Chicago officials unveil plan to merge homeless and migrant shelters into one system
CHICAGO (CBS) – Local leaders on Thursday revealed details about a proposed plan to merge homeless and migrant shelters in Chicago and what a unified shelter system could look like.
But there are ways to go before the proposal is a reality.
They called it the One System Initiative. It's designed to streamline how the city serves its legacy homeless community and newly arriving migrants, all under one comprehensive structure.
"Over time, we recognized that we need a more equitable system that was open not just for new arrivals, but for other unsheltered, unhoused Chicagoans," said Deputy Mayor Beatriz Ponce de León.
Officials unveiled the first phase of the plan on Thursday at a community meeting on the Southwest Side. They detailed a report that outlined recommendations from multiple community organizations on how to approach the new system and gave insight into some priorities.
"The goal is to ensure that every family can have a safe place to sleep, can have food, and can have a shower," said LaShunda Brown of the Primo Center.
The One System Initiative is not a plan per se, but more of a recommendation process from providers and people who have experienced homelessness. It is about bringing people like Judith Triplett to the table.
"I was homeless off and on as a teenager and as an adult, so I'd say a total of probably 15 to 20 years," said Triplett.
Now housed through city resources, Triplett was invited to be a panelist at the community meeting Thursday.
"It's very important to try to hire people with a level of empathy," Triplett said as she sat on the panel.
At the top of the list of priorities was how the city would approach intakes. Currently, those experiencing homelessness are provided resources through the Salvation Army after a request for a bed is made via 311.
Arriving migrants must report to the city's landing zone as their initial port of entry. The report recommended making an access point available to all those in need 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
"With our current systems, when folks do get the numbers and they do call in, it can take days to get a spot in the shelter," said Ami Novoryta of Catholic Charities.
Opening neighborhood-based transition support centers is also a top recommendation, which will aim to provide various resources to residents. Shelter staffing was another focal point where those with lived experience of either being homeless or have sought asylum are on the front lines navigating residents.
Since August of 2022, 48,283 migrants have arrived in Chicago, which has put a strain on resources, while sparking tension and a divide that has deepened with the city's already-existing homeless population.
As of August 2023, the Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness estimated 68,440 people are experiencing homelessness in the city.
Advocates were hopeful that equity would become a centerpiece of any plan the city put forward.
"You can't just take a plate full of food and rearrange it, we've got to add more to the plate," said Katharine Booton Wilson, chief executive officer of Deborah's Place.
Triplett said regardless of the fact that the migrant crisis is had to happen for the proposal for a change in the system for the unhoused, the proposal is much welcome.
"I think that sometimes, bad things have to happen for good things to happen. That's just life," she said. "I'm just glad that it happened — and we're here."
The new recommendations are now in the hands of city and state officials, who will play a vital role in the next phase of the plan to get the concept off the ground.