Real Homes to Rebuild Lives

ICH appeared on CANTV

2009-10-08T08:17:00.000-07:00

Bill Johnson, ICH Executive Director, recently appeared on CANTV discussing the upcoming CROP Walk, talking about our work and interviewing Angela, a mother of four being helped by ICH.

Check out the video here: http://www.blip.tv/file/2667363/

1 in 50 US Children Homeless

2009-03-17T06:25:00.000-07:00

by: Steven Gray
Chicago, IL

Even before the financial and home foreclosure crisis hit full stride, the number of homeless children in America had reached an alarming level. The National Center on Family Homelessness released a report today that estimates that one in every 50 American children was homeless between 2005 and 2006. That totals roughly 1.5 million kids. While the center provided no previous statistic to compare against that figure, a study conducted with different measures published in 2000 put the total at 1.35 million children living in homelessness each year. The numbers are likely to get worse as the economy continues to decline. "We know the numbers are going to skyrocket," says Ellen Bassuk, president of the Newton, Mass.-based Center and an associate professor of psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School.

Continue reading...

Hidden homeless: U.S. families living in motel rooms

2009-03-16T07:53:00.000-07:00

March 11, 2009
by: Erik Eckholm

Costa Mesa, CA: Greg Hayworth, 44, graduated from Syracuse University and made a good living in his home state, California, from real estate and mortgage finance. Then that business crashed, and early last year the bank foreclosed on the house he was renting, forcing his family's eviction.

Now the Hayworths and their three children represent a new face of homelessness in Orange County: formerly middle income, living week to week in a cramped motel room.

"I owe it to my kids to get out of here," Hayworth said, recalling the night they saw a motel neighbor drag a half-naked woman out the door while he beat her.

As the recession has deepened, long-time workers who lost their jobs are facing the terror and stigma of homelessness for the first time, including those who have owned or rented for years. Some show up in shelters and on the streets, but others, like the Hayworths, are the hidden homeless — living doubled up in apartments, in garages or in motels, uncounted in U.S. homeless data and often receiving little public aid.

Meet Latresia

2009-03-02T11:28:00.001-08:00

Latresia and her two-year-old son, Jayden, are ICH’s newest residents. After living in an emergency shelter for two years, her dream has finally come true — she will be moving into her very first apartment next month.

It is always a pleasure to meet residents, but I will admit this was my first time to meet such a recent addition to the ICH family. I am blessed to hear the stories of how long residents had waited for homes and how excited they were to finally get their keys; but never had I witnessed firsthand the process that will eventually change the life of a women and her child.

As Latresia and Jayden sat in my office, her joy and appreciation were contagious. Her excitement was bubbling over and you could see the anticipation in her eyes. I was unable to remove a smile from my face while she was visiting with me. This was a woman that was not only excited for herself, but had such high hopes for her son who has known nothing but an emergency shelter. Wow.

Mothers across America always want the best for their children, and those children deserve it, but none of them want their children to live in a shelter for two years.

Jayden will be lucky and succeed, but without the support that ICH can provide Latresia and her family, the odds are frightening. Homeless children are:
• 9x more likely to repeat a grade,
• 4x more likely to drop out of school,
• 3x more likely to be placed in a special education program and
• 2x more likely to score lower on standardized tests than their non‐homeless peers.

In addition, homeless children suffer from serious health issues such as:
• hunger and malnutrition,
• developmental delays,
• psychological problems and
• gaps in educational achievement compared to non‐homeless children.

To make all of this worse, half of all children living in emergency shelters are under five years old. With statistics like this, how can we break the cycle of homelessness? We can do it by providing real homes and the support families’ need to reach self-sufficiency. We can make an effort, once families are housed, to reach out to children and ensure they have the assets they need to thrive.

This is what ICH believes and practices every day. Real homes and the tools families need to reach success. Not just Mom and Dad, but everyone. Support our efforts by contributing to ICH today: www.ichchicago.org or calling me at 773.265.1207.

Thank you,
Brandon Combs
Director of Development

Mayor Daley Visits Sanctuary Place

2009-01-08T12:16:00.000-08:00

Mayor Daley visited Sanctuary Place on Wednesday, January 7th to promote a new plan to build additional affordable housing units across Chicago.

Tonya, a client with ICH, was interviewed for the CLTV news story.

Please note: Interfaith Housing Development Corporation owns the building, but Interfaith Council for the Homeless provides social services and case management. The video incorrectly identifies the case management provider.

A Home for the Holidays

2008-12-16T10:33:00.001-08:00

ICH has begun the "A Home for the Holidays" fundraising campaign to raise much needed funds to provide real homes and the tools Chicago's homeless families need to become confidently independent.

Read our Executive Directors' letter:

Help Give ICH Women and Children a Home for the Holidays

Dear Friend,

I hope this letter finds you and your family well this holiday season. This is an exciting time here at ICH. Our residents are busy decorating, shopping for gifts and planning holiday meals for the first time in years. Many of you have helped make this possible.

As I think about our residents, one young person especially comes to mind. Her name is Sadé, and she’s like many other bright, 15-year-old high school students—except that she and her family were recently homeless.

Sadé recently told our staff that when she and her family lived in the shelter, they didn’t have the things that many families have, like a private space of their own or traditional family dinners. Sadé’s family also lived in constant fear that their belongings would be taken. Even doing homework at the shelter was difficult. Sadé longed for a computer of her own so she could learn and do her homework.

