Colleen McNulty

Make Your Change Count: Providing Funding and Services to the Homeless

Homelessness is a widespread issue in every state, city, and county. Specifically, the City

of Chicago suffers from a significantly large homeless population. Many people live in parks,

tents, or whatever space they can find for a night. They may not know where they will sleep the

next night or even where their next meal will come from. The homeless are a combination of

young and old, mentally ill, the drug and alcohol addicted, the poor, the unemployed, educated

and uneducated, men, women, and children. Each person has a different need. The homeless

population in the City of Chicago continues to suffer from a lack of resources to help underlying

problems and a lack of affordable housing.

A homeless individual is defined as (1) an individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and

adequate nighttime residence; and (2) an individual who has a primary nighttime residence that

is: (a) a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary

accommodations, (b) an institution that provides a temporary residence for individuals intended

to be institutionalized or (c) a public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a

regular sleeping accommodations for human beings. Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, 2015

Estimate of Homeless People in Chicago, Jun 1, 2017, available at: http://chicagohomeless.

issuelab.org/ resource/2015-estimate-of-homeless-people-in-chicago.html. In addition, the

Department of Education adds: those who are sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of

housing, economic hardship, or similar reasons; are living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or

camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations; are living in

emergency or transitional shelters; or are abandoned in houses. Id.

In the 2017 Point in Time (PIT) count and survey conducted by the Voorhees Center for

Neighborhood & Community Improvement at the University of Illinois at Chicago, the results
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demonstrated that there are nearly 5,657 homeless in the City of Chicago. City of Chicago, 2017

Homeless Point-in-Time Count Report, 2017, available at: https://www.cityofchicago.org/

content/dam/city/depts/fss/supp_info/Homeless/2017PITSummaryReportFinal.pdf. The Point in

Time count and survey of unsheltered and sheltered homeless persons in Chicago is led by the

Department of Family and Support Services (DFSS). Id. The survey is a mandate by the United

States Department of Housing and Urban Development. Id. The intent of the survey is to create a

picture of homelessness in Chicago. Id. The data is compared to previous counts and can help

Chicago develop a better understanding of homeless persons. Id. The data is used to estimate the

needed resources and track progress in reducing the number of homeless persons. Id. In order to

conduct a comprehensive count of all homeless persons in Chicagos emergency shelters and

transitional housing environments, each shelter was provided with a tally sheet and a set of

surveys. Id. DFSS partnered with homeless providers to conduct a comprehensive street outreach

count that covered all public areas. Id. The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) and Chicago Park

District also participated in helping provide numbers for their public areas. Id. The survey for

2017 took place on January 26 and identified 4,096 homeless individuals residing in shelters and

1,561 unsheltered on the street or other locations not meant for human habitation. Id. The

number of unsheltered individuals has increased by 26%. Id.

Further, the Point in Time survey found that there are 570 families living in shelters with

children. Id. 29% of the homeless population was under the age of 17. Id. The survey found 343

chronically homeless persons. Id. Homeless individuals and families are defined as chronic by

the Department of Housing and Urban Development if they have a disability and either have

resided in emergency shelters, safe havens, or places not meant for human habitation or have

been homeless continuously for at least one year or on four separate occasions in the last three
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years where the combined length of time homeless on those occasions was at least 12 months. Id.

This number was more than twice the 2016 count. Id.

The survey includes questions related to physical and mental health conditions and

service access. Id. The purpose of these questions is to understand the needs among the homeless

population. Id. 18% of the sheltered population and 39% of the unsheltered population reported

receiving services for substance abuse. Id. 19% of the sheltered population and 28% of the

unsheltered population reported receiving mental health services. Id. The survey also found that

one-in-five sheltered and one-in-four unsheltered homeless persons reported being a victim of

violence. Id. 16% of sheltered persons and 28% of unsheltered persons reported having a

disability. Id. When asked Where are you going to stay tonight? nearly 40% reported they

would be staying anywhere outside, with another 20% stating they would stay on the CTA. Id.

This year, the number of homeless living on the streets increased. Id.

