HUMBOLDT PARK — While tents, propane tanks and bags are still scattered throughout Humboldt Park, fewer people are living there as city officials say they are matching more people with housing.
The tent encampment population at Humboldt Park, which grew exponentially during the pandemic, has ebbed and flowed since summer, when there were about 40 people living in the park. Thirty-four of them applied for housing, city officials said.
Officials with the city’s Department of Family & Support Services and the Department of Housing have hosted three accelerated moving events since May to get residents enrolled in a rapid rehousing program, leaders said.
Fifty-six people have found permanent housing, and another 30 are finding new apartments or are in negotiations with providers, city officials said at a community meeting this month hosted by Ald. Jessie Fuentes (26th).
There were 29 people living in the park in October and about 32 in November, officials from the city’s Homeless Prevention team said. December data was not available, but officials indicated the number was about the same.
Fuentes called the homeless encampment one of the largest on the West and Northwest sides, peaking at about 80 tents. Several tents are empty or used only for storage because some people have left, Fuentes and city officials said. Park District officials have cleared out tents no longer in use.
Fuentes, who lives near the park and regularly talks with people who live there, said helping people find stable housing is a top priority. Neighbors have complained about the tents and want to see more action from the city on clearing out the park.
“There’s not enough affordable units to house all of our unhoused neighbors, and as we’re seeking to build a safer Chicago, to build affordable units, to build congregate shelters, [we need to] rethink and be creative about how we see housing in the city,” Fuentes said at the meeting. “It’s not just something we need to think about, it’s a demand of 2024.”
Some neighbors said they were concerned the park is a “launching pad” for more homelessness because of the number of tents there. City officials have noticed that as more people from the park get resettled, others flock to the park because of the success of the rapid rehousing program, Fuentes said.
“To avoid that, we’re working with other alders across the city and the [Department of Family and Support Services] to make sure all of the areas are getting these rapid rehousing events,” she said.
There were about 50 tents in the park and five on the surrounding boulevards on a recent weekday.
‘We Don’t Want To Be Out Here’
Finding homes for vulnerable neighbors — many of whom are from or have ties to the area — is another challenge to helping people find stable living situations, Fuentes said.
Finding affordable options in Humboldt Park and Logan Square is difficult, especially as low-cost apartments disappear from the Northwest and North sides.
For some people living in the park, getting matched to housing on the Far South Side is not worth the move.
Victor, who has lived in Humboldt Park for over a year, used to live near Division Street and Homan Avenue but became homeless in 2022 after a series of family and health problems, he said. He used to work for a glass-making company but got laid off last year; he’s trying to find a new job, he said.
Victor was matched to an apartment in Roseland near the border of Indiana, but he declined to move because it’s difficult to get there without a car and he isn’t familiar with the area.
“There is no transportation to get there; I would be stuck out there,” said Victor, who declined to give his last name. “If I go out there, I don’t know anybody, I have no family. All of my family is here, my sisters and brothers.”
Victor wants to see more housing options in his community and more resources put toward renovating deteriorating neighborhood homes. He also wants to see more shelters open for people living in parks, like the city has done for the thousands of migrants who’ve come to Chicago.
“They got buildings here that are boarded up. … Fix them up and give a couple guys a building, instead of tearing them down or letting them sit there rotting away,” Victor said. “It’s really cold out here. It’s tough.”
Affordable Housing Needs
Alderpeople and housing advocates are increasingly urging the Chicago Housing Authority to create more affordable housing nearby and renovate dozens of vacant properties causing headaches for neighbors.
Block Club investigations have found nearly 500 scattered CHA units have sat vacant around the city for decades, and the agency owns over 130 acres of empty land and buildings.
There are over 29 vacant CHA properties scattered throughout the 26th Ward that could offer stable housing, which is “drastically” needed for people searching for safe, affordable options in the community, Fuentes said.
“The responsibility of an elected official is to raise those concerns to provide the feedback and to be persistent in the accountability,” Fuentes said. “We are going to do everything we can to spend city dollars as ethically as possible and build the housing that the city of Chicago requires, while providing the feedback to the CHA that’s needed and partnering with them as we’re rapidly rehousing.”
As part of CHA’s $50 million Restore Home initiative, vacant Humboldt Park apartment sites will be renovated beginning this year for rentals, with five buildings to be rehabbed for affordable home ownership, spokesperson Matt Aguilar said.
For the apartments that will be made available for public housing rentals, “CHA will be utilizing our site-based waitlists to screen applicants for those housing opportunities, which is a federal requirement,” Aguilar said.
The exact locations of the projects aren’t clear, but data of the agency’s empty properties in Humboldt Park shows six fully vacant buildings in the neighborhood.
The Restore Home initiative plans to renovate nearly 200 vacant apartments citywide and 40 single-family homes starting early this year, agency officials said in a press release.
In addition to the CHA land redevelopment, Fuentes and her staff are looking at the TIF corridors in her ward to assess possible locations for more homeless shelters. A non-congregate shelter for youth experiencing homelessness is being proposed for a Humboldt Park apartment building near the park.
José Rivera Santiago, another man living in the park who used to live in Logan Square, said he is thankful for the city services but still hasn’t found an apartment. With the brutal cold, he is in dire need of a new tent and relies on volunteers and nonprofits to deliver warm food and blankets. He goes to nearby warming shelters when he can.
“The city people have been helpful, but it’s not enough,” Rivera Santiago said in Spanish. “We don’t want to be out here anymore. … We need propane gas to keep warm at night, but it’s dangerous. My old house had heat, but this is not easy.”
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