Fighting Teen Homelessness

Black people in Illinois are 4.5 times more likely than White people to experience homelessness.[1] From surfing couches to sleeping in shelters, more than 54,235 Illinois students experience homelessness.[2] Many of them attend high school during the day, then battle housing insecurities at night. My focus as the Mid-Western Region's Teen Foundation Chair was to fight teen homelessness. The teens of Jack and Jill of America, Inc., South Suburban Chicago Chapter (SSCC) joined me in standing in solidarity with our peers who are facing housing insecurities. I hosted a two-part series to help build empathy and awareness, raise funds, and collect toiletries to fight teen homelessness in Illinois. 

In November 2022, I hosted the first installment of our two-part Sleep Out Saturday Series at my home. It was during the winter with frigid temperatures, and the heat turned off. We slept on the basement floor in sleeping bags, participated in a teen homelessness workshop, created a video on teen homelessness, ate soup and sandwiches, and solicited family and friends to support our annual Double Good Popcorn fundraiser. Together we sold more than $39,000 worth of popcorn! The monies we raised provided supplies for teens without homes and supported the Jack and Jill Foundation. The next morning the group had breakfast with our parents as we shared our empathic and insightful reflections on our experiences.

The final installment of the series occurred in May 2023 at Homewood-Flossmoor High School. From 4:30pm-8:30pm the teens of SSCC and I hosted a community-wide drive to collect full-size toiletries (e.g., tissue, soap, body wash, textured hair products, toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouthwash, sanitary napkins, deodorant, hairbrushes, combs, detergent, and gift cards). We surpassed our goal of collecting $10,000 in donations from members of the community. 

I arranged for representatives from Aunt Martha’s Health & Wellness (a statewide resource for 125,000+ people and 600 communities), Reclaim13, and Respond Now to be onsite to accept the toiletries and gift cards on behalf of the teens they serve. After the toiletry drive, we held a private event with the State of Illinois Homelessness Chief, Christine Haley, facilitating an informative workshop to help desensitize the stigma around teen homelessness. The mayor of the Village of Flossmoor, Michelle Nelson, toured our event and shared words of encouragement. Cook County Commissioner Monica Gordon and Rich Township Clerk Arlene M. "Sugar" Al-Amin shared insights and inspirational words.  That night the teens of SSCC and I slept overnight on the gym floor of Homewood-Flossmoor High School to be in solidarity with our peers in crisis. The event ended with early morning reflections on the experience and impact of the entire series of events. We were proud. We made a positive impact! 

See the pictures and write-up from H-F Chronicle Newspaper.

[1] Housing Action Illinois. (2019). Black and white disparities in homelessness. https://housingactionil.org/what-we-do/policy-advocacy/publications/

[2] United States Interagency Council on Homelessness. (2019). Illinois homelessness statistics. https://www.usich.gov/homelessness-statistics/il/