In April 2017, the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless (CCH) released an estimate of

82,212 homeless persons in Chicago. Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, 2015 Estimate of

Homeless People in Chicago, Jun 1, 2017, available at: http://chicagohomeless.issuelab.org/

resource/2015-estimate-of-homeless-people-in-chicago.html. Their numbers are based on the

2015 American Community Survey (ACS). Id. The ACS is a survey given nationally each year

to households throughout the country by the United States Census Bureau to track changes in US

landscape. Id. Recently, an analysis of the survey data revealed an increase in what they describe

as doubled-up households. Id. They defined doubled-up as any additional adult in the

household who was not the head of household or their spouse or partner. Id. The CCH decided

that with this information, they could use a more refined definition to estimate the homeless

population. Id. The CCH used the ACS data to estimate the number of doubled-up individuals in
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Chicago in 2015. Id. It also used data from the citys Homeless Management Information System

to count those served in the shelter systems. Id. The Homeless Management Information System

is required by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. Id. It requires

that each metropolitan area keep a database that collects specific data on people experiencing

homelessness and the housing and homeless services that they receive. Id. This helps to better

understand homelessness and allows a measure of progress towards specific goal. Id. The

analysis done by the CCH, with information from the US Census Department and Homeless

Management Information System, found that in 2015, 82% of people experiencing homelessness

in Chicago were living doubled-up. Id. For homeless people living in families with children, that

number was 88%. Id. CCH found that families that access the shelter system and those living

doubled-up lose their housing for similar reasons: domestic violence, divorce, loss of a job, and

medical bills. Id.

In addition, according to Homeless Management Information System data, 21,919 people

were served in the shelter system. Id. Homeless youth ages 14-24 totaled 11,231 and of those

9,792 were unaccompanied homeless single youth and 1,439 were unaccompanied homeless

parenting youth. Id. These numbers take into consideration not only the Department of Housing

and Urban Developments definition of a homeless person, but also the Department of

Educations definition of a homeless individual to incorporate those living with others instead of

using the shelter system due to hardship and overcrowded conditions. Id.

Further, the CCH reports that the Chicago Public Schools identified 18,117 homeless

students during the 2016-2017 school year. Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, Frequently

Asked Questions, 2017, available at: http://www.chicagohomeless.org/faq-studies/.

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The share of homeless students in Chicago Public Schools has remained about the same at

almost 5% of total enrollment. Id. In addition, Chicago reported the largest increase in veteran

homelessness between 2009 and 2016, a 20.2% increase. Id. Chicago also reported 1,701

emergency shelter beds available, down from 2,064 beds in 2014. Id. Chicago Coalition for the

Homeless, The Facts Behind the Faces, March 2015, available at:

http://chicagohomeless.issuelab.org/resource/the-facts-behind-the-faces-a-fact-sheet-from-the-

chicago-coalition-for-the-homeless-2015.html. Chicago has about 280,301 extremely low-

income renter households composing 52.3% of all city renters. Id. The last count in 2012

revealed 280,301 Chicago households paying rent were cost burdened, which means they paid

30% or more of their income for housing. Id. The annual income needed to afford fair market

rent for a two-bedroom unit in the city of Chicago has increased by nearly $520. Id. The average

hourly income to afford this is $18.83, compared with an average of $17.34 in the state of

Illinois. Id. Chicago has less than 47 units that are available and affordable per 100 renter

households with extremely low income. Id. The United States Conference of Mayors 2013

Hunger and Homelessness Survey found that across 25 cities, including Chicago, 22% of

homeless persons needing assistance did not receive it. Id. In addition, 55,811 individuals in

Illinois were turned away from the Emergency and Transitional Housing Program due to the

programs insufficient resources. Id. CCHs numbers and new way of calculating the homeless

population allow the City of Chicago to look at the doubled-up count, and shed light on a

population that is largely overlooked. This leads to more data and finding more ways to fix the

problem of homelessness.

