An outreach worker in a red sweater hands a man a pair of shoes at the Chicago Transit Authority’s Forest Park Blue Line station.
Night Ministry outreach professional Lauren Grudzien, 35, hands Emanuel Ralford, 55, a pair of shoes at the Chicago Transit Authority's Forest Park Blue Line station in early March. The week before, Grudzien noticed that Ralford's shoes did not fit him, so she found a new pair. 'These fit like perfect,' Ralford said. Taylor Glascock for WBEZ

‘The CTA is their last resort’: A night out with the people helping homeless riders

Outreach workers say fewer shelter beds and Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s recent crackdown on people sleeping at O’Hare has forced more unhoused people onto trains and buses.

Night Ministry outreach professional Lauren Grudzien, 35, hands Emanuel Ralford, 55, a pair of shoes at the Chicago Transit Authority's Forest Park Blue Line station in early March. The week before, Grudzien noticed that Ralford's shoes did not fit him, so she found a new pair. 'These fit like perfect,' Ralford said. Taylor Glascock for WBEZ
An outreach worker in a red sweater hands a man a pair of shoes at the Chicago Transit Authority’s Forest Park Blue Line station.
Night Ministry outreach professional Lauren Grudzien, 35, hands Emanuel Ralford, 55, a pair of shoes at the Chicago Transit Authority's Forest Park Blue Line station in early March. The week before, Grudzien noticed that Ralford's shoes did not fit him, so she found a new pair. 'These fit like perfect,' Ralford said. Taylor Glascock for WBEZ

‘The CTA is their last resort’: A night out with the people helping homeless riders

Outreach workers say fewer shelter beds and Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s recent crackdown on people sleeping at O’Hare has forced more unhoused people onto trains and buses.

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On a recent Thursday, all Malcolm Reed could think about was how to get his hands on a warm coat and a new pair of shoes.

He lost most of his belongings when he was forced out of O’Hare International Airport by Chicago police in mid-February along with dozens of other unhoused people. The airport had been a refuge on winter nights until national reports showed how many people were sleeping there — and the city cracked down.

That evening Reed, 52, took a Blue Line train to the Forest Park station just west of Chicago, hoping to get lucky at an outreach event run by the Night Ministry — a nonprofit that sets up meals and medical stations twice a week at train stations to help the homeless.

A line of people queue up for supplies from the Night Ministry outreach team late in the evening on March 9, 2023, inside the Forest Park Blue Line station.
People line up for meals and medical supplies from the Night Ministry outreach team late in the evening on March 9, 2023, inside the Forest Park Blue Line station. Taylor Glascock for WBEZ

More than 100 people were already there when he arrived, queuing for a hot meal and harm reduction kits.

By the time Reed reached the front of the line, the outreach team was already out of clothes for the night. Still, they offered him some Narcan, an opioid overdose-reversing drug, which he stuffed in the pocket of his thin black windbreaker.

Michela Leone receives a plastic bag holding a meal, water and assorted health care items from outreach worker Doris Rosanova at the Forest Park Blue Line station in March.
Michela Leone, 37, receives a meal, water and assorted health care items from Doris Rosanova, 72, at the Forest Park Blue Line station in March. Leone has been homeless for nearly two years. Last December, she set up a Facebook fundraiser for her birthday to raise money for the Night Ministry. Taylor Glascock for WBEZ

The CTA pledged earlier this year to expand partnerships with social service agencies, frankly acknowledging in its “Meeting the Moment” improvement plan that people who are homeless or struggling with mental health issues were impacting riders. The Night Ministry is one of three nonprofits the city’s Department of Family and Support Services (DFSS) said will benefit from such an expansion.

Previously, the city spent at least $400,000 annually on outreach at major public transit hubs, said a spokesperson for DFSS, which oversees services for homeless residents in the city and funds several community shelters. This year, the agency will spend $2 million more on expanded outreach on the Blue and Red lines alone in response to growing concerns about people sleeping there.

Bags of items (left) handed out to people include notes with messages. An outreach worker (right) hands a client supplies that support safe drug use.
Bags of items (left) handed out to people include notes with messages. An outreach worker (right) hands a client supplies that support safe drug use. Taylor Glascock for WBEZ

But despite resources, some outreach workers and housing advocates say there is more need. And a shortage of shelter beds across the city is pushing more people to sleep on trains, they say, because “the CTA is their last resort.”

“The sad part about the CTA is that it doesn’t have any facilities,” said Doris Rosanova, an outreach worker with the Night Ministry. “So it just gets awfully disgusting.”

Keeping them “safe and fed”

What outreach workers say on this cold night in February at Forest Park underscores the vastness of the city’s homeless crisis: When there are fewer shelter beds and O’Hare is no longer an option, more people end up sleeping on trains.

Many shelters were forced to limit bed space to meet health and safety protocols during the pandemic, which contributed to an increase in street homelessness.

But although the pandemic has subsided, the shelter system never recovered.

