fbpx

Our Stories

News and insights from The Night Ministry community.

Webinar: Chicago's Homeless & The Night Ministry During COVID-19

Watch the replay of this webinar below

How are the coronavirus and its impact on our economy and society affecting young people, adults, and families experiencing homelessness and poverty? What adjustments has The Night Ministry made so it can continue to serve during these challenging times? What can you do to help support our work and to help make sure the needs of Chicago's homeless ...

Continue reading
  3238 Hits

Youth Struggling with Homelessness Have Varied Experiences of the Pandemic

College and high school students served by The Night Ministry adjusted to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, as students around the world did.

Young people served by The Night Ministry have faced a variety of disruptions and challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to interviews conducted with several clients of the organization's Youth Programs, their experiences of the changes, adversities, and opportunities brought by the pandemic, while sharing some commonalities, have also ...

Continue reading
  3789 Hits

Health Outreach Offers Support to Spanish Speakers Experiencing Homelessness

The Health Outreach Bus in Pilsen, a Chicago neighborhood where The Night Ministry serves many clients for whom Spanish is the primary language.

The sounds of Spanish are often heard along the routes of the Health Outreach Bus and the Street Medicine Team, The Night Ministry's Health Outreach programs that bring free health care and other essential resources into communities across Chicago. "Staff are out speaking Spanish with people every day," said Stephan Koruba, Senior Nurse Practitione...

Continue reading
  2663 Hits

The Night Ministry Welcomes Volunteers Back to Programs

Louise Goodman (left) provides sack suppers to visitors of the Health Outreach Bus in the South Shore neighborhood.

Volunteers play an essential role in The Night Ministry's ability to effectively fulfill its mission. Out of caution, the agency suspended volunteer shifts at its Health Outreach and in its Youth Housing Programs when the pandemic began. However, with cases trending downward and vaccination access expanding, The Night Ministry began to bring volunt...

Continue reading
  2348 Hits

Why We're Really All in This Together: A Fiscal Year-End Reflection by Our President & CEO

Paul Hamann is the President & CEO of The Night Ministry.

Dear Friend, There are phrases that have been spoken and written so many times over the last year or so that they have nearly lost their meaning. "Getting used to the new normal." "We are living in unprecedented times." "We're all in this together." I'm sure you can think of others. Frankly, I'd be happy to never hear or read them again. Yet a...

Continue reading
  2225 Hits

Street Medicine Offers Medical Residents an Eye-Opening Perspective on Health Care

Dr. Nathan Lin (right), a medical resident, prepares to provide a COVID-19 vaccine to a Street Medicine patient.

For more than a year, The Night Ministry's Street Medicine Program has been welcoming medical residents—physicians who are receiving their post-graduate training—to join staff in providing health care and supportive services to Chicago's unsheltered homeless population. The residents gain valuable hands-on experience while assisting the Street Medi...

Continue reading
  3325 Hits

Board Member’s Work in Affordable Housing Connects to Service with The Night Ministry

Board Member Bennett Applegate, Jr., seen here speaking at the 2019 Lighting Up the Night benefit, is an attorney specializing in the development of affordable housing.

Serving on The Night Ministry's Board of Directors is an extension of the professional life of Bennett Applegate, Jr. Applegate is an attorney whose legal practice focuses on the financing and development of affordable housing. "If you look at the spectrum of housing solutions, I'm involved in the area of permanent housing, whereas The Night Minist...

Continue reading
  2572 Hits

Tax Filing Event Helps Clients Get Stimulus Payments

Parker Baum (right), a volunteer with The Night Ministry, assists Mary, a client, with filing her 2020 taxes during a drop-in event to help individuals served by the organization receive stimulus payments for which they were entitled.

Millions of Americans have received three rounds of pandemic relief stimulus payments from the federal government. But many individuals experiencing homelessness who are eligible, and could benefit greatly from the economic assistance, have only gotten a portion of what they are entitled to, or they have not received anything at all. "Many of the f...

Continue reading
  2068 Hits

Peer Support Advocate Brings Lived Experience to the Street Medicine Team

Keith Belton (right), Peer Support Advocate, brings lived experience to the Street Medicine Team.

Keith Belton brings unique experience and perspective to The Night Ministry's Street Medicine Team. As a Peer Support Advocate, he has struggled with many of the same challenges that some of The Night Ministry's clients do. "I grew up in an abandoned building on the West Side of Chicago," Belton said. "With my mom, there were five of us kids living...

Continue reading
  2596 Hits

Statement on Adam Toledo

The killing of Adam Toledo by the Chicago Police is yet another grim and sobering reminder that people of color, in particular youth, are far more likely to be killed by police. Adam was a victim of not only a police system in need of major reform, but societal forces that continue to discriminate against youth of color while withholding opportunit...

