7-Dec-14 – Private businesses and the government must work together to solve Chicago’s homeless problem, says the executive director of a downtown advocacy organization.

Douglas Fraser of the privately funded Chicago Help Initiative says there is no way to do what they do without government participation.

“There’s no way to raise the funds…provide all of the housing [and] the things that…come from collective action,” says Fraser. “The only way to have that collective action is through government, there’s no other way.”

Chicago’s homeless population is growing and there are not enough resources, he says, “So we have to look at creative ways.”

For example, Cook County Jail, says Fraser, is one of the largest providers of mental health services. Those services could benefit the homeless and address issues to keep them out of jail.

Chicago Help Initiative has come up with its own creative way by developing a resource guide – based on thousands of personal interactions with downtown’s homeless – that directs people to food, shelter, health care, and possibly employment. The guide is being offered to downtown organizations, social service agencies, and other Loop stakeholders. It is available to anyone.

The goal of the resource guide, says Fraser, “is if you’re walking down the street and someone asks you for cash, you think, well, do I walk on past or do I help them – and I have a third alternative, which is to give them a guide that connects them to food…medical care…to what they need to move forward.”

The homeless problem will never completely go away. “There will always be people cycling in and out of these challenges,” says Fraser (left), “as long as we have addictions, as long as we have mental illness [but] it can be addressed, there are effective things that can be done.”

(Right) A member of the organization Fight2Feed helps a Chicagoan in the Loop in October. Photo by Peter Bella.

The Chicago Coalition for the Homeless estimates that during the 2013-14 school year there were 138,575 homeless Chicagoans, an increase of 19 percent from the year before. According to the City of Chicago, 30 percent of people living at homeless shelters are physically disabled, 28 percent are mentally ill, and 20 percent are victims of domestic violence. 12 percent are employed but homeless. Six percent are veterans.

• More info: Resource Guide
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