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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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The Night Ministry Receives Cook County State's Attorney's Pride Award

​The Cook County State's Attorney's Office and its LGBT+ Employee Resource Group honored The Night Ministry with a Pride Award for its leadership and commitment to the LGBTQ community. Paul W. Hamann, The Night Ministry's President & CEO, accepted the award during a ceremony on June 26 at the Center on Halsted. Also honored that evening we...
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2018 Lighting Up the Night

​ The Night Ministry focused on the ways it addresses the complexity of homelessness during Lighting Up the Night, its Annual Awards Dinner & Auction, held June 12, 2018. "At The Night Ministry, we recognize that there is no single cause of homelessness, that it instead results from the intersection of several factors, such as affordable h...
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The Night Ministry Intervenes at the Intersectionality of Homelessness

The Intersectionality of Homelessness More than 82,000 people experience homelessness in Chicago each year. For each and every one of these individuals, homelessness did not just happen. It was the result of a matrix of social, systemic, and personal factors such as economic inequality, discrimination, physical and mental health, job insecurity, an...
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Phoenix Hall Supports Educational Success by Stabilizing Housing

The school year is wrapping up for residents of Phoenix Hall, The Night Ministry's housing program for North Lawndale College Prep High School (NLCP) students experiencing homelessness or housing instability. This was Phoenix Hall's inaugural year, having opened last August in time for the 2017-18 academic year. Its first year was ca...
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The Night Ministry Takes Home the Henry Schein Gold

The Night Ministry's commitment to providing health care to Chicago's most vulnerable communities has been recognized by Henry Schein, a leading medical supply company. Henry Schein awarded The Night Ministry the Gold Henry Schein Cares Medal for excellence in expanding access to health care to underserved populations. The Night Ministry was honore...
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New Chicago City ID Program Gets Input from The Night Ministry and Its Clients

How often do you use your driver's license or state ID to prove your identity? Would you be able to get a job, enroll in school, or find a home without one? Yet, for individuals experiencing homelessness, the process of obtaining identification required to find work, secure stable housing, and access public services is often complex and confusing. ...
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Reap the Rewards of Service 2018

Earlier this month The Night Ministry honored 16 employees at our annual Reap the Rewards of Service luncheon. Their colleagues, members of our Board of Directors, and supporters of The Night Ministry gathered to celebrate their multiple years with the organization. Honorees were presented with awards by Paul W. Hamann, The Night Ministry's Preside...
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Vistex Founder Sanjay Shah Talks with CS about His Support for The Night Ministry

Sanjay Shah, Founder and CEO of Vistex , recently spoke with CS magazine about his involvement with The Night Ministry.  "The Night Ministry is one of the few organizations I have had the opportunity to work with that brings services directly to the most needy people in the most challenging places," he said. Shah is chairing this yea...
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The Associate Board: Passion, Diversity, and Service

It's really easy to be passionate about The Night Ministry, isn't it? Look at the incomparable work we are doing, the communities we are serving, and the incredible staff members who inspire so many of us on a daily basis. But what really puts it over the top for me is serving alongside an unbelievably passionate, diverse, and committed group of As...
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Mobile Pet Care at the Health Outreach Bus

When Stacy Lempka pulls up in her red van next to The Night Ministry's Health Outreach Bus, she receives a warm welcome from guests, including the four-legged kind. "They come and greet me as soon as I get to the sidewalk," said Lempka, a veterinarian who provides free basic health care for the dogs and cats of Bus guests in Humboldt Park. From the...
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Youth Programs Respond to Mental Health Needs of Clients

Nearly 70% of young people experiencing homelessness face mental health issues, according to the report "Missed Opportunities: Youth Homelessness in America," released by Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago late last year. Helping young people addresses these challenges is part of the comprehensive continuum of care provided by The Night Minis...
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Nurse’s Corner: Meet Sandra Collins, Firefighter and Nurse Practitioner

Sandra Collins's job as a Nurse Practitioner with The Night Ministry's Street Medicine Program dovetails with her work as a firefighter with the City of Chicago. "Both careers put me in the position to help people in times of distress," Collins said. "At the firehouse, I am also a paramedic and see some of the same health issues and even some of th...
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Meet Board of Directors Vice Chair Mark Warren

Mark Warren joined The Night Ministry’s Board of Directors in 2015.
For Mark Warren, serving as Vice Chair of The Night Ministry's Board of Directors allows him to play an active, ongoing role in providing hope, compassion, and encouragement to individuals experiencing homelessness and poverty in Chicago. We asked Mark, a management consultant at Point B, to share what drives his engagement with The Night Ministry....
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Addressing the Factors in Youth Homelessness on a Daily Basis

RAPPP provides pregnant and parenting young women and their children stable housing and supportive services.
1 in 10 young adults ages 18 to 25 and 1 in 30 adolescents experience homelessness over the course of a year in America. That's about 4.2 million people. These sobering statistics come from the first comprehensive national study on the prevalence of youth homelessness in the United States. The report, "Missed Opportunities: Youth Homelessness in Am...
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Street Medicine Team Offers Mobile Health Care and Compassion

The Street Medicine Team is providing cold weather support for homeless individuals living in encampments across Chicago.
With winter in full effect, The Night Ministry's Street Medicine Team is offering cold-weather support to individuals living in encampments across Chicago, with news about impending weather-related emergencies, referrals to shelters and warming centers, blankets, coats, warm socks, and gloves, as well as information about hypothermia. Consisting of...
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