Chicago Politics

Shelter Infrastructure Initiative Press Conference 7.23.25

Description

Mayor Brandon Johnson attends the Shelter Infrastructure Initiative Press Conference.

Transcript

5:44 But I'm here today to introduce someone who have values and have a heart and have a commitment to helping those folks who need help. In spite of everything that's going on in the city, this mayor has been focused on taking care of the folks who really need help in this city. So I admire him for that. I appreciate what he's about to announce to you all today. I appreciate all of the organizations that's helping all of the folks in the communities who need places to stay and need help.

6:21 So without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, the mayor with a heart for the city, the mayor with a heart for the people, Mayor Brandon Johnson. Thank you, Alderman Vice Mayor Burnett, and good morning, everyone. I'm grateful to be here, and I'm thankful that all of us are, I believe, committed that are staying alongside of me to transforming our city.

6:52 This is really a transformational day for our city. Again, I'm grateful to our DFS Commissioner, Mara McCauley, Chief Homelessness Officer, Cindy Soto. We also have with us the Director of the Office of Reentry, Joseph Mapp, and all the dedicated leaders and the teams that are providing shelter and hope for families. St. Leonard's Ministries, Cornerstone Community Outreach, Covenant House, Franciscan Outreach, Olive Branch Mission, and the Inner Voice.

7:25 Together, we are thrilled to announce the largest ever investment in shelter infrastructure improvements and modernization in Chicago's history. Today, we are issuing $40 million in grant funding to support critical upgrades at seven shelters across the city. This is a testament to our deep commitment to providing dignified, trauma-informed, and accessible environments for people experiencing homelessness.

8:02 Accessibility is a fundamental right. We have a responsibility to make Chicago the most accessible and inclusive city in the world. We demonstrated this commitment on Monday when the city announced that four CTA stations on the north side are now fully ADA accessible for the first time in their 100-year history. Just yesterday, we celebrated the 35th anniversary of the ADA. And today, I'm proud to announce this grant funding that will support significant ADA upgrades at our shelters,

8:36 making more than 750 permanent shelter beds to be fully accessible. These shelter investments are grounded in lessons learned from the pandemic, as well as national best practices. The reality is safer and better facilities will lead to better housing outcomes. Specifically, research shows that non-congregate shelter settings that offer privacy improve both health and housing outcomes for residents compared to congregate shelter settings.

9:17 With that in mind, this funding will develop more than 350 non-congregate beds, giving individuals and families the privacy that they need to have sleeping rooms and bathrooms with secure storage for their belongings. Additionally, the grant funding makes fire and safety improvements and energy-efficient enhancements. And overall, this is an investment for healthier, safer, and more private and more accessible facilities. Because everyone, everyone deserves dignity in housing and in shelters.

9:52 This investment spans across the city to seven shelters on the north, south, and west sides of our city so that residents experience homelessness can find quality shelters wherever they are. St. Leonard's and Franciscan Outreach are on the near west side. The Cornerstone Community Outreach is in Uptown. The Olive Branch Mission is in West Inglewood and so forth and so on. Each of the seven projects bringing critical resources to our neighborhoods across the city are vital as we build the safest,

10:22 most affordable big city in America. This initiative ensures that we can serve a wide range of populations, including families with children, unaccompanied youth, single women and men, and, of course, our returning residents. The city is not alone in this mission to provide dignified shelter to unhoused residents. Our $40 million investment is backed by $20 million in the federal home ARP funding and

10:52 $20 million in the locally issued bond funds. This project also leverages public and philanthropic funding, TIF support, and federal earmarks to achieve these improvements. I'm grateful to the IFF for partnering with DFSS as the program administrator for the initiative, and all of our community organizations are grateful for IFF because we do services well, and it's great to have an administrator to ensure that we can live out our mission. This initiative is truly a testament to what is possible when government, community organizations,

11:27 shelter providers, philanthropy, and residents come together to bring healing and stability in our communities. I want to thank everyone who is involved in this effort. I look forward to the continued partnership to invest in our shelter infrastructure. And with that, I do want to bring up our next speaker. But before I do, our Acting Commissioner, Mara McCauley, has served in a very dedicated, compassionate, and competent way for 13 years in the city of Chicago. She is truly a remarkable testament to the love and the care that is necessary and needed in this moment.

