A call center for the homeless, a critical program that helps some of the city’s most vulnerable people, won’t return for a few more weeks after being shut down at the end of June.
A taxpayer-funded nonprofit overseeing a hotline that puts unhoused people on a waiting list for housing said Wednesday it has a signed agreement with the organization 211 Metro Chicago to restart the service, possibly in the next few weeks.
The Sun-Times reported recently that the call center was abruptly shut down at the end of June because Catholic Charities was no longer willing to provide the service. That left potentially hundreds of unhoused people unable to take an important first step in finding a place to live.
United Way’s 211 Metro Chicago will provide the service under a contract with the organization All Chicago Making Homelessness History for $217,000 a year.
“We are working diligently to begin operations and expect to do so in the next few weeks,” 211 Metro Chicago Executive Director Rich LaPratt said in a statement.
By dialing 211, the United Way operation can also connect people to other social services, LaPratt said.
Catholic Charities said it ended its agreements with All Chicago and other government programs because it wasn’t receiving enough money to cover its costs for services.
All Chicago is funded by federal, state and local dollars as well as some private money and had $115 million in revenue in 2022. The organization oversees several homeless programs and works with more than 100 outreach workers who are spread out across the city.
“The call center is an important piece of the system, but it’s one piece,” said Jennifer Grandberry, vice president of development and communications for All Chicago. “I’m not trying to diminish the importance of the call center, but the work has been happening and that is 24-7 across the city. That hasn’t ended.”
The call center is the simplest option for people to register for housing waiting lists. Another option is to travel to one of seven offices across the city.
Advocates for seniors, people with disabilities, those with mental health issues and several other people said they relied on the call centers to get the process started for possible housing because the office location visits can be difficult to navigate. Hundreds of people were being helped every month by the hotline option.
The seven locations around the city, known as “coordinated entry system” sites, are seeing many more people come in for help.
Matthew House, a South Side organization that runs a daytime shelter, was among the social service organizations that saw an increase in the number of people turning to it for help to complete a housing assessment.
“The transition is taking more [time] than expected, but we’re excited that it will be done shortly,” said Sanja Rickette Stinson, the organization’s executive director.