Group Prepares to Sleep In Cold for Homelessness

While the overall number of homeless in Chicago is down 13% year over year, the most recent point-in-time survey and count showed a three-fold increase in homelessness in the Lincoln Park area. To help address the issue, Care for Friends is planning a Sleepout for Homelessness on January 27th, one of the coldest nights of the year facing homeless Chicagoans.

"In the past two years, we've expanded our hot meal program to provide 50% more meals than previously, due to increased demand in the neighborhood," said Gary Kenzer, Executive Director of Care For Friends. "We've also seen an uptick in the number of individuals using our foot clinic and medical services during the same time, which also brought increased financial pressure."

The group, which receives no funding from state or local government held their first Sleepout in January 2016, and live tweeted the event to record their experiences. "We explored the neighborhood at night, thinking about how one could address their most basic human needs like shelter, food, and washing up. We were amazed to see how many people we encountered who face those challenges every day," said JD Miller, President of the Board for the organization.

The event will be expanded this year, and the group has organized tents for up to 50 sleepers to participate. From sunset on January 27th through sunrise on January 28th, participants will have the opportunity to conduct a scanvenger hunt of sorts in the neighborhood to look for solutions to problems facing homeless individuals each day - and their finding will be shared on social media using the hashtag #CFFSleeps.

Sleeping outdoors in the snow is, of course, another key feature of the event.

The group still has room to register additional sleepers, and has a website at http://www.careforfriends.org/... with additional information. For those who feel sleeping in the cold may be a bit much, the group also has a website where financial support can be given.