CHICAGO — The city has closed four temporary migrant shelters, which officials said will save $19 million over the course of a year.
The four shelters:
- North Park Village, 5801 N. Pulaski Road
- Harold Washington Library, 400 S. State St.
- Casa de la Esperanza, 3827 W. Ogden Ave.
- New Life Community Church, 2958 N. Damen Ave.
There were about 239 people staying in those shelters earlier this month, according to data from the city.
A spokesperson from the Office of Emergency Management and Communications didn’t answer questions about when the shelters were closed or what the populations of the shelters were when they were closed.
All residents were placed in other temporary shelters, but the office spokesperson didn’t say which.
Families who were staying at the North Park Village shelter were moved to other North Side shelters that have capacity as migrants leave the shelter system, said Adam Roberts, chief of staff for Ald. Samantha Nugent (39th), whose ward includes North Park. He said the building will be used as a polling place in the upcoming election.
It’s unclear if the four shelters will reopen. During a press conference after Wednesday’s City Council meeting, Mayor Brandon Johnson said, “We’re not moving backwards, we’re moving forwards.”
“Those particular shelters are our most expensive shelters,” the mayor said. “My responsibility is to optimize the space that we have.”
The $19 million in savings is over the course of a year, the mayor said. It includes the cost of the leases, staffing, food and laundry, according to the Office of Emergency Management and Communications.
At New Life Community Church, it cost $2,667 per week to house migrants, according to data from the Office of Emergency Management and Communications.
To use Casa de la Esperanza, the city paid a $16,000 “setup fee” and its proportional share of utilities and janitorial expenses, which came to an additional $9,000, according to the office.
There aren’t bed rates for North Park Village or Harold Washington Library because they are city properties, according to the Office of Emergency Management and Communications.
These shelter closures come as the population being housed in city migrant shelters has decreased over the past several weeks.
In the last week of December, there were as many as 14,900 migrants in 27 city-run shelters, with 45 people waiting at the landing zone and 255 people waiting at O’Hare Airport, according to data from the Office of Emergency Management and Communications.
Late last week, there were about 12,800 people in 27 shelters, with 33 people waiting at the city’s landing zone and two people at Midway Airport, data shows.
City officials said there was a spike in arrivals at the end of December, and the slowdown seemed to start at the beginning of January when the city was hit with brutally cold weather.
Block Club’s Melody Mercado and Mick Dumke contributed.
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