12:04 We're grateful for her service. We're grateful for her family. We're just grateful for her life example. So with that, please welcome our DFSS Acting Commissioner, Mara McCauley. Good morning, everyone. Thank you, Mayor Johnson, for the introduction and for your support. Thank you, Vice Mayor Burnett, for being here, and thank you to St. Leonard's for hosting us this morning.

12:36 My name is Maura McCauley, and it is my privilege to serve as the Acting Commissioner for the Department of Family and Support Services, which includes our Homeless Services Division. It's a pleasure to be with you all today in recognition of the city's deep commitment to supporting some of our most vulnerable residents, our unhoused neighbors. I also want to thank the shelter leaders standing with us today. The value of your work is immeasurable, and you have my sincerest gratitude for your dedication to ensuring all Chicagoans have a safe and dignified place to stay, access resources, and lay the groundwork for brighter futures.

13:14 DFSS's Homeless Services Division funds and oversees a network of shelter programs that operate over 5,000 shelter beds at over 45 facilities across the city. DFSS is also integral to the coordination of shelter placement for Chicago residents. Residents in crisis can seek shelter by calling 311. The Johnson administration understands that it is imperative that we work to increase our investment in our city's shelter system, whose facilities and staff ensure, day in and day out, that individuals facing homelessness receive safety, care,

13:50 and compassion they need and deserve on their journey toward permanent housing. The success of this work hinges on modern, healthy, safe, and accessible facilities, which is why the city's $40 million investment into these seven critical shelter programs across Chicago is such a profoundly important milestone. Five years ago, in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, I remember working with all of these partners, overcoming fear and uncertainty about how we would keep shelter residents and staff healthy and safe in larger congregate spaces

14:28 that didn't allow people to safely social distance or isolate when needed. With the support of medical partners and much innovation, the Shelter Network implemented measures, including the use of hotels for isolation and other alternate shelters, which had a profound impact. and the research the mayor cited. It seems obvious in retrospect that the dignity of an individual room and a bathroom would lead to positive health and housing outcomes, and it did. We came out of that effort with evidence, a vision,

15:00 and will for shelter improvements and fortunately the funding and technical assistance followed. Today's milestone comes after two years of extremely hard work including project readiness reviews, pre-development work and more. I want to thank the DFSS team for their commitment to learning new skills and shepherding this through including Deputy Commissioner Andrea Chapman, Director of Homeless Services Kimberly Howard and Amy Cornell the lead project manager on this project this this is a unique opportunity for DFSS and we are

15:38 very grateful to our experienced partners at IFF in their role as program administrator to our partners at the Department of Housing for their support and expertise and to our shelter partners for their vision for better meeting the needs of residents thanks to these investments our shelters are becoming more accessible and less congregate allowing for improved health safety, privacy, and dignity among shelter residents. These investments are changing the face of our shelter system in partnership with a $30 million investment from the Department of Housing which is helping to acquire and

16:12 renovate non-congregate shelter facilities for five additional shelter programs across the system. Through the Department of Housing Investments and DFSS's seven new shelter grants, the City has facilitated a combined $70 million dollars in additional investments to strengthen our shelter system, reinforcing our commitment to meeting the needs of our unhoused and most vulnerable residents. We are proud to continue to advance this impactful work and we thank you Mayor Johnson for your outstanding support. Next a few of the

16:45 grantees will illustrate more specifically how this investment will transform their shelter facilities and its impact on their residents. So with that i will turn it over to our next speaker david harris from st leonard's thank you more thank the mayor vice mayor and i just want to start off by saying that um i want to say thank you to everybody that came up with this idea or vision if you will and then all of the people who

17:20 have received the grants you know because i know how important it's going to be for the people that we serve. So I want to start off by saying that. And then I have to go back to where it all started for me, because I think it's important. So back in 1996, I came home from the institution, from IDOC. I moved into St. Leonard's House. So I've stayed in those two-man rooms, in the three-man rooms over in the place, and climbed those steep stairs

17:52 It's over there. You have to be in good shape, which I was at the time. And, you know, the summertime, you don't have any, you know, heat. You've got to have those fans in the window. Like, you know, when I was a kid in the neighborhood, we used to keep our fans in the window, doors open and everything. So I experienced that. And why this is so important to me as an individual is because we've been around for 71 years at St. Leonard's Ministries. And I've been working here 27.

