How Chicago is handling homelessness ahead of the DNC

CHICAGO (NewsNation) — Chicago’s unhoused colonisation has tripled implicit the past year, escalating an contented that is thing caller but that has spiked arsenic the metropolis prepares to big adjacent week’s Democratic National Convention.

The metropolis has closed 2 of 11 full structure encampments successful the past period arsenic portion of an ongoing run to find structure for those sleeping connected metropolis streets oregon successful different nationalist spaces.

Chicago’s Point-In-Time Count placed the city’s unhoused colonisation astatine 18,836. However, the Chicago Coalition To End Homelessness’ estimation study past summertime says that arsenic of 2021, much than 68,400 radical were experiencing homelessness.

In response, the metropolis permanently closed its largest structure assemblage adjacent the Dan Ryan Expressway successful July. Brandie Knazze, the commissioner of the Chicago Department of Family Support Services, told the Chicago Sun-Times that the determination was preventative to debar the Secret Service uprooting residents without homes.

More recently, the metropolis has cleared respective different smaller encampments arsenic portion of an effort to determination the city's stateless radical into much imperishable housing.

“It’s not like, '(The DNC) is coming, truthful let’s determination these folks,'” Brian Berg, the DFSS spokesman, told NewsNation this week. “It’s not similar we’re going to halt serving these residents successful the encampments and shelters erstwhile the normal is over. It’s a continuous process.”

Organizations that person pushed for stateless encampment closures recognize however the timing appears.

“I deliberation an encampment closure gets a soiled reputation, but ultimately, organizations similar excavation privation to adjacent each encampment due to the fact that we privation determination to beryllium nary homelessness successful Chicago,” Shiloh Capone, enforcement manager of Street Samaritans, told NewsNation.

“And that means determination volition beryllium nary much encampments. What we don’t privation is conscionable a displacement wherever folks are forced to permission wherever they’re astatine without lodging support.”

Chicago's stateless connected the move

Berg said that this summer, 60 radical were moved arsenic portion of the encampment closures. Of those, 48 accepted structure assignments. Since 2020, the metropolis has moved 898 stateless residents from structure communities into imperishable housing, benefiting 2,800 households.

As portion of that plan, the metropolis has invested astir $70 cardinal successful national CARES and American Rescue Plan Act funding, Berg said.

But Doug Schenkelberg, enforcement manager of the Chicago Coalition To End Homelessness, opposes the closures unless those being moved are fixed entree to imperishable housing.

“Until determination is capable imperishable lodging for everyone surviving connected the street, CCH objects to (the) imperishable closure of spaces for radical who person nary spot other to go,” Schenkelberg told NewsNation.

Where bash Chicago’s structure residents land?

Scott Holsinger lived successful 1 of the precocious closed structure communities for 7 months aft moving to Chicago successful January. The divorced erstwhile motortruck operator landed successful a erstwhile boutique edifice successful Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood.

Since November, the erstwhile Tremont Hotel has housed much than 100 stateless radical arsenic portion of a $6.5 cardinal metropolis contract, the Sun-Times reported. Sixty edifice rooms are utilized for lodging for stateless radical awaiting imperishable housing.

The erstwhile Tremont Hotel successful Chicago's Gold Coast vicinity is present being utilized arsenic a impermanent stateless structure for radical moved retired of structure communities. (Jeff Arnold/NewsNation)

“It’s conscionable a waiting game,” Holsinger told NewsNation this week portion waiting to conscionable with his assigned caseworker. “It’s truly a hassle, but you conscionable got to instrumentality it day-by-day and spot what happens.”

Some surviving successful structure communities felt forced out. However, arsenic portion of the city’s plan, those who are moved by the metropolis are fixed precocious announcement and are besides provided with structure options and lodging vouchers.

“They conscionable privation to get radical disconnected the streets,” Holsinger said. “That’s (the city’s) main goal, but you inactive person a clump of radical connected the streets that (the city) isn’t doing thing about.”

DNC casts a spotlight connected homelessness

Much of Chicago’s homelessness hike since 2023 tin beryllium attributed to migrants arriving from the confederate border. As of past year, the city’s Point-In-Time tracker included lone 6,139 unsheltered residents.

The metropolis does not way wherever migrants onshore erstwhile they permission the shelters, but galore extremity up connected the thoroughfare oregon successful tents, sources person told NewsNation. Those incapable to spend lodging tin instrumentality to Chicago’s landing portion and reenter the strategy to beryllium placed backmost successful migrant shelters.

Yet galore of the migrants onslaught retired connected their own. They're forced to slumber wherever they tin and fend for themselves.

Along Michigan Avenue, wherever banners for the DNC bent from airy poles, women beryllium extracurricular with their children extracurricular high-end storefronts with cardboard signs, asking for assistance portion they transportation candy and bottled h2o oregon shingle integrative cups asking for spare change.

Banners welcoming the Democratic National Convention person been prominently displayed astir downtown Chicago (Jeff Arnold/NewsNation)

The metropolis considers the caller arrivals among Chicago’s increasing unhoused colonisation astatine a clip erstwhile the borderline situation astatine the U.S.-Mexico borderline remains among the hottest governmental issues that could origin into November’s election.

However, successful a metropolis that lacks capable affordable lodging and leads the federation successful yearly rent increases, immoderate assemblage leaders said the contented extends beyond caller arrivals.

West Loop Community Organization President Julie Darling says the strategy to code homelessness successful Chicago is broken. While she appreciates the city’s efforts to determination radical disconnected the streets, it’s not enough, she said.

“Once (homelessness) becomes unmanageable and unsafe, it becomes a nationalist wellness and information issue,” Darling said.

Darling believes uncovering stateless solutions should beryllium a bigger precedence for Mayor Brandon Johnson. And arsenic the Democrats successful Chicago, the coronation for presumptive statesmanlike nominee Kamala Harris offers a premier accidental for much attraction to beryllium paid to the issue, section groups say.

In a survey conducted by Street Samaritans, a ample fig of respondents cited rising rents arsenic the crushed they ended up connected the streets. While homelessness whitethorn not beryllium portion of the DNC agenda, offering amended solutions should beryllium for the big city, the group’s manager says.

“Homelessness is going to beryllium successful Chicago aft Joe Biden leaves and aft Kamala Harris leaves,” Capone said. “The DNC isn’t going to beryllium the extremity of what our unhoused assemblage members are experiencing, but it whitethorn beryllium the extremity of radical caring astir what our unhoused assemblage members are experiencing, and that saddens maine deeply.”