CHICAGO, IL — According to the latest analysis done yearly by the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, there are an estimated 125,848 homeless people living in the city of Chicago. This statistic has been steadily going up each year since the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless began doing the analysis about four years ago. Over that same approximate period of time, the Chicago Housing Authority emptied out a majority of the Cabrini Green row houses with the false promise that they would renovate and move families back in.
Windows were improperly boarded up and glass was removed, allowing snow and rain to seep in and cause water damage, mold infestation and blight. Many residents say this was done purposely in order to avoid renovation and force demolition followed by the construction of mixed income housing. This translates into more contracts for private corporations and little to no housing for the poor who are ending up homeless. Residents took the CHA to court in September of last year. The settlement states that 40% of the mixed-income units that the CHA intends to construct on the site must be for public housing. Let’s not forget that the CHA has broken almost all its agreements with residents in the past as well as court orders from judges and has not been punished.
To add insult to injury, it was reported as far back as September, 2011 in the Chicago Reporter that HUD has been paying public housing agencies as if the large number of vacant apartments they manage are occupied. Vacant apartments do not require maintenance in the same way occupied apartments do. This provides a minimum amount of effort and maximum profit for whoever is managing those empty apartments.
All public housing in the city of Chicago are now managed by private corporations. This is precisely what HUD intended to happen. Sean Donovan, who was the head of HUD in 2010, told public housing resident leadership from New York, Chicago and New Orleans that he intended to save public housing by making it private.
This privatization of public housing is not only causing homelessness but is profiting by it. So, homeless bodies pile up each winter unable to survive the cold winter nights while life-saving apartments remain empty lining corporate pockets with millions. Government responsibility for it’s citizens well-being, or lack thereof, is a battleground that the corporations have been winning. We can turn the tide if we, the oppressed and exploited of this land, take advantage of our large numbers and enter that battle fighting in our own interests.
