JEFFERSON PARK — Far Northwest Side neighbors gathered Tuesday to memorialize community members who have died due to complications from being homeless.
The memorial at Friendship Presbyterian Church, 5150 N. Northwest Highway, was organized by Rep. Lindsey LaPointe’s office along with Sen. Rob Martwick’s office and other neighborhood advocacy groups, partly in conjunction with national Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day Dec. 21.
Organizers said they wanted to draw attention to the recent deaths of several homeless individuals in the community while humanizing the issue of homelessness more broadly.
LaPointe, who previously worked in street outreach and social work, emphasized the premature nature of these deaths in a press release about the event. Citing National Institutes of Health data, organizers noted the average lifespan of a homeless person is about 17 years shorter than their housed counterpart.
“We want to build compassion for folks across the city and for our neighbors to understand that people are in dire need here on the Northwest Side,” said Rev. Shawna Bowman, an artist and pastor at Friendship Church.
After spokespeople from LaPointe and Martwick’s offices addressed the crowd, Bowman read a list of names of community members who died while experiencing homelessness from 2017 until now, lighting a candle for each name.
Monica Dillon, an organizer with Northwest Side Homeless Outreach, read a Facebook post that spoke to the connections and relationships that many of those being memorialized had with neighbors.
“I will remember that each person who died was an individual with a unique story and experiences. They were not defined by their homelessness, but by their hopes, dreams, and struggles,” the statement read.
Dillon said most of the clientele at Northwest Side Homeless Outreach grew up in the area, have family there or were most recently housed there.
“These are our neighbors. We just have to build space for them,” she said.
Lutheran Social Services of Illinois was awarded a $335,000 grant in September to expand its outreach to homeless individuals in Portage Park, Old Irving Park, Jefferson Park and Belmont Cragin. Advocates said the program will be helpful in expanding existing efforts to combat homelessness in the neighborhood, but more is needed in both the short and long term.
“We’re in kind of a social services desert here,” Dillon said. The Northwest Side does not have a dedicated emergency shelter or warming center.
Bowman said Friendship Presbyterian Church will continue to support efforts toward increasing affordable housing and permanent support for homeless individuals.
The church will host an informational meeting 7 p.m. Wednesday about the Bring Chicago Home ordinance, which aims to create revenue streams that support permanent housing solutions for homelessness in Chicago.
Friendship Presbyterian Church serves as a warming center 2-4 p.m. daily. Information on the city’s warming centers and senior centers is available online.
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