Gov. Quinn commits to affordable housing – Chicago Coalition for the Homeless
Gov. Quinn gave a speech last Wednesday about the importance of affordable housing, an issue he supported before becoming governor. He asked citizens to contact their representatives to voice their support for affordable housing in both Chicago and Illinois.

Plan to Charge Working Homeless Draws Fire, Again – The New York Times
As the Chicago Housing Authority implements its work requirement in some public housing developments, New York City has started charging rent for the working homeless living in their shelters.  The rent is being charged under a never-enforced 1997 law where rent can be charged up to 50 percent of someone’s income, which seems high. Not paying rent could result in eviction from the shelter. The new enforcement has drawn lots of criticism.

Marines volunteer at homeless shelter during Maine Week – Cornerstone Community Outreach
Marine Week included a wide variety of activities in Chicago from helicopter raids of Arlington park to basically a human elevator at the Sylvia Center in Uptown. The 24 Marines hauled 200 bags up six flights of stairs to help the shelter reorganize and clean out their basement. More information is available from the official Marine story on the volunteer day.

Update – Homeless man files suit to get on the ballot in Oak Park – Chicago Breaking News
Daniel Fore filed suit Thursday in Cook County to get his name on the ballot for Oak Park village board after the board voted 2-1 he couldn’t be on the ballot because he doesn’t have an address. Fore was denied access to the ballot last year, but this year he is represented by the law firm Kirkland & Ellis.

Gov. Quinn appoints former CCH Board President and longtime Board Member – Chicago Coalition for the Homeless
Gov. Quinn appointed Michelle Saddler to Director of Policy. At CCH, Saddler was on the board of directors until 2003 and in government she has been the Director of Investments for the Office of the State Treasury for four years. Some of the policy initiatives she will oversee include housing, economic development and health care. This could also mean that issues surrounding homelessness could have an advocate close to the governor’s office.

Blues to benefit Sarah’s Circle – Sarah’s Circle
Sarah’s Circle will be having a fundraiser next Thursday Feb. 26, at Buddy Guy’s Legends. The John Primer Band will be playing, Kirkland & Ellis and the show begins at 9:30 p.m.

Residents skeptical about new CHA program to prevent homelessness – Chi-Town Daily News
A new plan from the CHA would help place people being evicted from public housing into shelters and help them during the transition with services like storage for their belongings. Critiques ask why not work on something that keeps people in their homes instead of helping them move into shelters, which are increasingly overcrowded? Check out another opinion on the plan at the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless blog.

Homeless kids lack school to call home – Chicago Tribune
Carlos Sadovi’s story is about the hardships of the homeless students who attend Chicago Public Schools. Constantly changing shelters, and therefore schools, along with the inability to maintain friends or do homework productively at home makes it difficult to succeed. And the number of homeless students is growing.

On Sunday Sarah’s Circle was probably the only social service organization hoping for a bitterly cold day.

They got sunshine and temperatures approaching 40° F, but they were still happy.

Sunday was Sarah’s Circle’s 17th annual Winter Walk, a fund and awareness raising event. Normally, the walk brings a long column of people out into the cold of Chicago winters to get people thinking about what it is like for the homeless to spend a night outside. Organizers still considered this year a success, even with the warm weather.

The walk drew 148 people and raised nearly $6,000, according to Sarah’s Circle board member Mandy Zaransky.

Zaransky started volunteering at Sarah’s eight years ago and rose to be its president and is now a board member. She has seen volunteers raise families and bring their young children to the walk year after year. Among the many children at this years walk, two young boys threw a football back and forth as they walked, sometimes over other participants.

Sarah’s Circle provides a wide range of services for its clients including case management, trauma counseling, art therapy, assistance finding housing, and a place to have a meal and keep warm during the day.

“[Sarah's Circle] helps women become the people they are capable of becoming,” Zaransky said.

Larisa Odak, 51, is a client of Sarah’s Circle and joined in the walk Sunday. Odak, a widow, came to Chicago to study at Northeastern Illinois University, but after her car, along with most of her possessions, was stolen she was forced to quit classes and look for a job. She has now been homeless for a month.

On the weekends, Odak is a live-in caretaker but spends her weeknights in a shelter run by REST. She has a case manager at Sarah’s and said that she has received food and clothes from them. Odak said Sarah’s is necessary for her.

“This is like sun,” she said in a thick Eastern European accent. “We forgot whole unhappy situation.”

After the walk, participants were served Chicago-style hot dogs and asked to write on paper cut outs who they walked for that day. The cut-outs were taped to a wall under the heading “I walk in the name of…”

Some of the responses:

“I walk for Marlene who’s still homeless, but still alive.”  – Eileen

“I walk for my mother who was homeless and still lives one paycheck away from homelessness.”

“I’m walking for all the women who have ever been abused by their mates.”

A short teenager with black hair went to the board and posted a blue foot with one word written on it.

“Me.”

For pictures of these cut-outs and more check out the album on the Chicago Homeless Blog Flickr page.

Check out a video from the event and more from Zaransky about the walk and what Sarah’s Circle does.

Sarah’s Circle Winter Walk 2009 from Andre Francisco on Vimeo.

The next fund raising event for Sarah’s Circle is a blues night at Buddy Guy’s Legends on Fed. 26. with The John Primer Band. For more information contact Caitlin Joycesmith at 773-728-1991 x303.

Sorry for the delay on this week’s link roundup. This week was a little thin on stories because I’ve been working on some big upcoming projects, so check back soon. And here are your links, with one guaranteed to make you laugh.

Homeless shelter provides aid to mentally ill - Medill News Service
ChiChi Madu’s story is about Interfaith House, a West side shelter that cares specifically for people with mental or physical disabilities that have been referred to them by hospitals or health clinics. The story says one quarter of homeless people have a “severe mental illness.”

Crowds protest closing of Chicago mental health clinics – Chi-Town Daily News and Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune reports that Mayor Richard Daley plans to close up to five of the 12 mental health clinics in Chicago because of a lack of state funding. The Chi-Town Daily News has a story about 65 people protesting the closures in front of the Mayor’s office, saying the lack of funding is the city’s fault for not billing the state for reimbursement for the cost of running the clinics.
via The Daily Daley

Unemployment up while welfare aid is down – Progress Illinois
Progress Illinois features the Illinois angle for a New York Times story this week about a nation-wide trend of growing unemployment rolls being met with a drop in people receiving welfare. Progress Illinois breaks down the numbers for Illinois and looks into what exactly they mean.

Hastert Misses Point On Unemployment Insurance- Progress Illinois
Progress Illinois has a good story about why exactly Speaker Dennis Hastert is wrong about the benefits of unemployment insurance in the new stimulus bill.

Working at a homeless shelter - This American Life
For a fun link for your weekend, check out this week’s This American Life show from Chicago’s WBEZ public radio station. The show’s theme is about what happens when there is a new boss, and it opens with the hilarious story of when Dave Hill became the supervisor at a homeless shelter in New York.

The Cornerstone Community Outreach posted this new video of the recently saved Epworth Men’s Shelter that CCO now runs.

CCO, which is run by Jesus People USA, took over the operation of the shelter in Edgewater’s Epwroth United Methodist Church this month. The shelter had been run by REST for 14 years, but that partnership ended because of management disputes, according to an article in the Chicago Journal News-Star. Check out the News-Star story for more info on why there was a need for new management and the negotiations it took to keep Epworth open.

via Cornerstone Community Outreach