18:22 So I've been giving back to people who have been through similar things. And it's personal in a way because I get to work with people every day. I worked on workforce and education or workforce development for many years. Now I'm an intake and housing manager. So I deal with the frustrations of people, not just returning residents. I get calls from everybody, women with children, homeless, men, everybody calls.

18:54 And I'm asking how did they get my number. But what I try to do is have resources for anyone who calls. In addition to working with the people here coming into our program, I go back to IDOC from time to time. I do webinars for people, telling them about what we do here in our housing program and what we do in our workforce and education center. And it's all about giving a person an opportunity.

19:26 But to get back to the housing, when you come home from the penitentiary, you do need a room, one bedroom that you can go to. So what we came up with here at St. Leonard's Ministries, and I'm going to stay on the word dignity and respect, It's all about dignity, giving a person an opportunity to slow down and then take advantage of our holistic services. So we have holistic, we tend to say that we operate from a holistic approach.

19:57 So we have medical, mental health, and substances. Right here on our campus, we have 40% of the employees who have lived in those buildings and work here, and we have another 25% of people with lived experience that work here. All of that we do to give back and to show people that if you really want to do something different, you can. So moving forward, I talked about the 27 years.

20:27 At some point, I realized that the things that I went through, that the Creator was molding me to serve people. Serving people is not an easy job. But at some point, you know, it's in you. It's within your heart that you want to help somebody get to their what next. Now I want to talk a little bit about where we're going here with the agency and about the dignity and respect. So we have two buildings of St. Leonard's House on Warren Boulevard, which will gain more capacity and privacy by increasing from 36 beds into multiple-sized rooms to 41 single-bedrooms.

21:08 This will bring the buildings in line with the resident experience at St. Andrews Court, which is our second-stage housing. We will also be adding an elevator on one of our buildings in 2100, which is the original building that was built back in 1954. We will also have air conditioning for everybody, which will be a good thing. So you can imagine like today, there's no air. So you can imagine what people are going to be going through today. In two years, God willing, they won't have to go through that anymore.

21:41 I also want to mention we have a women's program, which is Grace House, which will be also being renovated. And thanks again, everyone, for, you know, investing in the program because it's going to benefit so many different people moving forward. I also want to mention that my executive director, Zach Schrantz, he's out of the country. So on behalf of Zach Schrantz, the board, and the entire St. Louis Ministries community and the staff,

22:15 we thank the city for investing in people. And I want to conclude with a saying that I have. And it says that this place is a refuge. And it says that we are here to ensure that people have everything they need to get it right. And this place is somewhere where I can help somebody, and then I can help myself. We are truly one St. Leonard's for life. And now I want to bring the next speaker to the podium, Ms. Robrette Simpson.

22:56 Thank you, David. Thank you to DFSS, DOH, and obviously to Mayor Johnson and his administration for providing the resources and support for this monumental and its monumental opportunity to improve shelter and infrastructure. As mentioned, my name is Robrette Simpson. I am the Executive Director of Franciscan Outreach. And we are a provider of shelter and services for individuals experiencing homelessness or at imminent risk of homelessness. We serve adults starting at the age of 18

23:27 in low-barrier facilities, meaning that we do not add limitations to providing services. We operate over four shelter or shelter sites throughout the city of Chicago, and last year we served over 3,500 individuals. Our mission is to provide shelter care and pathways toward permanent housing for individuals who are unhoused, meeting them with dignity. We've heard that word a lot today, and I think it's really important to understand how integral it is to incorporate dignity

23:58 in the services that you provide vulnerable populations. We serve many of our residents, including those facing chronic homelessness, complex trauma, and significant health challenges. And we are here today to celebrate the first steps toward renovating our largest shelter. It operates 24-7 with 235 beds, making it a critical resource in our city's response to homelessness. In addition to addressing immediate needs, we offer trauma-informed wraparound services for all individuals,

24:29 including case management and specialized services. In 2024, at our Harrison Shelter, we assisted 1,097 guests, providing over 70,000 nights of shelter and served over 200,000 meals. Unfortunately, in that space, our guests do not have a dining room. And so this funding allows us to provide a space for people to eat sitting down, which sounds crazy, right? But they'll be able to eat sitting down, which in a time where we're looking at