In order to help decrease homelessness, the City of Chicago needs to provide more

resources to the homeless. However, they cannot do it alone. The City of Chicago should
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consider starting a text-to-give campaign similar to the campaign started in the City of

Philadelphia. In Philadelphia, the Mayor started a campaign that each person in the city could

text 80077 and enter Share to make a donation of $5 to homelessness. Tricia Nadolny, City:

Stop paying panhandlers, text-to-give instead, June, 2017, Philadelphia Inquirer, available at:

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/city/city-stop-paying-panhandlers-text-to-give-

instead-20170612.html. This donation would then be matched by the City of Philadelphia and

even further, the city will match each donation. Id. The City of Philadelphia found that there is

an opioid crisis in the city, and that when Philadelphians donate money to the homeless, it

largely goes towards buying drugs. Id. In order to combat this problem, if the person were to text

to give $5, that money would go directly to housing and other resources that the homeless need.

Id. The City stated that the money is used by more than 60 non-profit organizations to provide

housing, jobs and services to help panhandlers and others who live on the streets. City of

Philadelphia, Efforts to Address Street Homelessness, 2017, Office of Homeless Services,

available at: http://www.philadelphiaofficeofhomelessservices.org/shared-public-spaces/efforts-

to-address-street-homelessness/. The City of Philadelphia also stated this would help the problem

of panhandling that is largely associated with homelessness. Id. Panhandling is defined as any

solicitation made in person upon any street, public place or park in the city, in which a person

requests an immediate donation of money or other gratuity from another person. Id. In a study

done in Philadelphia, the City found that 52% of panhandlers were homeless. Id. 47% of them

panhandled because they were hungry, while 63% reported a struggle with substance abuse. Id.

The City implemented this campaign because if more resources and housing options were

available, it could help take panhandlers off the streets and create a safer environment for

residents and tourists of Philadelphia. Id.

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In order to implement a similar campaign in the City of Chicago, the City should create

the fund in Title 5: Housing and Economic Development of the City Code. This will set up a

Housing Opportunities through Many Efforts and Services (HOME) Fund. The ordinance will

state:

Collection of fees--
The City shall establish the Housing Opportunities through Many Efforts and Services
(HOME) fund into which all text-to-give donations shall be deposited. The City shall also
match each donation made by using funds from housing violation fees and if there are
insufficient funds the City shall appropriate sufficient funds to match each text to give
donation from the General Revenue Fund.

Use of fund--
All fees deposited into the Housing Opportunities through Many Efforts and Services
(HOME) fund shall be used towards the creation of affordable housing and homeless
shelters including social services.

In addition, the City will further amend 5-8-130: Housing Violation Penalty to receive the funds

from housing penalties to match donations for the HOME fund,

Any owner, lessee, sublessee, assignee, managing agent, condominium association

board of managers, governing body of cooperative, or other person, firm, corporation, or
real estate broker, who shall violate or fail to comply with any of the provisions of this
ordinance, as determined by this commission, shall be punished by a fine in any sum not
exceeding $1,000.00, which shall be used to match text to give donations in the Housing
Opportunities through Many Efforts and Services fund. Nothing herein contained shall be
construed so as to preclude any aggrieved person from pursuing such other and further
legal and equitable relief to which he may be entitled.

This amendment will allow the City of Chicago to allocate funds from housing penalties to go

towards homeless resources and more housing options. The goal of this text-to-give fund is to

bring in everyone in the City of Chicago to help create affordable housing. This allows more

people to donate to the problem and put their money towards homelessness. The goal is that the

money will allow homeless shelters to take in more people and provide more services that can

help with the underlying problems of drug abuse, mental health, domestic violence, and so many

other problems that homeless individuals face. In addition, a goal of this program is to create a
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creative solution to homelessness that can generate more funds and implement change.

Another goal of this initiative is to have policy champions and stakeholders come

together to pass the creation of the HOME Fund. Alderman that work on the Department of

Housing and Economics Committee and Alderman that continuously work to prevent

homelessness should join together to help implement this text-to-give campaign. Alderman such

as James Cappleman, who work with DFSS to help those who are homeless access food, shelter,

and treatment to improve their lives. Alderman Cappleman is a licensed social worker and has

his own non-profit that empowers women who have experienced abuse. Alderman Walter

Burnett is a strong advocate for affordable housing and he has required all developments within

his ward to have an affordable component. Many Alderman in Chicago have worked tirelessly to

impact homelessness. Further, stakeholders like the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, can

sign on to support this ordinance so that many nonprofits similar to them can receive additional

funding. This ordinance will require policy champions and stakeholders, both non-governmental

and governmental, to come together to provide an innovative solution that allows every

Chicagoan to make their change count.

