Friday, December 23, 2016

Men's Shelter Receives Public/Private Funding To Stay Open "For Years To Come"

Photo of Preston Bradley Center
courtesy of PBC's Facebook page.
There's been a very nice story unfolding over the past 24 hours, one that will mean new beginnings for homeless men who need a place to stay and a path to rebuild their lives.
  • Thursday afternoon, it was announced that the men's shelter run by North Side Housing & Supportive Services would remain open through the end of the year, rather than close today, as was announced last September.
  • Thursday evening, the Tribune ran a story saying that the city had come up with funding via DFSS so that the shelter could remain open through 2017.
  • In an email blast this morning, Ald. Cappleman relayed the news that "a generous donor" had been found to supplement the funding gap in North Side Housing's budget and that the shelter will be able to remain open for "years to come."
And who is the generous donor? From NSHSS's web page:
BIG holiday gift saves the Interim Housing Program! The 72-bed shelter for homeless men at the Peoples Church in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago will remain open due to a large, multi-year donation from the Chicago-based Reva and David Logan Foundation and renewed support from the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services (DFSS).

"This eleventh-hour donation has saved the shelter from permanently closing at the end of today, December 23, as previously announced,” said Richard Ducatenzeiler, Executive Director of North Side Housing & Supportive Services. Please see the press release for further details.
You can read more about the Reva and David Logan Foundation, a Chicago-based family foundation that supports investigative journalism, the arts, and social justice, here.

Not only is this good news for the men who are served by the shelter, and whose lives are transformed -- whether it is for one night or a lifetime -- but it also means that the Preston Bradley Center (the building at 941 West Lawrence that houses the shelter, Peoples Church, and other organizations) will not lose a major tenant, which would undoubtedly have put a huge hole in its operating budget.

The text of Ald. Cappleman's email blast reads:
"I am happy to announce that the shelter located at People's Church, run by North Side Housing and Supportive Services (NSHSS), that was slated to close today, will remain open for years to come.

We were able to find a generous donor to fill in the shelter’s budget gap for the coming years and the City agreed to renew the service contract that had lapsed. The shelter will once again resume service at their 72 bed capacity.

I will continue to fight for increased resources for Chicago to implement the housing-first model for all homeless individuals in Chicago. However, I also understand that expanding and maintaining a strong network of shelter options is a key component of the City’s strategy to address homelessness.

I want to thank Mayor Emanuel and Commissioner Lisa Morrison-Butler for their work and commitment to improve programming and service delivery for this vulnerable population."

8 comments:

  1. So does this mean that the tent city residents now will move off the streets and into the Lawrence Ave shelter? After all the tent city homeless were paraded out by tent city organizers to tell their life stores to the press so that the shelter could be saved. Or will they continue living under the underpasses and resume protesting the Lawrence shelter, as they did all Spring and Summer, saying that the shelter is unsafe, has bed bugs, does not take good care of the homeless and thus is not suitable for them to utilize? Flip, Flop, Flip, Flop. Flip. Flop. And, now we get to go through this media circus all over again when the quick fix funding runs out. Oh my!

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    1. Best question, yet, Uptown Girl! I think it's men only.

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    2. The tent city is still illegal no matter how you sugar coat it. The city czarina that spoke last year about her job to find housing for the squatters and had a deadline of June, then November....and now it is?????

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  2. Obviously the system is broken on so many levels.

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  3. The shelter will remain open for "years to come" according to Cappleman. How many weeks does that equate to?

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  4. A needed institution is saved and that is always good news!!!

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  5. not good news for the neighbors who live here unless the property is managed better and cleaned up

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