ONE Northside is a mixed-income, multi-ethnic, intergenerational non-profit organization that builds collective power to eliminate injustice through grassroots community organizing. We organize people from over 100 institutions, as well as individual community residents, from Rogers Park, Edgewater, Uptown, Ravenswood, North Center, Lake View, and Lincoln Park. As an organization committed to preserving and uplifting the diversity that makes our neighborhoods strong, healthy and thriving, we applaud the decision to convert the Broadway Armory to a temporary shelter for the recently arrived asylum-seekers. While this is a difficult decision, we know that housing these new neighbors at local police stations is not a feasible solution.
As community leaders, we need to stand up for these new arrivals and extend a helping hand to get them to safe housing. However, the lack of proper facilities to house migrants comes as no surprise. Chicago is in a housing crisis. The conflict we feel now as we look for solutions to safely house the recently arrived asylum seekers is a testament to a failed housing system for poor people and low- to mid-income people in the city of Chicago. We need solutions that give everyone a stable, permanent home. Currently more than 65,000 people are experiencing homelessness in Chicago, and we need to create dedicated funding so all have access to a safe, healthy, and truly affordable home.
Just as we advocate for housing our newly-arrived migrant families at locations like the Broadway Armory, ONE Northside and our allies are advocating for campaigns like Bring Chicago Home, which would create a dedicated fund for permanent affordable housing. We are also pushing for the Accountable Housing and Anti-Discrimination Act that creates an easy-to-use waitlist mechanism for affordable units in the city. Families are losing homes without even knowing what other affordable options are out there. Both campaigns are aimed at addressing the housing crisis in Chicago and creating real, impactful solutions that would help families find the housing that they desperately need. .
We urge the city to continue to identify safe, secure shelter locations for the migrant families as they arrive in Chicago and to work with community partners and allies to pass campaigns like Bring Chicago Home and the Accountable Housing and Anti-Discrimination Act.
Co-signers:
Jesse Hoyt, Executive Director, ONE Northside
Pastor Liala Beukema, Lakeview Lutheran Church
Rev. Dr. Beth Brown, Lincoln Park Presbyterian Church
Craig Mueller, Lead Pastor, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Chicago
Matt Temple, Lead Pastor, NewStory Chicago
Rev. Monte Johnson, Immanuel Lutheran Church
Rev. Alka Lyall, Pastor Broadway UMC
Pastor Michael Ware, Northshore Baptist Church
Rev. Michelle L. Sevig, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church