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A shortage of shelter beds makes winter a difficult time for Lakeview’s homeless lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual (LGBT) youth, and a new shelter will soon be opening to help the situation. The Night Ministry, a nonprofit group that helps the homeless and those in poverty, will be opening the 15-bed shelter at Lakeview...
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Back in the early 1990’s, Greg Pritchett was incarcerated on a drug charge. After being released from jail, he became homeless and resorted to a life on the streets. “I lost everything I had,” said Pritchett. His only way of earning an income was by selling Streetwise. Pritchett is now director of distribution at...
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When Mary Anne Barfield opens her business, B&K Office and Art, in Lakeview, strangers usually greet her outside the door. But instead of stamps or stationery, they want food or her spare change. When she leaves for the night, they are still outside roaming the block, which is why Barfield closes her store at...
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Facing dire economic times and dwindling resources, more people are not only becoming homeless – they’re then at risk of facing physical assault. State Rep. Thomas Holbrook (D-Bellville) introduced a bill, HB5114, that would create stiffer penalties for offenders who target the homeless, veterans, active duty members and reservists of the Armed Forces. Instead...
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When the final bell rings, high school students rush to the nearest door, excited to head home, hang out with friends, watch television and eat a home-cooked meal with their families. But 19-year-old Niaesha Shivers isn’t one of them. She is one of nearly 13,000 Chicago Public School students who is homeless. For the...
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Police and business owners in Uptown recently joined forces to develop a strategy to clean up a two-block stretch of puddles of urine, empty beer bottles and unsavory characters on Clifton Avenue, more commonly known as “Blood Alley.” The focus of last week’s meeting at Harry S. Truman College was the ongoing problems of...
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Teen Living Programs, a Chicago non-profit that provides housing and services to youth who are homeless, is looking for a few good “friends” to volunteer this holiday season. But unlike most charities that ask volunteers to spend a few hours at a shelter wrapping gifts or serving turkey and stuffing, Teen Living is asking...
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May 1, 2009 – For two years, Caroline Baumann lived with a simple predicament. Without an Illinois state ID card she could not apply for general assistance from the state. No general assistance meant Baumann, 61, had no income, access to medical care or permanent housing. Her ID had been taken from her bag...
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April 20, 2009 – By the time Bruce Crane went to bed on April 14, the survival of Streetwise magazine was in question. But an overnight sudden injection of 40 online donations to the struggling non-profit organization had Crane believing otherwise. “ you asked me two weeks ago would we do it? I’d say,...
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