Who helps homeless “L” passengers?

By Harry Huggins Nicholas Saldana met Sarah Levine-Miles on the “L.” He might not have met her at all if it wasn’t so cold that morning last year. And without the chance meeting, Saldana might still be homeless. Saldana survived the cold by sleeping on the CTA Blue Line, riding it all the way from […]

Housing Advocates Pressure the CHA to “Keep Its Promise”

Pic of Alderman

By Alexis Myers and Shen Wu Tan Advocates for affordable housing recently campaigned for the passage of a housing ordinance that aims to reduce homelessness and protect the city’s remaining subsidized housing stock at a City Hall public hearing Feb. 17. The ordinance called “Keeping the Promise” would increase the distribution of housing vouchers, increase […]

Volunteers Count Chicago’s Homeless

Interview

By Harry Huggins Hundreds of volunteers canvased Chicago late Jan. 26 to count every person sleeping in the city’s parks and underpasses. I drove around Chicago’s Near West Side with Dorothy Yancy, Phoebe DePree and Carolyn Hankins-Page for five hours that night as part of the annual point in time count. The survey takes place […]

Homeless Chicago couple chooses streets over shelters

By Adrienne Hurst Geronimo Lightfoot has a home. It’s between two concrete pillars underneath the Illinois Center on Michigan Avenue; a cozy nest of blankets, paper bags and empty cans of Natural Light. The 54-year-old endures Chicago’s biting winters in the wind-sheltered underpass of Lower Michigan Avenue. Though this one’s coming to an end, he’s kept […]