Refer to:
Joint Committee on Housing and Real Estate; Human Relations
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, the City of Chicago is a home rule unit of government pursuant to the 1970 Illinois Constitution, Article VII, Section 6(a); and
WHEREAS, in March of 2016, Mayor Rahm Emanuel launched a Citywide Task Force to Reduce Homelessness and address homelessness citywide; and
WHEREAS, according to the 2016 Chicago Homeless Count and Survey, Chicago has 5,889 homeless individuals; and
WHEREAS, a partnership between the Chicago Planning Council on Homelessness, the Coalition for Homelessness, All Chicago, and the City of Chicago produced the creation of Chicago's Plan 2.0, a seven-step plan focused on developing new strategies to prevent and reduce homelessness; and
WHEREAS, Chicago recently initiated multiple new efforts to combat homelessness, including a four percent (4%) surcharge on the house sharing industry; the expansion of Day for Change, a program that provides day labor opportunities, along with meals, transportation, behavioral health, job preparedness, hygiene, and interim housing services; and
WHEREAS, the Chicago Emergency Homeless Assessment and Response Center (EHARC), the City's first rapid response center, will specialize in vital triage services for families experiencing services; and
WHEREAS, the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services (DFSS), with the help of federal and state funding, administers and manages programs for homeless individuals and families, including more than 3,000 beds of overnight shelter and interim housing with various service providers across the City; and
WHEREAS, the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) uses HUD funding for Housing Choice Vouchers (formerly known as Section 8); and
WHEREAS, today, 47,000 Housing Choice Vouchers are used in all 77 Chicago community areas; and
WHEREAS, based on the White House proposed FY 18 budget, Chicago could face the elimination of Community Block Grant (CDBG) and Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) funding; and
WHEREAS, Under Rule 36, a committee may, by majority vote of its full membership, create a permanent or temporary subcommittee; now, therefore,
Refer to:
Joint Committee on Housing and Real Estate; Human Relations
BE IT RESOLVED, That we, the members of the City Council hereby concur with the Committees on Housing and Real Estate and Human Relations that there shall be created a subcommittee of the Joint Committee on Housing and Real Estate and Human Relations with the sole purpose of addressing the issue of homelessness in the City of Chicago to assist all entities in preparation for any future change in federal funding of homelessness programs.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That we concur with the appointments by the Chairman and Chairwoman of both the Committee on Housing and Real Estate and Human Relations respectively to this subcommittee, including Chairman and Vice-Chairman.
Brian Hopkins' Alderman, 2nd Ward
Pat Dowell Alderman, 3rd Ward
Chairwoman, Committee on Human Relations