In an effort to address the pressing issue of homelessness, Cook County commissioners recently voted to allocate nearly $14 million of federal pandemic relief funding to acquire and transform two suburban hotels into shelters for the unhoused population. According to a Chicago Tribune article, the Cook County board awarded a $7 million loan to Connections for the Homeless Inc. for purchasing the Margarita Inn in Evanston and another $6.5 million loan to Housing Forward LLC and the Oak Park Residence Corp. to buy the Write Inn in Oak Park.
Some commissioners and community members argue that the investments should have prioritized low-income south suburbs, which face a more acute need. In particular, Commissioner Stanley Moore expressed his concerns over investing millions in communities with lower homeless populations compared to the south suburbs, where children and families sleep in garages or on the floor, according to an article on Newsbreak.
However, proponents of the hotel purchases argue that Cook County has already been supporting the rent for these two suburban hotels-turned-shelters and that this investment simply solidifies their permanence. The hotel-based shelters have already been operating for several years, offering on-site support services and successfully transitioning a significant number of residents into stable housing. For instance, Lynda Schueler, CEO of Housing Forward, stated in a committee hearing that over the last three years, more than 400 individuals have been stabilized at the Write Inn and 83% have since moved on to permanent housing.
Despite the unanimous approval of the plan, further criticism arises over the disparity between resources allocated in different areas of the county. Carl Wolf, executive director of Respond Now, a nonprofit serving the south suburbs, claims that 10 out of the 11 cities with the most calls to the suburban Cook County homelessness prevention call center are located in the south suburbs. Additionally, the non-profit organization South Suburban PADS runs a hotel-based shelter program offering 100 to 150 beds on any given night, but its waiting list has grown to over 100 individuals looking for shelter, as reported in the Newsbreak article.
In response to the concerns, Susan Campbell, the head of the county's planning department, acknowledged the need for more permanent shelters in the south suburbs and estimated that roughly $20 million more in federal funding can be spent on similar efforts moving forward. Furthermore, Cook County has already been working on identifying potential sites in the south suburbs for shelter expansion.
Apart from the homelessness issue, Cook County commissioners also authorized spending $7.8 million in federal pandemic relief dollars on a water utility assistance program that aims to prevent thousands of water shut-offs each year. Households earning up to twice the federal poverty level in suburban Cook County would be eligible for the program, which is scheduled to open in early 2024. Amid concerns over rising water costs and future water shut-offs as moratoriums come to an end, the funding provided will go directly to the municipality to pay for residents' overdue bills, anticipated to help around 14,000 customers.
