Committee on Health and Human Relations
March 24, 2021 City Council Meeting
RESOLUTION
To rapidly shelter Chicago's unhoused population in the event of extreme cold.
WHEREAS, the City of Chicago ("the City") offers housing alternatives, including Emergency Shelter, on a year-round basis for residents that are unhoused or housing insecure through the City's Continuum of Care and delegate agencies; and,
WHEREAS, in 2020, the City had a total of 5,390 people experiencing homelessness, of which 3,861 were in shelters while the remaining 1,529 were living on the street or a location "not meant for human habitation", as described in the DFSS' 2020 Point in Time (PIT) Report; and,
WHEREAS, when temperatures are at 32 degrees or below, the City may activate one or all of its six Department of Family and Support Services' (DFSS) community service centers as warming centers from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, for which availability may be extended as determined by the Office of Emergency Management and Communications (OEMC), in addition to activating Chicago Police Department (CPD) stations and Chicago Public Library (CPL) branches as warming areas; and,
WHEREAS, according to the National Weather Service, the City recorded the following number of days at or below 32 degrees: 30 days in 2017, 32 days in 2018, 50 days in 2019, 19 days in 2020, and 28 days in 2021 through January and February; and,
WHEREAS, while the City has approximately 3,895 Emergency Shelter beds, as summarized in the 2020 Housing Inventory Count (HIC) Report, this leaves approximately 1,495 unhoused residents without access to Emergency Shelter, in the event of an extreme cold advisory; and,
WHEREAS, the City's current extreme cold weather response calls on DFSS staffing to activate weekend and overnight hours for the City's warming centers but DFSS staffing alone is not sufficient in the event of an extended extreme cold weather advisory and is unable to shelter the 1,495 people that canno...
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