A line of homeless CTA riders queue up for meals and medical assistance at the Blue Line in Forest Park.
The lines for assistance at the Blue Line stop in Forest Park start in the evening. Outreach efforts can go until midnight. Taylor Glascock for WBEZ

There are about 3,000 available shelter beds in the city, according to DFSS. But the system that connects people to permanent housing counted 11,683 active clients as of early March. And as of this week, another 4,414 Chicagoans were waitlisted for housing support services.

“The shelter beds available are just a fraction of what we actually need,” said Niya Kelly, the director of state legislative policy for the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless.

Retired hospice nurse Doris Rosanova smiles as she speaks with people during a weekly Night Ministry outreach event on the Blue Line.
Retired hospice nurse Doris Rosanova smiles as she speaks with people during a weekly Night Ministry outreach event on the Blue Line. Taylor Glascock for WBEZ

Twice a week, Rosanova helps her team set up shop at the Howard and Forest Park stations.

Tonight, the 72-year-old retired hospice nurse is manning the food station in a lavender-colored puffer and ski pants, her cropped gray hair peeking from underneath her beanie.

She places sandwiches, fistfuls of candy, socks and hand warmers into brown bags before handing them off to what she calls her “clients.” If she sees someone without gloves, she hands them a pair as well.

“I have the feeling that they ask all day long,” Rosanova said. “So I usually don’t ask what you need. I just give.”

A person carrying their belongings and a bag of supplies from the Night Ministry boards a Blue Line train late in the evening.
A person carrying their belongings and a bag of supplies from the Night Ministry boards a Blue Line train late in the evening. Taylor Glascock for WBEZ

Beside Rosanova sits a young person who gives out medical supplies ranging from clean needles to tourniquets and alcohol pads — anything for clean drug use. Across the room is another makeshift station marked by a plastic partition, where a medical team with Loyola University Chicago treats patients for wounds, parasites and substance abuse.

These services are a lifeline for those experiencing homelessness, Rosanova said.

“There will be a time for them to recover,” she said. “And we just need to keep them safe and fed … give them the most necessary things until that happens.”

Outreach worker Yoela Tepper, 30, chats with a man about a harm reduction kit for clean drug use.
Outreach worker Yoela Tepper, 30, chats with a man about a harm reduction kit for clean drug use. Taylor Glascock for WBEZ

The Night Ministry is not the only group trying to help unhoused CTA riders. Thresholds, a mental health treatment provider, placed a permanent team of outreach workers on the Red Line this January. They ride the train on weekday evenings after rush hour and assist those in need of mental health treatment or housing services.

The Haymarket Center, which offers substance use treatment and mental health programming, started a similar program on the Blue Line just last week. The outreach workers ride the trains and walk through platforms trying to develop relationships with clients to identify their needs, a Haymarket official said.

“A fraction of what we actually need”

Rosanova saw almost 150 clients that night.

Among them was 29-year-old Jay Snook, wearing a thin white T-shirt. The father of three said he has been sleeping on the “L” or at CTA train stations since he was relocated from O’Hare. That came after Mayor Lori Lightfoot vowed to do everything she can to remove unhoused people from O’Hare, including new security checks that require CTA customers who arrive at the airport to show a boarding pass or work badge between midnight and 4 a.m., according to Block Club Chicago.

Snook decided to hang around to talk to the case manager on duty about getting on a shelter bed waitlist, though he knew his prospects were slim.

“As far as beds go, there’s just no availability,” said Stephannie Schreiber, the Night Ministry case manager. “We call 311 to try and find them shelter. But personally, I have never successfully been able to get someone a bed.”

Members of a Loyola University Chicago medical team and emergency personnel respond to a man having a medical emergency at the Blue Line Forest Park station during an outreach event .
Members of a Loyola University Chicago medical team and emergency personnel respond to a man having a medical emergency at the Blue Line Forest Park station during an outreach event. Taylor Glascock for WBEZ

When asked what it is doing to address a more systemic issue, a DFSS spokesperson said that as of 2023, the department is allocating an additional $3.7 million annually to increase shelter funding. The spokesperson did not disclose exactly where that money is going.

Kelly, of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, said the city’s efforts to expand outreach on the Red and Blue lines as well as scaling up partnerships with agencies like the Night Ministry are helping. But more funding is needed to meet demand.

“We do have to find a way to build upon our emergency services so that when we have those really frigid nights, they’re not sitting in emergency rooms or in police stations because there’s not a bed available in the city,” Kelly said.

In the meantime, riders like Malcolm Reed shelter on the CTA as “sleeping anywhere else can get you arrested.”

As night fell and the temperature dropped, Reed took the escalator back upstairs and stepped onto a waiting Blue Line train, where a couple people had already taken refuge — some slouched in their seats, others digging into dinner.

Reed said he had been robbed on the train several times while sleeping. So instead of sleeping, he just tries to stay awake.

Anna Savchenko is a reporter for WBEZ. Follow @annasavchenkoo.

Updated: In an earlier version of this story, WBEZ misidentified the gender of a person. This story also was updated to reflect that the data cited in this story from the City of Chicago waitlist system tracks people waiting for permanent housing placements.