Continue reading
  2106 Hits

At STEPS, Tax Season is an Opportunity to Teach Lifelong Financial Lessons

Anthony Monterroso, Case Manager at STEPS, meets with a resident of The Night Ministry’s transitional living program. (Photo taken February 25, 2020)

During tax season, it is unsurprising that many residents at STEPS, The Night Ministry's transitional living program for young adults experiencing homelessness, might need a hand with their taxes. Though STEPS provides housing to young people ages 18 to 22, it is not the program's only focus. In addition to case management services, clients are als...

Continue reading
  2031 Hits

New Schedule for the Health Outreach Bus in 2021

The Health Outreach Bus is adjusting its schedule beginning January 1, 2021, to better serve Chicagoans experiencing homelessness or poverty.

To better serve Chicagoans experiencing homelessness or poverty, we are modifying the Health Outreach Bus schedule beginning January 1, 2021. After a trial period serving Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood, we have determined that there are other areas of the city where our services are more critically needed at this time. Two of those areas are&nb...

Continue reading
  5848 Hits

Volunteering with The Night Ministry Is Just One Way A Lifelong Chicagoan Serves the Community

Volunteer Laura Diaz (left) provides a cup of coffee at the Health Outreach Bus (Photo taken 12/22/19).

Chicago resident Laura Diaz, who grew up in the Little Village neighborhood, is dedicated to giving back to the city in which she has lived all her life. One of the many ways she does that is by volunteering with The Night Ministry. Laura, a former Retail Operations Coordinator at True Value Hardware's corporate office, first heard about The N...

Continue reading
  2452 Hits

Nordstrom Give-Back Brand, Treasure & Bond, Partners with The Night Ministry to Support Homeless Youth

Nordstrom Made give back brand Treasure & Bond supports young people experiencing homelessness.

The Night Ministry is excited to announce that it has been chosen as a nonprofit partner of Treasure & Bond, a Nordstrom Made give-back brand that supports young people experiencing homelessness. Nordstrom is donating 2.5% of Treasure & Bond net sales to five organizations across the United States and Canada, including The Night Ministry. "...

Continue reading
  2318 Hits

One Year into the Pandemic, The Night Ministry Remains Focused on Its Mission

Outreach Professional Lavelle Horne (right) speaks with a visitor to the Health Outreach Bus stop at 10 S. Kedzie in Chicago's East Garfield Park neighborhood.

It's been a year since the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services declared a public health emergency over the coronavirus. And while The Night Ministry has made adjustments to adapt to the pandemic, COVID-19 has not changed the agency's dedication to its mission to provide housing, health care, and human connection to individuals experiencing...

Continue reading
  3589 Hits

Street Medicine Teams up with Skilled Assessor to Move Clients into Permanent Housing

Ryan Spangler of Heartland Alliance and The Night Ministry’s Sylvia Hibbard work together to move chronically homeless adults into housing.

More adults who have experienced chronic unsheltered homelessness are finding housing because of a partnership between The Night Ministry and the nonprofit Heartland Alliance. Ryan Spangler, a Senior Outreach Worker and Case Manager at Heartland Alliance, is what is known as a Skilled Assessor for the Homeless Management Information System (HM...

Continue reading
  2200 Hits

First Virtual Night Lights a Success

Night Lights, the Annual Gala of The Night Ministry's Associate Board, went online this year.

By Alyssa Cullinan, Night Lights Chair It goes without saying that 2020 was a remarkable year; and like most everyone else,The Night Ministry's Associate Board was required to adapt in new ways. Our full calendar of service, advocacy, and fundraising events was truncated, and meetings moved online. The human connection we've all expe...

Continue reading
  2244 Hits

The Night Ministry in 2021: A Q/A with President & CEO, Paul W. Hamann

Scroll down to watch the conversation.

What's new and on the horizon at The Night Ministry? Our President & CEO, Paul W. Hamann, sat down with Nieal Marie Ross, Manager of Youth Supportive Services, to talk about new programs and initiatives at the agency in 2021. 

  2479 Hits

The Night Ministry Expands the Scale and Scope of Outreach on Public Transit

An individual receives a sack supper from Kyanna Johnson, Public Ally at The Night Ministry, at a CTA Blue Line station.

Overall ridership is down because of the pandemic, but for some members of the community, public transit offers more than just a way to commute. Many people experiencing homelessness ride trains and buses for shelter and safety. That is why The Night Ministry is now offering health care and outreach services at two CTA train stations two nights a w...

Continue reading
  3275 Hits

COVID-19 Creates Barriers for Securing IDs and Benefits

First-time applicants for an Illinois State ID Card must present several documents to prove their identity.

An ID card is required to obtain housing, employment, or benefits such as Medicaid. But many individuals experiencing homelessness don't have an ID, and now the coronavirus is making it harder to get one. For months, the Illinois Secretary of State facility in downtown Chicago, where individuals can apply for a first-time or replacement state ID ca...

Continue reading
  2578 Hits

1735 North Ashland Avenue, Suite 2000, Chicago, IL 60622 | 773-784-9000
The Night Ministry is a 501(c)3 charitable organization. Our Federal Tax ID (EIN) is 36-3145764.