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| © 2006 Alliance to End Homelessness in Suburban Cook County. All rights reserved. |
updated Aug 11 2010
In the News
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Homelessness in the Headlines
| 1107 S. Mannheim Road Suite 304 Westchester, IL 60154 Voice 708.345.4035 Fax 708.345.7855 |
| For Immediate Release February 6, 2009 Homelessness Surges as funding falters Shelters and services for the homeless are facing funding shortfalls as the economic downturn takes its toll on state budgets and corporate donations. As the economy continues its downward trod and budget shortfalls continue to grow, more and more people are experiencing hardships in the loss of jobs and homes. Shelters, nonprofits and local churches all over the country are struggling just to keep their doors open in the face of shrinking donations, budget shortfalls and a growing army of people needing services. Many shelters have had to close their doors putting additional strain on those that have been able to remain open. Less funding, more demand Shelters across the country report that more people are seeking emergency shelter and more are being turned away. In a report published in December, 330 school districts in Washington State identified the same number or more homeless students in the first few months of the school year. "Everything we are seeing is indicating an increase," says Laurel Weir, policy director at the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty. "And homelessness tends to lag the economy. So we're probably seeing the tip of the iceberg here." In the foreclosure crisis, the people being displaced from homes won't likely be on the street immediately, explains Michael Stoops, director of National Coalition for the Homeless. "The people who have lost homes or tenants in homes that were foreclosed...have downsized, and if that doesn't work they will move in with family and friends," says Stoops. "After a while, they will move into their RV in a state campground. The next step is a car. And the worst nightmare for a working, middle-class person or even a wealthy person who has never experienced homelessness is knocking on a shelter door." Arguably, no single event in the economic crises has caused a greater ripple of concern among advocates for the homeless than the government takeover of mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae in September. In 2007 alone, charitable giving through the Freddie Mac Foundation and Fannie Mae philanthropic division topped $47 million - the bulk of which goes to programs that shelter and feed homeless Americans, and establish affordable housing. Up to now, another major source of funding for nonprofits providing homeless services came from state budgets. Entering 2009, at least 45 states faced budget deficits, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which estimates combined state budget gaps for the remainder of this fiscal year and state fiscal years 2010 and 2011 at more than $350 billion. The trend bodes very badly for programs that benefit the poor and homeless. The leading example of state budget problems is California, which has eliminated funding for emergency housing assistance this year as it struggles to pare its $40 billion deficit. Read |
| February 6, 2009 (Article dated January 15, 2009) Cicero Housing Department Announce Neighborhood Stabilization Program to Aid Cicero Homebuyers Read ATTENTION ALL PROSPECTIVE HOME BUYERS! In response to the national housing market crisis, and under authority of Title 3 of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA). Town President Larry Dominick has designed a federally-funded program aimed at stabilizing Cicero's Housing Market. This Program, coined the "Neighborhood Stabilization Program" (NSP) will offer qualified homebuyers a 0% interest, deferred payment, forgivable loan if the qualified homebuyer purchases a currently foreclosed REO single family, or multi-family (up to 3 flat) property in Cicero's "Target Area" that will be used as his/her primary resident. This program will help stabilize the housing market through increased home sales, and by reducing the number of "foreclosed properties within the "Target Area". Click on the above link for the full article and to see what you need to do to qualify. |
| Volunteers fan out to count nation's homeless MSNBC Article dated January 30, 2009 Census is expected to show substantial increase in people on the streets. SAN FRANCISCO - In the first major census of people living on the streets since the recession, thousands of volunteers across the United States fanned out in the thick of the night to count the most desperate members of their communities. The count, which the Department of Housing and Urban Development requires for any community seeking federal funds for homeless programs, includes those on the street as well as people in homeless shelters, transitional housing, and in hospitals, mental wards and jails. The census, which HUD has required since 2005, does not count those doubled up with friends or relatives, staying in hotels or garages or in any other makeshift, or inadequate housing. The last census, in 2007, found 671,888 people nationwide were homeless. Of those, 123,798 were classified as "chronically homeless", which HUD defines as someone homeless for a year or more, or with four instances of homelessness within three years. The Department of Education, which lists people doubled up as homeless, counted 688,000 homeless children in public schools for the 2006-2007 school year. Many advocates say the majority of families experiencing homelessness in this economy are not on the streets or in shelters, but doubled up in or some other marginal situation. To read the complete article, follow this link. Click here. |
| Local: DuPage County takes a bite out of homelessness for PADS DuPage County residents brought their appetites and checkbooks to help support DuPage Public Action to Deliver Shelter March 5 at the third annual Taste of Hope: Chefs Uniting to End Homelessness fundraiser. About 400 people attended the event that took place at Glen Ellyn's Abbington Banquets. The event raised $95,000."It is a critical for the community to focus on this," said Beth Epstein, DuPage PADS director pf programs. "The homeless population is not going away." Twenty-five restaurants from DuPage County donated both food and time. Serving stations filled with pastas, seafood, chocolates and everything in between framed the periphery of the banquet hall. Some of the live action highlights were a stay at a Breckenridge vacation home, a Chicago Bulls game and a mini-home makeover. DuPage PADS mission is to provide temporary and permanent housing support, support services like life skills coaching and employment readiness for people in crisis and engage the community by building volunteer relationships. For more information, click here or call 630.682.3846. |
