The Bring Chicago Home Ordinance
WHEREAS, an estimate using data from the City of Chicago Homeless Management Information System along with data from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Communities Survey demonstrates that there are approximately 80,384 individuals experiencing homelessness in Chicago; and
WHEREAS, cities around the country such as Los Angeles. New York, San Francisco, and Washington D.C. have recognized that homelessness cannot be solved without dedicating local resources and have dramatically increased their city budgets to dedicate funding for solving homelessness; and
WHEREAS, Chicago families accessing the shelter system overwhelmingly have income below the Federal Poverty Level. The majority are single-adult households headed by a female. Four out of 10 families in shelter self-report a disability, and one in five self-report a mental health problem; and
WHEREAS, providing permanent solutions to homelessness in the City is a matter of racial justice, as the majority of individuals experiencing housing instability are people of color; and
WHEREAS, there is a shortage of affordable housing in the City for low-income households as over 50 percent of all Chicagoans are rent-burdened and 27.9 percent are extremely rent-burdened; and
WHEREAS, in Chicago, the Fair Market Rent (FMR) for a two-bedroom apartment is $1,180. In order to afford this level of rent and utilities — without paying more than 30% of income on housing — a person earning minimum wage must work 110 hours a week; and
WHEREAS, an increasing proportion of the city's households live in overcrowded or substandard housing; and
WHEREAS, approximately 17,894 students in Chicago experienced homelessness in 2018; and
WHEREAS, chronically homeless people have an increased risk of poor outcomes from persistent disease, and they live up to 15 years less than the average American; and
WHEREAS, increasing numbers of Chicago's children are experiencing housing instability and homelessness ...
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