AUBURN GRESHAM — A South Side alderman’s claims that warming centers in his ward will be used as migrant shelters is not true, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office said.
Ald. David Moore (17th) released a letter Tuesday addressed to Johnson saying public spaces in his ward will soon become warming centers used to house migrants. The letter circulated on social media, angering South Side residents.
But it’s not true, Johnson’s office said Friday.
“Warming centers are not, nor have they ever, been considered for shelters for asylum seekers in the 17th Ward,” Johnson press secretary Ronnie Reese said in an email.
In his letter, Moore claimed Thurgood Marshall Library, 7506 S. Racine Ave.; Ogden Park, 6500 S. Racine Ave.; and Marquette Park, 6743 S. Kedzie Ave., will serve as warming centers “in response to the weather changing and the need to get asylum seekers off the street.”
Supervisors at the ward’s park district and libraries received notice from Johnson’s administration two weeks before they were activated that their locations would be used as warming centers, Moore told Block Club.
Moore didn’t find out until about a day before, he said. He received a call from a Legislative Affairs official who told him, “If your community and people are seeing migrants in the parks and in the libraries, just let them know that they’re being used to warm them,” Moore said.
The city’s Department of Family and Support Services typically opens its six warming centers when temperatures drop to 32 degrees or lower. One of the locations, the Englewood Community Service Center at 1140 W. 79th St., also falls in Moore’s ward.
If needed, city-operated libraries and park facilities can also be used as warming centers during evening hours, weekends and holidays, according to the city.
Moore claimed in his letter that warming centers will “essentially turn the 17th Ward’s library and public parks into migrant shelters” and that he “vehemently reject[s] any plan that would displace my residents and threaten the safety of their children.”
But the warming centers open every year — and libraries and park facilities “will not be used for shelter, nor will any residents or programming be displaced,” the Mayor’s Office said in a statement.
Moore told Block Club library and park facilities are typically only used “in extreme emergencies” and that they are “never primary places,” like they are this year, he said.
Unlike the city’s six warming center’s 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily hours, some warming centers at the parks and libraries have “slots” when people can visit, ranging for a few hours, Moore said.
Supervisors at the facilities are expected to tell people when they have to leave, Moore said. Some have expressed concerns to Moore about “no security plan and the language barrier,” Moore said. The city did not hire translators for the parks and library.
“When 2 p.m. hits, who tells them, ’You’ve got to go?’” Moore said. “… If they don’t want to leave, what do you do then? Do you just throw them out in the cold? … All I’m asking for is a clear plan and answers to those questions.”
Moore criticized Johnson’s administration for failing to communicate with neighbors and the ward’s office before opening the library and parks as warming centers. If facility supervisors can be notified weeks in advance about city plans, the alderman should know as well, Moore said.
If there is clear communication, alderpeople won’t have to “get to the point where we’re writing letters to the administration,” Moore said.
“Don’t make decisions like that without including the local elected alderman so that we can effectively communicate and provide guidance and get answers to the questions so we know what’s going on,” Moore said. “Whether we agree with it or not, that’s not the issue. The issue is effective communication.”
Moore’s letter comes days after Gov. JB Pritzker announced an additional $160 million in state funding to aid and house migrants as freezing temperatures roll in.
More than 22,000 migrants have arrived in Chicago. Hundreds continue to sleep outside. As of Wednesday morning, more than 12,000 were living in the city’s 25 temporary shelters. Nearly 1,400 people are housed in police stations, with more than 300 at O’Hare Airport, according to city data.
How To Help Migrants
• The city has partnered with Instituto del Progreso Latino to create an Amazon wishlist where people can buy supplies for migrants.
• Anyone who wants to donate extra furniture can fill out a form requesting Chicago Furniture Bank pick it up.
• You can find volunteer and donation information on the city’s website.
• Read more: How To Help Migrants In Chicago As Winter Approaches
Of the state funding, $65 million will go toward creating a “winterized soft shelter site” for up to 2,000 asylum seekers, prioritizing people living outside or at police stations and the airport for temporary housing.
The newly funded site will coincide with Johnson’s plan to build winterized tent camps on lots in Roseland at 115th and Halsted streets and Brighton Park at 38th Street and California Avenue.
The city’s six warming centers are open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday when temperatures dip. The Garfield Community Service Center, 10 S. Kedzie Ave., is open 24 hours daily.
People can call 311 to locate a warming center, request a well-being check, report inadequate heat in residential buildings and receive recent information about warming centers at any time.
The warming centers:
- Englewood Community Service Center
1140 W. 79th St.
312-747-0200 - Garfield Community Service Center (open 24 hours)
10 S. Kedzie Ave.
312-746-5400 - Dr. Martin Luther King Community Service Center
4314 S. Cottage Grove Ave.
312-747-2300 - North Area Community Service Center
845 W. Wilson Ave.
312-744-2580 - South Chicago Community Service Center
8650 S. Commercial Ave.
312-747-0500 - Trina Davila Community Service Center
4312 W. North Ave.
312-744-2014
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