| Help for Suburban Homeless Just in time Unity Challenge Fund to aid 12 Homeless Groups The Alliance to End Homelessness in Suburban Cook County is please to announce new resources for twelve suburban homeless organizations. The Chicago Community Trust selected the suburban Alliance as one of seven grant recipients in the first round of The Unity Challenge, the Trust's $3 million initiative to expand capacity of not-for-profit agencies meeting such basic human needs as food and shelter in response to the economic downturn. The goal of The Unity Challenge is to make sure that the agencies on the front lines of serving the food and shelter needs of individuals and families have the resources they need to meet increased demand. The Alliance will distribute the $150,000 grant to twelve homeless organizations that provide emergency shelter or homeless prevention services in suburban Cook County. "As 2008 came to a close, homeless agencies were feeling the pinch of increased demand for services because of the economy, coupled with fewer year-end donations to their organizations," explained Jennifer Hill, executive director of the Alliance to End Homelessness in Suburban Cook County. "The Chicago Community Trust got in front of the problem by appealing to the general public to meet the growing needs for food and shelter, acting quickly to make high-impact grants in Chicago and the suburbs. Please click here for the full story and to see which agencies are benefiting from the CCT's distribution of the $150,000. |
| April 01, 2009 - News Releases Released today, Supportive Housing in Illinois: A Wise Investment finds that supportive housing dramatically reduces the use and cost of expensive public services.
pleased to announce the release of a new report titled Supportive Housing in Illinois: A Wise Investment. The study tracked 177 Illinois supportive housing residents and compared their use of primarily publicly-funded services in the two years before they entered supportive housing to the two years after entry. The study documents a significant cost savings for this group: there was a 39 percent reduction in service-related costs, for a total savings of $854,477. Specific findings include:
about the study on "supportive housing cost study". Resource Guide for Low-Income Illinois Families
Resource Guide for Illinois Families struggling to make ends meet. The Quick Resource Guide outlines the various types of assistance that may be available to Illinois Families and includes information on eligibility criteria, where to get more information, and how to access or apply for certain benefits. Click here to download the Quick Resource Guide. |
| Minding Your Business: Rivals become collaborators to help clients, save money. About 30 agencies are part of the 5-year-old Alliance to End Homelessness in Suburban Cook County, which works to prevent homelessness and serves the homeless through shelters and other supportive housing. Click here for complete Tribune article. Chicago Tribuine/Monday, April 20, 2009 |
| Southland Region is in Need of Help (Full Article) There is an elementary school district in Riverdale that had a 96.9 percent student turnover rate in 2008. That was an improvement from 2007 when 98.9 percent of Patton District 133's student population failed to return to its two schools. Commuting times for south suburban workers are among the longest in the nation. While the northwest suburbs average two jobs per household, in the southwest suburbs the average is about one job per household. Unemployment rates in some areas of the Southland were more than 10 percent before the current national economic collapse. Dozens of communities devastated by the demise of the steel industry have never recovered. Those high-paying jobs for working-class folks have never been replaced. There are dozens of local organizations, manned primarily by volunteers, that have courageously been trying to cope with the resulting social problems. There may be no solution. But without an organized regional effort there is no hope. In a report by Larry McClellan, a retired Governors State University professor and former executive director of GSU's Metropolitan Regional Leadership Center, "If the Southland doesn't do something to create new jobs that pay well, if it doesn't prepare students to succeed in life, if it fails to contain property taxes and reduce home foreclosures, the homeless population will inevitably increase." "Most counties in Illinois don't have a population this large (829,000 people) but have hundreds of professional staff people to deal with the human services issues facing their regions," McClellan said. "I don't know if we need a government body doing that, a private entity or some university that would provide the professional help that is needed. But we need full-time people who can devote all of their attention to the region as a whole. That's clear to me." "However, the area is so large, so diverse, that the problems affecting one area are often of little concern to another." Michael Wasserberg, executive director of South Suburban Public Action to Deliver Shelter, proclaims, "We are experiencing a 30 to 40% quantum leap in the need for homeless shelter services this year, the greatest increase ever. The real problem, as I see it, is that the Southland has failed repeatedly, throughout decades, to use its collective political clout to improve the economic vitality of the area. While Chicago has the resources, billions of federal dollars, to address a myriad of issues, every tiny suburb in the southland attempts to fight its own little war for federal assistance. That's a losing battle! See the complete article...click on the link above. |
| 2009 Homeless Count - Final Report Please see entry on Alliance News page for the .pdf booklet. Be sure to check out and pass along the link to our 2009 Homeless Count Website where you can find tons of downloads - as well as news articles, Count information, and lots of other great resources! Check it out here: 2009 Homeless Count website |
Watch for our new 2011 homeless count report to be posted here
in the next couple of months.