25:00 how inclusive our services is, this is integral to ensuring that we're improving the support that we can give our guests. Our critical infrastructure repairs include a new roof, upgraded ventilation system, and HVAC. I know some people are improving. We have no HVAC. We don't have windows, unfortunately, we could put air in, and each summer we have to rinse portable air conditioning units to try to keep the building at a cool temperature. Dormitory upgrades include moving our women's dorm into the front of the shelter

25:34 where now they have to walk through the men's dorm to get to their bed in our resting area. This allows us to create a less traumatic experience for the women that we serve in our facility. In addition, isolation rooms to ensure that we can provide medical respite or short-term care, which currently we have to turn away because our facility is unable to provide those services. in closing these renovations aren't just about bricks and mortar they are about restoring hope and the people that we serve a renovation a renovated Harrison means better health outcomes

26:09 more stability and a stronger foundation for guests toward their path to home housing and wellness we are grateful to our city partners we are grateful to the mayor's office I cannot say that enough in a time where a lot of people have a lot of criticism I think this is a great opportunity to shine the vision of our current mayor in providing services this is a process that we are doing together and together we're not only improving buildings but we're also

26:41 reaffirming the value of every person who walks through our doors and we invite continued partnership in those conversations and with that I'd like to turn it back over to the minute for questions thank you so thank you to all of our service providers again and And Mr. Harris, I just want you to know, since everybody already has your number, if it's okay when people call me? It's good. Is it okay? I can go. Very good. Hi, I'm Rebecca with the Tribune.

27:18 I've never used a microphone before. But many of you have mentioned ADA and that being a goal to improve in your shelters. Can you talk about that in specific and what difference that will make to your residents? Jackie? Well, we have a smaller building. Your organization? Oh, I'm Jackie Eden, CEO of Inner Voice. We have a smaller building, a two-story graystone. So for us, the ADA accessibility will be achieved through a lift that will take people to the first floor, which is where our isolation room will be, which will be fully ADA accessible, including an in-unit bathroom.

27:50 It will also be able to take people down to the lower level where our offices are going to be, along with all of our laundry facilities. For other agencies, these improvements are way bigger. they're like elevators, you know, that are accessible to multi-floors. So, you know, AVA accessibility is also beyond just the mobility, but it's about vision and hearing, too. So that was all taken into account when a lot of these architectural plans, the renderings were being thought up. So we're trying to be holistic in our approach to serving people with any kind of disability.

28:25 Thank you for that question. I'm hoping you'll indulge me with two questions. since it's my birthday but happy birthday I guess the first one just has to do with CHA the CHA advisory council apparently sent a letter to your office saying that they oppose Vice Mayor Walter Burnett as the choice to head the CHA how much consideration will you give to their input in making your pick well look I encourage all voices to weigh

28:56 in in the decision that I ultimately will make that will reflect the value of The values of our city, as the vice mayor has articulated, my values are quite clear. Having stable, affordable housing is a fundamental right, and that's what the goal ultimately is in my administration, to build the safest, most affordable big city in America. These voices that have been raised, just like voices have been raised in all of the decisions that I've made,

29:27 I welcome the interest and the input of individuals, but at the end of the day, we'll make sure that we have a process that is fully vetted and the best person that reflects my values to build the safest, most affordable big city in America will ultimately be the person who heads up CHA. On another topic that could have significant impact on your budget, your CFO, Jill Jaworski, was quoted as saying that she believes that the city will have to raise property taxes this year to address the budget deficit.

29:58 Do you agree with her assessment? And how will you sell that to a city council that last year shot down that plan? Well, look, there's no secret that we've had some financial malfeasance over the years. And this is an opportunity for the city of Chicago to course correct, and I'm leading that effort. We have a working group that is coming up with a lot of ideas. Some of those ideas have been already pushed through my administration for us to contemplate. It's still too early to determine what our ultimate package will look like,

30:30 but here's one thing that I will say for sure, that the investments that we are making, the historic investments that we're making in housing, in community safety, in youth employment, mental and behavioral health care, our transportation system, these investments are vital in terms of us being able to build and sustain our goal, which is to have a safe, affordable big city. Again, we're going to contemplate all ideas, but it is too early at this point to ultimately determine which package will ultimately prevail. Thank you all very much.

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