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Advocates ask Illinois lawmakers to increase funding for the unhoused in new budget

Tents set up on grass lining a paved walking path. A wheelchair sits in the path, unoccupied. A metal fence is up behind the tents. Trees are in the background.
Melissa Ellin
/
WGLT
A homeless encampment that had been growing on the Constitution Trail near Home Sweet Home Ministries shelter in Bloomington was later disbanded by the city.

With budget negotiations around the corner, advocates from across Illinois have written a letter asking Gov. JB Pritzker to include an additional $100 million in the budget for homeless shelter services. That would mark more than a 30% increase over what the state currently spends on the unhoused.

This comes as 16,000 people have become homeless in Illinois in the last year according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s annual report that also said there is an 18% increase in homelessness nationally.

The Illinois Shelter Alliance said 4,000 beds are needed to address the increase in homelessness in the state.

For many of the organizations, additional funds could help sustain or provide further housing for the increasing number of unhoused people.

Dreams are Possible is one of the dozens of groups that signed the letter sent last month.

The Bloomington-based organization provides career training and resources for women and non-binary people struggling to pay rent and obtain higher-paying jobs.

Director Mary Campbell said she works with people who usually live below the poverty line and struggle with rent or other necessities.

“It's only one bad situation that would make them move into being homeless,” she said.

The organization offers four hours of paid training per week in skills such as finance, leadership building and other important skills for attaining a job. They are paid a weekly stipend of $60 for taking the classes. In addition, they also offer their students workshops in particular skills such as forklift training or woodworking.

Finding a community

Campbell acknowledged there are communities that form within unhoused communities, but emphasized her organization helps those who can’t find community and provides them a space.

“Some of them are pretty lonely, and our class becomes a community for them, and then hearing that their dreams might be possible is something that gives them hope,” said Campbell, adding it wasn’t hard to sign onto the advocacy letter since so many people depend on the funding.

“We see it up front and personal with the women and the struggles that they have to try to obtain adequate housing for them and their families,” Campbell said. “So, it's a no brainer for me to be involved in housing issues.”

The Dream Center in Peoria is another organization providing career and education training, housing, and supplies for families and couples.

Homeless and housing director Kristy Schofield said the cost of housing has been a key factor in why homelessness has been on the rise.

On average, it costs $28.81 per hour to afford a two-bedroom apartment, according to Housing Action Illinois.

This also is happening when there is a limited number of affordable apartments in the state. Nearly 290,000 affordable apartments are needed to address the needs of extremely low-income renters, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

This is why their housing program provides supportive housing for anyone in need.

Schofield said the program helps people who have attempted to leave shelters, but have struggled to find a more permanent home due to mental health issues or substance abuse. Dream Center has 21 apartments for supportive housing, but always takes in those in need.

“They would lose that housing and they'd be back in a shelter, and it was just a cycle of homelessness, and so supportive housing is there,” Schofield said. “So we give case management on site, so when there are issues coming up that could cause a person to lose their housing out in the world to be evicted for substance abuse, mental health issues, we have case management here to help keep those people stably housed, get them the assistance they need to stay in housing.”

Schofield said the additional funding would be critical since it is challenging to run a dedicated 24-7 emergency center.

“We don't turn anyone within our population away, and we have served as many as 190 at night,” she said. “We serve 16,000 meals in August and September, and we are just struggling financially under the burden of caring. I mean, it's not a burden, it's we feel like Jesus has called us to do it, but we're struggling financially, and we need assistance.”

The faith-based organization, Dream Center, did its yearly count of unhoused people live in Peoria. The next day, they ran a resource fair providing free haircuts, work clothes and provided housing and job opportunities for unhoused people.

Dream Center’s drive to help others through faith is similar to another letter signee, the Catholic Conference of Illinois. The organization helps create and lobbies policy for statewide programs involving the church, and also works with local Catholic Diocese to run charity events to help homeless and low-income residents.

Conference director Marilou Gervacio said her organization signed onto the letter to Pritzker because the church believes housing and shelter is a human right.

“This is a concern for us when people are not able to afford housing and unfortunately are living without homes on the on the street,” she said. "And also, because we believe there's a preferential option for the poor and vulnerable.”

The request for more financial help comes at a time when the state faces a more than $3 billion deficit.

State Sen. Dave Koehler, a Democrat from Peoria, said additional funding for shelters is necessary, but he knows it will be hard to approve with so many other budget priorities.

Koehler said lawmakers should be able to allocate some additional funds, but it may not be $100 million.

“We just don't have as many resources this year to be able to satisfy all that 100%, so what we have to do is we have to prioritize and say, okay, this is what's most important,” Koehler said. “This is how can we spread out what resources we do have to make sure that everybody is taken care of a little bit.”

The Illinois Shelter Alliance believes there’s a cost to not providing help. A study from the Illinois Department of Public Health shows people experiencing homelessness cost the state $16 billion over five years.

Homeless advocates say more money put into homeless prevention would save the state money inn the long term.

The report also showed homelessness lowers life expectancy by 20 years.

Pritzker is scheduled to deliver his state budget address on Feb. 19.

Cesar Toscano is a Statehouse reporting intern for WGLT and WCBU.