The holidays are especially stressful when you’re homeless

For Sadé and her family, Christmas was another story. When Sadé was asked what Christmas was like before she came to ICH, she said that nothing stood out because she and her family had nothing to celebrate.

Sadé explained that she and her brother and sister would watch from the window of the shelter as people brought in gifts, knowing that they wouldn’t receive all the gifts that were brought. You see, Sadé and her siblings never received the gifts on their wish lists because her mother couldn’t afford to buy them. She and her family did try to make the day a little better by enjoying the warm meals prepared for them and playing games to pass the time…but they were still in a shelter.

You can make futures—and the holidays—brighter

Thanks to ICH, Sadé and her family have something to celebrate this Christmas—a new home. Sadé is excited about the celebration her mom is planning and is looking forward to helping prepare the Christmas meal. Sadé told us, “It’ll be good simply because we have a home, and that Christmas will not be in the shelter.”

By donating to ICH, you can help us provide a happy holiday to women and children just like Sadé, who are working their way from homelessness to self-sufficiency. Your donation will also help ICH provide these families with a permanent home and the tools they need to rebuild their lives.

I know it’s a tough year, but homelessness remains a crucial issue in our struggling economy. Since the foreclosure crisis began in 2007, local and state groups have seen a 61 percent increase in homelessness.1 It’s important now, more than ever, that we work together to break the cycle of homelessness.

Donate today

Your generous gift can help transform the lives of women and children who were formerly homeless, and help us give them the holiday they deserve, with gifts on their wish lists, home-cooked family meals, and most importantly, a place to call home for the holidays. Please donate to ICH today.

Sincerely,

Bill Johnson

Executive Director

Interfaith Council for the Homeless (ICH)

P.S. Spread holiday cheer and donate to ICH today! Simply fill out and return the enclosed reply card or donate online today at www.ichchicago.org.

Fall Newsletter Released!

2008-11-18T12:10:00.000-08:00

ICH has just released our 2008 Fall Newsletter, Keeping Faith. Please be sure to check it out! If you'd like to be added to our mailing list and receive this and other updates, be sign up at www.ichchicago.org and enter your email address and additional information as requested!

Read the Newsletter Here

Flu Shots at Sanctuary Place

2008-11-13T09:26:00.000-08:00

This Saturday, Nov. 15, the Healthy Heart Project for Women, a program of Chicago Lights Center for Whole Health, is sponsoring flu shots for residents and members of the community. This is in partnership with the Rush University College of Nursing.

The Healthy Heart Project partners with ICH to provide heart health information to residents of Sanctuary Place. The project nurse, Sally Lemke, also provides general health services for ICH through a partnership with the Rush University College of Nursing.

We invite you to Sanctuary Place this saturday to see the beautiful campus and recieve your flu vaccine.

Sanctuary Place vs. Emergency Shelters

2008-11-12T09:00:00.000-08:00

Much has been made about the state of homelessness in today's society. ICH is a different type of organization, one that is ending homelessness by providing real homes and the tools families need to rebuild their lives.

While the progress hoemless services have made is tremendous, it is important to understand the full spectrum of services, or the continuum of care, in Chicago which goes from emergency shelter to ICH's approach of permanent supportive housing.

The images you are about to review are from a tour of Emergency Shelters (now considered Interim Housing) in the Chicago area. The names of the locations have been withheld. The shelters we visted were located throughout the city, with one being in Uptown, and two on the far south side of the city. When reviewing these photos,

please know that these are run of the mill shelters, between the best and the worst, but on neither spectrum.

Please know these images could be startling, but those providing these services are extremely compassionate and caring. These agencies are not offering these facilities out of laziness or disdain for their clients. They are simply offering the best services they can with the resource

s provided to them.

This is a room that holds over 30 women, children and men. Buckets are placed to catch the water while office dividers and tarps are used to provide privacy.

These images are from a second shelter that was visited which places 30 women and children in a small room with wooden bunk beds and plastic mattress pads.

The images below are pictures of Sanctuary Place to vividly contrast the difference ICH is making.

Here is Sanctuary Place from the outside. Sanctuary Place is an apartment building providing permanent housing to 63 single women in studio apartments and 6 families in townhomes.

The front lobby of Sanctuary Place welcomes visitors with its warmth.

The three family rooms at Sanctuary Place allow women living in the studio apartments to have weekend and overnight visits with their children.

A view of the Sanctuary Place townhomes that house 6 families.

The upstairs of Sanctuary Place where the women reside in studio apartments.

Reuters: Family homelessness rising in the United States

2008-11-12T08:07:00.000-08:00

By Ross Colvin - Analysis

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama has vowed to help middle-class U.S. homeowners facing foreclosure, but he has said little about how he will help low-income families made homeless by a worsening economy.

Obama has spoken broadly about boosting affordable housing and restoring public housing subsidies. But with economists forecasting a deep recession in 2009, he may find it hard to find the money to fulfill those promises soon.

At the same time, advocacy groups and the country's czar for combating homelessness say immediate action is needed to halt the foreclosures of tens of thousands of homes and rehouse thousands of families amid the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Read the full article here...

Welcome

2008-11-12T07:34:00.001-08:00

Welcome to ICH's new blog "Real Homes to Rebuild Lives" where we will provide program updates, news, facts and other information about homelessness in Chicago and how we can all work together to solve the problem.