to support homelessness proposal

Chicago Sun Times – Advocates for homeless pressure Council members Ervin, Waguespack to support ballot question to fund housing

By  Michael Loria July 21, 2022

A coalition of advocates for the homeless protested outside the offices of two City Council members this week in a push to get a question added to the November ballot that would create dedicated funding to provide housing for people living on the street.

Continue reading Chicago Sun Times – Advocates for homeless pressure Council members Ervin, Waguespack to support ballot question to fund housing

Chicago Tribune-Chicago preps for 105-degree ‘feels-like’ temp as heat wave looms

By Jake Sheridan  June 13, 2022

Chicago authorities are opening cooling centers and pointing residents toward libraries, safety checks and even park splash pads ahead of a heat wave that’s expected to bring record temperatures to the city.

Heat indexes are expected to top 105 degrees for two consecutive days on Tuesday and Wednesday, a bench mark that triggered a National Weather Service heat advisory.

Continue reading Chicago Tribune-Chicago preps for 105-degree ‘feels-like’ temp as heat wave looms

WTTW – Advocates Say Lightfoot is Failing to Address Homelessness in Chicago While Pushing for Permanent Funding Source

By Kristen Thometz  June 22, 2022

The Bring Chicago Home Coalition is calling on Mayor Lori Lightfoot to set up a dedicated revenue source to address homelessness in the city after giving the mayor failing grades in a report card issued Wednesday assessing her progress on the issue during her first three years in office.

This is the first time the coalition has issued such a report card, according to Harry Williams, a grassroots leader with the Bring Chicago Home Coalition, a grassroots movement that seeks to end homelessness in Chicago and includes the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, ONE Northside, SEIU Healthcare Illinois and Indiana, and United Working families.

Continue reading WTTW – Advocates Say Lightfoot is Failing to Address Homelessness in Chicago While Pushing for Permanent Funding Source

Cooling Centers Close Too Early Amid Dangerous Heat, Putting Residents — Especially Those Who Are Homeless — At Risk, Some Say

By Mack Liederman  June 15, 2022

CHICAGO — Advocates for people experiencing homelessness are calling on the city to extend the hours cooling centers are open as Chicago is in the midst of dangerous heat.

City libraries, park field houses and six community centers serve as cooling centers where any resident can go for air conditioning and water when temperatures spike. The city opened them this week as the city faced near-record-high temperatures, with some days feeling warmer than 100 degrees.

But the majority of the centers close at or before 5 p.m. Only one — the Garfield Center, 10 S. Kedzie Ave. — is open 24 hours.

Continue reading Cooling Centers Close Too Early Amid Dangerous Heat, Putting Residents — Especially Those Who Are Homeless — At Risk, Some Say