Many different cities have tried to implement efforts to decrease homelessness by

providing more sources of funding. Chicago in particular has started several different programs

to help solve homelessness. However, each solution has yet to provide sufficient funds to reduce

homelessness in Chicago. First, many different cities have tried to deter panhandling.

Panhandling as consistently been upheld by the courts as free speech. City of Philadelphia,

Panhandling, 2017, Office of Homeless Services, available at: http://www.philadelphia

officeofhomelessservices.org/shared-public-spaces/panhandling/. However, cities are allowed to

regulate aggressive panhandling. Id. Aggressive panhandling is defined as soliciting money for
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any purpose on the public sidewalk in an aggressive manner, or accompanied by conduct that

includes repeated begging, insistent panhandling, retaliatory comments, blockage of free

passage, touching or yelling at a pedestrian, confrontation or intimidation, which is likely to

cause a reasonable person to fear bodily harm, damage to or loss of property. ID. This can lead

to arrest which imposes a penalty of around one hundred dollars. Id. This, however, did not

reduce panhandling as many of those arrested were homeless and did not have a source of

income. Id. They could not pay the penalty, and were put back out on the street. Id. Further, the

police officers do not have the resources to determine if the panhandler needs to be assessed by

social services and it would cause a significant delay to wait for social services. Id. Further, there

are very limited places social services can put the homeless due to a lack of affordable options.

Id. Therefore, the implementation of a penalty on panhandlers has not helped solve the problem.

Id. It imposes a large fee on those who do not have the income to pay the fine. Id. It has not

deterred any panhandlers and has not led to a decrease in homelessness. Id. Similarly, cities have

put fines on disorderly conduct or public urination. Id. This has not helped the problem as well

because excessive fines on people with no income are not effective. Id.

Other cities have implemented a Day for Change pilot program. Mayor Rahm Emanuel

and the Department of Family Supports and Services (DFSS) announced the Day for Change

initiative that creates a jobs program providing up to 100 homeless individuals an opportunity to

connect to services while earning a modest wage. City of Chicago, Mayor Emanuel Announces

New Program To Employ and Deliver Services To 100 Homeless Individuals, October 2016,

Mayors Office Press Release, available at: https://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts

/fss/provdrs/emerg/news/2016/october/mayor-emanuel-announces-new-program-to-employ-and-

deliver-servic.html. This program connects homeless panhandlers with temporary employment

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opportunities and supportive services. Id. The program engages panhandlers and provides them

with an alternative avenue to earn a basic wage and support that will help them transition into

housing. Id. The City modeled their program after a successful effort in Albuquerque, NM that

allows an agency to dispatch work vans to targeted areas of the city with a large concentration of

panhandlers. Id. The panhandlers are approached and offered an opportunity to earn $55 for

labor on projects including cleanup and maintenance of vacant lots, abandoned properties, and

trash collection near expressways. Id. Through the pilot program in Chicago, each participant

will be eligible to earn up to $600 annually and receive meals, transportation, behavioral health

services, job preparedness training, healthcare screenings, hygiene care, and interim housing. Id.

The City will employ two case managers to staff the program, with oversight by a program

supervisor. Id. In order to fund this program, the Mayors ordinance to regulate house sharing

companies, like Airbnb took effect in July 2017. Id. This ordinance creates a 4% surcharge on

house sharing which has already raised $500,000 to be reinvested in homeless prevention

initiatives. Id. Mayor Emanuel recently released the success of the program, and stated the pilot

program has already served 225 individuals. City of Chicago, Mayor Emanuel Doubles Day

For Change Homeless Pilot Program, Office of the Mayor Press Release, March 2017,

available at: https://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/fss/ provdrs/emerg/news/2017/

march/mayor-emanuel-doubles-day-for-change-homeless-pilot-program-.html. Mayor Emanuel

has since made this program a permanent fixture. While this program has increased in size and

has allowed employment opportunities for hundreds of homeless, it still does not provide

affordable housing opportunities for the homeless. It is a solution that can provide modest wages

and help some panhandlers and homeless find housing, but it is not a permanent solution. The

homeless still need services to address underlying problems of addiction, abuse, and mental
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health. While this program is a good start, it still does not provide enough resources and

permanent options for the homeless.

