Ending Homelessness in Chicago

          Ending homelessness... is it a dream?  Imagine a city like Chicago without homelessness! It could happen. In 2002, Mayor Daley was the first mayor to sign onto a Plan to End Homelessness. The goal to end homelessness in ten years. There are three key elements of the Plan:

• providing enough permanent, affordable housing

• stopping the flow of persons into homelessness

• helping those who are homeless end their homelessness as quickly as possible.

Its part of a nationwide effort to re-think the way homeless persons are helped.

        Our Streets to Home program places two case managers in the heart of Chicago's downtown, where there were none before, and one at the Marquard Center. Their goal is to move people into permanent housing as quickly as possible and keep them housed. The Chicago Department of Family and Support Services provides most of the funding.  Along with funding comes vouchers to place 26 persons into permanent housing. They also provided general case management help too. Once we place persons into permanent housing, we provide ongoing case management support to keep them from becoming homeless again. The case managers work in donated office space at St. Peter's Church, right in the Loop.

       We have an Interim Housing Program at the shelter. We  help participants find housing within 120 days. They stay at the shelter 24 hours / day while volunteering around the shelter and doing whatever it takes to find and maintain a stable lifestyle. We'll follow up with them after they get housing to make sure they keep their housing.  Let us know if you'd like to help support this effort.

       We are often the first point of contact for homeless individuals.  We build relationships with homeless individuals and encourage them to find housing and whatever else they need.

        We are committed to maintaining our emergency services for as long as they are needed. Wouldn't it be great if there were so few homeless persons that we could transform one of our men's dorms into a supportive service center? That would be fine with us - we could expand our supportive services. Until then, we are committed to providing food and shelter to those who line up at our doors. Our basic programs are the infrastructure that allows us to do special projects geared toward specific sub-populations of our guests. We remain committed to this synergy between emergency and supportive services a s a good way to help people end their homelessness. .

You, too, can play a part in ending homelessness by providing financial support for the work we do. Click here to donate.