LITTLE VILLAGE — Families with children have moved into the new state-funded migrant shelter in Little Village.
About 100 people moved in Wednesday with another 100 expected to move in Thursday, said Ald. Mike Rodriguez (22nd), whose ward includes the shelter. Another 20 people will move in on a future date, he said.
The shelter includes a tent structure in the building’s parking lot for dining, washrooms and recreation space, Rodriguez said. The tent does not include sleeping quarters, he said.
It’s the first state-funded shelter in the city, officials previously told neighbors at a community meeting in December. The shelter opened in a former CVS store at 2634 S. Pulaski Road, and will house families with children.
A spokesperson for Gov. JB Pritzker’s office confirmed the shelter will be open six months, as previously planned.
GardaWorld, the controversial company which has contracts with both the state and city for migrant housing and services, is staffing the Little Village shelter, representatives of the city’s Department of Family and Support Services said last month. They’ll be in charge of issues like site construction, providing food, maintaining bathrooms and showers and other basic necessities.
Social services organization New Life Centers will also have staff there to connect migrants with resources like housing or employment assistance, the group’s executive director Matt DeMateo previously said.
The move to launch a state-funded shelter in Little Village comes after the state squashed the city’s plan to open a base camp for 2,000 migrants in Brighton Park, citing environmental concerns at the site. The “winterized” tent camps were proposed by Mayor Brandon Johnson as a way to quickly get thousands of migrants out of police station lobbies.
Johnson’s administration began phasing out the use of police districts as temporary housing this fall. The city has opened shelters in leased buildings and partnered with more than a dozen churches to temporarily house people.
The former Little Village pharmacy will join 27 other buildings acting as temporary shelters for migrants citywide — including City Colleges, closed schools and park facilities.
Nearly 14,579 asylum seekers were living in 28 active shelters as of Thursday, with 268 people also staying at O’Hare Airport, officials said.
More than 34,500 migrants have come to Chicago since August 2022, when Texas Gov. Greg Abbott began busing thousands of people, many from Venezuela, to Democratic-led cities in protest of federal immigration policies. People have also been arriving by plane.
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