On a warm Monday afternoon, The Night Ministry's Health Outreach Bus pulled up to a corner in the Roseland neighborhood, just as it does twice a week. But this day was a bit different. In addition to Bus staff providing their usual meals and supportive services to community members who were unhoused or experiencing poverty, team members from the ag...

Black students enrolled in Chicago Public Schools are at greater risk of being unhoused than their white and Hispanic classmates, with a one in four chance of experiencing homelessness during their time in the school system.[1] Students who are unhoused and identify as Black face an intersecting web of barriers that make it especially hard to get a...

Oral health issues are common among unhoused people and can lead to serious health consequences, such as exacerbating diabetes symptoms or negatively affecting heart health. Unfortunately, with its high cost and frequent need for multiple treatments, accessing dentistry is a struggle for many experiencing homelessness. To help address these concern...

Young people served by The Night Ministry are represented in "Unaccompanied," an art exhibition and audio installation that captures the faces and voices of unhoused youth through large-scale portrait paintings and sound recordings. The show's artists, Kate Capshaw and Joshua-Michéle Ross, collaborated with The Night Ministry and other organization...

All of us at The Night Ministry were deeply saddened to hear of the tragic loss of Kevin Powell last month. We mourn with his family and others who knew and cared for him. Mr. Powell, who was killed while utilizing Chicago's public transit system, was one of the more than 65,000 Chicago residents who experience homelessness every year.[1]...

People experiencing homelessness, unhoused youth included, often face significant challenges when it comes to finding employment such as lack of access to transportation to and from interviews, no permanent address to write on applications, no funds for interview attire, possible prejudice from employers, and more. To support their ability to obtai...

In the U.S., health disparities run along racial lines, with Black Americans continuing to experience poorer health outcomes than white Americans overall.[1] Poor health can negatively affect many areas of life, including by contributing to financial instability that may lead to housing loss. In this article, the fourth in our series exploring...

By Kyanna Johnson, Lead Street Medicine Outreach Professional, and Yoela Tepper, Substance Use Specialist As members of The Night Ministry's Street Medicine Team, we see firsthand the damage to human lives caused by encampment sweeps—the removal by municipal authorities of personal property from an outdoor space where unsheltered individuals have g...

In the first week of 2023, The Night Ministry debuted its brand-new Health Outreach Bus on Chicago's streets, bringing free health care, food, and other resources to neighborhoods with high rates of homelessness and poverty. The new vehicle includes helpful features such as exterior illumination and secure and refrigerated storage for medicati...

When you picture a shelter, you likely do not imagine a modern space with an open concept, a view of Chicago's skyline, a spacious kitchen, and plenty of natural light. But, after several months of renovations, The Night Ministry's Parenting with Purpose program, which provides up to 21 months of housing for pregnant and parenting young mothers and...

As the year comes to a close, we are looking back at memorable milestones and accomplishments at The Night Ministry in 2022.  Parenting with Purpose Settles into Its New Home Parenting with Purpose provides long-term, supportive housing for up to eight pregnant and parenting young mothers and their children. The private bedrooms for each resid...

The Night Ministry's Street Medicine Program provides free health care, food, survival supplies, and supportive services to unsheltered individuals across the city. To stay informed on the program's progress and about its clients, the agency's Learning and Impact Department conducts an annual Street Medicine Survey. The survey aims to identify who ...