Making it through a winter season of snow and extreme cold can be difficult for all of us. But winter conditions can pose extra challenges for individuals experiencing homelessness as well as The Night Ministry staff members who provide mobile outreach services. "The conditions of homelessness make recovery from some of the more common winter ailme...

Serving in the Next Decade , The Night Ministry's current strategic plan, calls for growing and sustaining a data-driven culture of learning. Surveying clients across the organization is an important avenue for achieving that goal. Over the last few years, The Night Ministry began sharing survey results with its clients. Gregory Gross, Director of ...

Every year, hundreds of volunteers contribute their time, energy, and passion to The Night Ministry's mission. Many inspired to give back by personal experiences. Miriam Thompson, who greets clients on the Health Outreach Bus while serving meals and coffee, was drawn to The Night Ministry because she had experienced a period of homelessness. "I loo...

Nurse Practitioner Bethany Hess's philosophy of patient care is rooted in respect for others and acceptance of each person's unique experience of life. "I believe in client-centered care. This requires understanding the needs of the people whom we serve, their circumstances, and the challenges they may be facing," said Hess, who provides free basic...

Every year, the generosity of our supporters allows us to celebrate the holidays with the young people and adults we serve across the city. We hold a holiday party for clients of our Youth Programs, which includes a sit-down meal, games, and wrapped presents. Meanwhile clients of our Health Outreach Bus are also treated to holiday celebrations...

Every year, The Night Ministry's generous supporters help make the holiday season a little brighter for the children, youth, and adults we serve by contributing to the celebrations we hold across all of our programs in December. One of the biggest ways our friends help is through the donation of stockings that are filled with essentials like socks,...

Digging into the 2018 Outreach and Health Ministry Street Survey Results Creating a data-driven culture of learning is one of the goals of Serving in the Next Decade , The Night Ministry's current strategic plan. Gregory Gross, Director of Mission Fulfillment, says surveys conducted with The Night Ministry's clients play key roles in building that ...

By Helen Grove Craig Echols discovered The Night Ministry at a crossroads in his life. At 19 years old, he had recently been released from Cook County Jail and was living in a rehabilitation facility that brought about its own set of challenges, including hostile tenants that made the facility an unsettling place to live. Recognizing that the rehab...

​By Malika Tate, a member of Youth 4 Truth, The Night Ministry's leadership and advocacy group for young people. When I first wake up in the morning normally I do not want to get up. But reminding myself of my purpose and goals in life helps me get up every day. They inspire me to live life. As human beings, we have purposes here on earth, whether ...

Suzanne Hoyes was looking for a way to meaningfully participate in the Chicago community when she moved here in 2014. She found a way to do that by joining The Night Ministry's Board of Directors. We asked Hoyes, who is Vice President, Compliance for Capri Capital Partners, LLC, a real estate investment management firm, about her experience as a Bo...

By Sam Ritchey The Associate Board It's already pushing 80 degrees early on a humid, mid-August Saturday morning when the Street Medicine van pulls up outside The Night Ministry's Ravenswood headquarters. Outreach Professional Milton Alvarez jumps out. A pair of volunteers wait for him at the front door, ready to load food, water, clothing, and hyg...

​ Michael Thomas has seen the effects of stigmatization on HIV testing and education in his home country of Grenada. "There's a lot of stigma that prevents people from being comfortable and being able to go to the clinics to be tested," Thomas said. "We have situations where people in the communities that we work with are afraid to get tested,...

We had a special visitor at the Health Outreach Bus earlier this month -- all the way from New Zealand! Beth Stitely, director of a free health care clinic in New Zealand, was in the Chicago area as a guest of the Illinois Association of Free and Charitable Clinics. On Wednesday, October 10, Stitely visited CommunityHealth's clinic and Th...

Sometimes there is wisdom in knowing that you don't know it all. The Night Ministry's Youth Outreach Team makes contact with homeless young people across the city, connecting them with housing, education, vocational, and physical resources as well as providing compassionate support along their journeys to stability. But a few years ago, the Team's ...

Ike Hong, a member of The Night Ministry's Board of Directors, is helping drive our 2018 Golf Outing. We talked with Hong, an engineer who runs his own construction management and real estate development business, about his engagement with The Night Ministry, which began nearly a decade ago. What attracted you to The Night Ministry? The mission. On...

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, new cases of hepatitis C (hep C), a deadly viral infection that affects the liver, have nearly tripled in the United States over the course of the decade. Risk factors for contracting the virus include having HIV, using intravenous drugs, and being part of the baby boomer generation, char...

By George Martin Four years ago I heard about The Crib, one of the Youth Housing Programs run by The Night Ministry. At the time, the organization I had been volunteering with was shutting down. With my decades of experience as a volunteer coach with young people from different neighborhoods throughout Chicago and my involvement in feeding homeless...

By Paul W. Hamann,  MA, MNA President & CEO The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has increased health care coverage to approximately 670,000 low- and moderate-income Illinoisans through the expansion of Medicaid and 400,000 more through the marketplace. Yet significant gaps in health care access remain. Barriers such as affordability, transition ...

With summer coming to a close, residents of Phoenix Hall are among the hundreds of thousands of Chicago Public Schools students gearing up for the new school year. The Night Ministry opened Phoenix Hall last August to provide students from North Lawndale College Prep High School (NLCP) who are experiencing homelessness with stable housing and servi...

The Night Ministry's Associate Board is once again preparing for the annual Night Lights Gala, our biggest event of the year that raises funds in support of The Night Ministry's work providing housing, healthcare, critical outreach, and other social services to Chicago's most vulnerable populations. This year, we're setting our most ambitious fundr...