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Winter Poses Unique Challenges for The Night Ministry’s Clients and Staff

Matthew-Sorenson Matthew Sorenson (left), Medical Director of the Outreach and Health Ministry Program, consults with a patient.
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...
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Mission Fulfillment Takes Survey Results Back to the Source

survey-back-to-clients-min Bringing survey results back to clients ensures that guests of The Crib and The Night Ministry’s other Youth Housing Programs are given a forum to express their opinions.
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 ...
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Volunteering with The Night Ministry Is Personal

Volunteer-story Miriam Thompson says she was drawn to volunteering with The Night Ministry because she could relate to some of the challenges our clients face.
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...
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Nurse's Corner: Caring for Patients Is a Privilege for Bethany Hess

Bethany-story Nurse Practitioner Bethany Hess gets ready to check a patient’s blood pressure on the Health Outreach Bus.
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...
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A Look Back at 2018 Holiday Celebrations

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...
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Stocking Stuffing Is a Seasonal Tradition for Supporters

stockings-story-min A client of The Night Ministry holds up a gift stocking. The generosity of our supporters allows us to give stockings during the holiday season.
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,...
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Who Are We Serving at the Health Outreach Bus?

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 ...
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In My Own Words: What Inspires You To Live Life?

light-effects-with-led-light-1564195-min What Inspires You?
​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 ...
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Meet Board Member Suzanne Hoyes

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...
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Caribbean HIV Educator and Advocate Observes The Night Ministry’s Health Outreach Program

​ 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,...
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New Zealand Free Clinic Director Visits The Night Ministry

bet_20181016-215141_1 Beth Stitely (right), Director of the Servants Health Centre in New Zealand, visits with The Night Ministry Nurse Practitioner, Bethany Hess, on the Health Outreach Bus.
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...
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Peer Outreach Professionals Help The Night Ministry Engage Homeless Youth

Peer-Outreach-Professional Peer Outreach Professional Sharday Hamilton is an integral part of the Youth Outreach Team. (Photo courtesy of the Chicago Foundation for Women)
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 ...
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Meet Board Member Ike Hong

Image-Ike_Hong
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...
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Clients Face Barriers to Hepatitis C Treatment

Image-Hep-C HIV Testing Coordinator John Werning offers free, confidential hepatitis C tests that deliver results in 20 minutes.
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...
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Volunteering with The Night Ministry Pays Off with Huge Dividends

Image-George-Martin Volunteer George Martin connects with clients of The Night Ministry's Street Medicine Program.
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...
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Illinois' Free and Charitable Clinics Weave a Safety Net for Uninsured and Underinsured

blog-free-chartable The Night Ministry's Outreach & Health Ministry Program provides free basic medical care to many individuals who otherwise would go without services.
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 ...
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Beyond Phoenix Hall: The Night Ministry Provides Other Supports in North Lawndale

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...
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Youth Outreach Evolves with the Times

Image-YOT A partnership with Chicago Adventure Therapy provides empowering activities like rock climbing to young people served by The Night Ministry.
You'll find The Night Ministry's Youth Outreach Van at the corner of Belmont and Halsted in Chicago every Thursday night, but the work of the Youth Outreach Team happens throughout the week. Many young people experiencing homelessness are drawn to the Lakeview neighborhood for services like safe space drop-in centers. But, said Youth Outreach Profe...
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In My Own Words: The Night Ministry Was That Helping Hand

darrick-for-post-min Darrick, a client of The Night Ministry, spoke to attendees at Lighting Up the Night, our Annual Awards Dinner & Auction, in 2018.
By Darrick S. After a successful career as a celebrity photojournalist, I retired and started my own limousine company. Business was thriving when, in November of 2011, I got a phone call that something was wrong with my mother. On investigating, I found that she'd been living in the dark for nine days in our family home. We soon learned that she h...
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Health Outreach Bus Rolls into the Loop

The Health Outreach Bus will make a special stop next week. Six days a week, the Bus brings free basic medical care, food, hygiene supplies, clothing, case management, and a sense of community to seven underserved neighborhoods across Chicago. On Friday, July 27, it will pull into the heart of the city for a visit to Daley Plaza during lunchtime. T...
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