The Chicago Coalition For The Homeless

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The Chicago Coalition for the Homeless estimates that between 2014 and 2015, 125,848 Chicagoans were homeless. 20,205 homeless students were identified by Chicago Public Schools. 98.1% of the students identified were 'children of color ', and 18.3% were diagnosed with disabilities or developmental delays. 54,638 students were identified throughout all of Illinois. People living in families comprise half of Chicago 's homeless population. 14% of Chicago 's homeless adults were employed. It seems to me that it 's really quite difficult to argue against helping the homeless, yet, somehow some people do, and legislation gets passed, and services get denied. The most common arguments against helping the homeless tend to be more like rationalizations of ignorance, indifference, or superiority. 'Subtle ' arguments against. Someone might say something like 'I see this guy everyday; everyday for, like, two years, and I 've given him change, and given him change, and but he 's still there, and I 'm just like 'Jeeze guy, like, why don 't you just get a job already? ' ' Little dehumanizing slights. Assumptions of an incredible mass of unknowables; things which one supposes are true for themselves (or of the world as a whole.) are then supposed to be true for others as well, which is, of course, incredibly reductive and untrue in a great many cases. We are not all the same people in the same circumstances, and not everyone can do quite the same things. Not everyone has the same 'luck '—by which I mean something like quality-of-facticity. So, anyway, this 'Get-A-Job ' guy is just an example of someone arguing themselves out of caring, helping and empathizing, and into otherizing, and then arguing against the othered 's deservingness of... ... middle of paper ... ...to com to for a safe environment, meeting with counselors, eating, sleeping, showering, washing clothes, etc. They also help homeless kids with their education, working with schools to offer supplies and transportation. Chicago Coalition for the Homeless (www.chicagohomeless.org) “We organize and advocate to prevent and end homelessness, because we believe that housing is a human right in a just society.” They are similar to the national coalition for the homeless, but, of course, are focused locally, in Chicago. They run several programs and campaigns focusing mostly on community outreach and immediately helping those experiencing homelessness. They have a program that gives homeless legal education and assistance, and a re-entry program to help the recently unincarcerated find housing and jobs, as well as a general 'Jobs ' program, creating work for the homeless.

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