Further, Alderman Ed Burke of the 14th District in the City of Chicago, recently

introduced a resolution for the city to consider building tiny houses for the homeless. Kim

Janssen, Ed Burke suggests tiny houses for Chicago homeless, May 2017, Chicago Tribune,

available at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chicagoinc/ct-tiny-houses-chicago-homeless-

burke-0524-chicago-inc-20170523-story.html. Similar pilot programs have been developed in

Portland, Oregon, Berkeley, California, and Seattle, Washington. Id. Alderman Burke proposes

this out-of-the-box solution to provide more housing for Chicagos homeless population. Id. This

new idea also has the City and the Catholic Charities looking into different zoning issues. Id. In

addition, each tiny house would cost upwards of $2,000 to build. Id. While this solution provides

an innovative way to create more housing, it still does not create a permanent solution for the

homeless nor does it provide the adequate resources the homeless need to help underlying issues.

The above alternatives to help solve homelessness are all steps in the right direction, but

it will take more than just the City of Chicago to contribute to ending homelessness. First,

creating a citation for aggressive panhandling only adds to the problem, as those with no income

cannot pay the fine. Further, the Day for Change program offers a great short-term solution to

provide jobs to panhandlers and setting up other resources, but it does not offer a permanent

solution and costs the city a significant amount of money as $500,000 has already been used on

the program from revenue on the tax on house sharing. In addition, the creation of tiny houses

provides housing, but does not address any underlying problems that can cause homelessness.

Each homeless individual has different needs and the City needs to create services to address

each specific need.

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The creation of a text-to-give fund allows the City of Chicago to take donations from

every Chicagoan and invest it directly towards resources and housing efforts that help

homelessness. Instead of giving money directly to the homeless, each person will be able to

contribute to a homeless shelter to provide more resources so that no one needs to be turned

away. There are also minimal costs to the City of Chicago. First, the Fund will collect additional

money to match each donation by allocating the money from housing violation penalties to be

put towards the Fund. Further, the City of Chicago could also use money from the 4% tax on

house sharing, as that money is allocated to homeless services as well. In addition, the benefit of

the creation of the Home Fund is that the money will be coming in from both Chicagoans and the

City, allowing two sources of funding to increase resources for homelessness. This will benefit

many different non-profits in Chicago. Homelessness is a problem that effects both families and

children and the money raised from the HOME Fund will contribute to non-profits that dedicate

their resources to both children and families in hopes of reducing homelessness and providing

adequate services to those that need it the most.

To measure the success of this Fund, the City will continue to conduct surveys of

homelessness to determine how many people are receiving and benefiting from services at

nonprofits and homeless shelters. Further, the City will be able to determine how many donations

they are receiving and how much money is contributed to different agencies throughout Chicago.

The success of this program will be determined by how many donations are made and how the

money can be dispersed throughout different Chicagoland shelters. The City will also have to

determine how much is needed to match each donation. This initiative will be successful if the

City is able to provide more funds to hundreds of nonprofits and spend the money on social

services needed to fix those individuals who need help. The success of this program will not
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come from how much is donated, but from how the funds can be deposited to help different

shelters provide services to those in need. Many do not choose to be homeless, and success will

come from the stories of those who are able to get back on their feet with money donated from

other Chicagoans who want to help.

In conclusion, homelessness is a vast problem that effects men, women, and children

throughout the United States. The City of Chicago needs all of their citizens to help. With the

Home Fund, a text-to-give campaign will help provide more resources and housing for homeless

in Chicago. Homelessness is a wide-ranging problem and creating more resources with a creative

solution can help many more nonprofits receive the funding they need to help more people. With

this policy in place, the City of Chicago will have doubled its efforts to fight homelessness. This

is a low cost and highly beneficial solution that will make a strong impact and allow long term

solutions so that lack of resources and lack of funding are not reasons that homeless shelters have

to turn people away. Every Chicagoan can show they care and make a difference.