Chicago, Illinois – November 21, 2024
With winter’s arrival bringing snow and wind chills below 32°F, a community coalition – including elected officials, extreme weather advocates, homeless service providers, new arrival service providers, mutual aid organizations, medical establishments, and houses of worship – calls on the City of Chicago to take immediate measures to protect unsheltered individuals, both longtime Chicagoans and new arrivals, from life-threatening weather conditions. The coalition is urging the City to implement the following life-saving measures immediately:
- Deploy CTA Mobile Warming Buses: Station CTA buses at all major unhoused encampments as mobile warming centers. These buses must welcome everyone in need, replicating the City’s successful use of buses as cooling centers during the August 2006 heat wave.
- Expand Warming Center Accessibility: Open all six City-operated warming centers 24/7 to everyone. Round-the-clock access is essential to provide reliable refuge during extreme weather events.
- Allow Overnight Rest: Guarantee that individuals can sleep at warming buses or centers without being denied access. Basic human dignity must be preserved.
- Facilitate Transportation to Shelter: Provide unsheltered individuals accessible transportation from warming buses and City warming centers to available shelter beds, ensuring safe passage to more stable accommodations.
- Suspend Encampment Closures and Tent Removals During Winter Months: The coalition calls for an immediate halt to encampment clearances during the winter season, ensuring unsheltered individuals are not displaced during life-threatening weather conditions.
- Raise the Winter Weather Response Threshold to 40°F, Including Wind Chill: The City needs to update its extreme weather response plan to factor in wind chill and wet, snowy, or windy conditions, raising the activation threshold to 40°F. This adjustment accounts for the reality that even at 45°F, strong winds can bring the effective temperature down to dangerous levels, such as 32°F.
Chicago Winters Are Harsh and Deadly
Chicago winters are notoriously cold and snowy, with average annual snowfall of about 37 inches and temperatures often ranging from 30–38°F (-1°C–3°C). However, sudden drops below zero and strong northeasterly winds can make conditions even more dangerous. These extreme weather conditions disproportionately affect Chicago’s unsheltered population, many of whom face severe health, mobility, and mental health challenges. Additionally, new arrivals, who are still acclimatizing to Chicago’s colder climate, face an increased risk of cold-related injury and mortality.
According to the most recent “Point-in-Time” count, the number of people experiencing homelessness in Chicago has increased significantly. With financial barriers preventing many from accessing warming centers or shelters, countless individuals are left to endure the brutal cold.
The Need for Action Is Urgent
Following these immediate steps, Chicago must put forth an interagency response, and lead and facilitate planning activities in order to reduce death and injury among people living outdoors. Numerous residents, organizations and a supermajority of Alderpeople have called for such planning only to be met with inaction and indecision from the Department of Family and Support Services and other agencies. Now is the time to act with compassion and urgency to mitigate the impact of the 4,000+ shelter bed gap we are facing this winter.
The coalition stresses that these proposed measures are both achievable and life-saving. Furthermore, they advocate for long-term reforms to Chicago’s Extreme Weather Response Plan to prevent future tragedies and ensure that unhoused individuals are treated with compassion and dignity.
The time is now to update and improve the City’s extreme weather plan. Without urgent action, lives will be at risk this winter.
About the Coalition
The coalition is composed of organizations and advocates committed to protecting vulnerable Chicagoans from extreme weather. With expertise in public health, healthcare, outreach, and community organizing, this group is dedicated to working with City leadership to develop sustainable solutions to homelessness and extreme weather challenges. For additional information or to arrange interviews, please contact:
GetinTouch@extremeweatherplannerschicago.com
12th Ward Alderwoman Julia Ramirez
14th Ward Alderperson Jeylu Gutierrez
22nd Ward Alderperson Mike Rodriguez
40th Ward Alderperson Andre Vasquez
46th Ward Alderwoman Angela Clay
48th Ward Alderperson Leni
Manaa-Hoppenworth
49th Ward Alderwoman Maria Hadden
19th District State Representative Lindsey
LaPointe
19th Ward Mutual Aid
Ada S. McKinley Community Services
Ayuda mutua D1
Backpack Bed for Homeless Inc
BEDS Plus, Inc.
Care for Friends
CHHRGE (Chicago Homelessness and
Health Response Group for Equity)
Chicago Lights
Chicago Street Medicine
Cornerstone Community Outreach
Illinois Venezuelan Alliance
Indo-American Center
Katharina Koch Staley
Legal Council for Health Justice
Loyola Center for Community & Global
Health
Maxica Williams
Northwest Center
NWS Outreach Volunteers
Orange Tent Project
Panas en Chicago
Police Station Response Team
Provincial Council Clerics of St. Viator
Red Line Service Institute
St. James Cathedral
Streeterville Neighborhood Advocates
The Boulevard of Chicago
The Chicago Help Initiative
The Chicago Recovery Alliance
The Night Ministry
The People’s Response Network
The Sanctuary Working Group
Trilogy
University of Illinois Hospital
West Side Heroin/Opioid Task Force at
Prevention Partnership
Worker’s Center For Racial Justice