Ashley Paige Allen's experience with homelessness began in 1992 when her father was sent to prision and her mother was left to take care of 3 children alone. Not being used to managing a household it was difficult for my mother to pay rent and the other bills with the $8.00 an hour she was making as a retail sales associate. Her family and I spent over 10 years living in shelters, doubled up with family members, living in low-income housing and hotels to keep a roof over our head.

Mary Baker is a mother of three and has experienced homeless on and off since 1997. She has worked hard to make sure her children get a good education. Mary has been active with coalition since 1997 fighting to make sure that all families have opportunities to improve their lives. 

"Rabbit" is one of thousands of youths across Illinois who doesn’t have to imagine what homelessness is like -- he's lived it. After growing up in an abusive home, "Rabbit" became homeless at 17 when his mom kicked him out of the house.   Still, he succeeded in graduating from Marshall High School in 2004.  He has traveled several times to Springfield to tell his story to state legislators, fighting for policy changes that will help other homeless youths like him.

Gloria Evans is a formerly incarcerated women who is creating a new life for herself by making positive choices. While living at Grace House, transitional housing for women, Gloria become interested in policy, going to Springfield, and participating in rallies. She has things to tell people that they might not have thought about and give people a different outlook on formerly incarcerated and homeless people. This will give people a better understanding than by only getting information from TV or in the newspaper.

Leeanna Majors has learned a great deal from her experience with homelessness.  Low self-esteem was her greatest enemy.  Her first step to recovery was learning to love herself.  She is motivated to share about her life experience, because she wants people to understand how we can come together and make change.  She has seen that after people hear her story, see her face, and understand that her face is the face of many, they believe in their ability to make a difference.

Stephanie Hooker lives at Deborah’s Place which is supportive housing for low-income housing. She has been a leader with Chicago Coalition for the Homeless for 3 ½ years. She has taken groups around Springfield to educate legislators about homelessness and met with alderman locally here in Chicago to explain why they should pass important initiatives. When she became homeless in New York, she had to rely on people she had just met to help her take care of her daughter. After securing a place to live, she worked at the Chicago Hilton and is happy to say that her daughter is now a successful lawyer.

Melody Brynne DeGagne is a 54-year-old mother with 3 grown children who lost her husband in 2004 and in spite of trying to overcome the grief and working for a year after that, the job ended and she lost her housing and had to enter a women's shelter. After 8 months of hard struggle, she now has a subsidized apartment and is also a leader with CCH and part of their speaker's bureau attempting to educate and motivate others to the cause of helping the homeless to help themselves ,have hope and to gain community support and understanding of the issues surrounding homelessness. She has spoken with legislators, policy makers, civic groups, churches, and many other interested people to forward the cause of ending homelessness. Her plans include getting her college History degree supplemented by an MCSE in Microsoft Office XP and obtaining her CPA certification in Accounting. She hopes to work with government and private entities to provide affordable and subsidized housing here in Chicago and go on to obtain a Master's Degree in International Relations and understand these same issues around the world.

Miracle was raised by a single mother in the Uptown and Rogers Park
neighborhoods. Her mother held two low wage jobs, one as a maid at
a motel,and the other at a laundromat. From the time Miracle was about
5 til she finally left for the military at age 18, her and her mom
lived doubled up. Most of the time Miracle and her mother would stay
with relatives or friends, which was sometimes short lived because they
were often seen as a burden. Having nowhere to go, Miracle and her
mother often lived in places that were not habitable, such as laundry
rooms in people's basement apartment.

Jose Vasquez is a resident of Mercy Housing’s South Loop Apartments. Jose, 63, is a former construction worker and newspaper vendor. When he was homeless and living on Lower Wacker Drive, Jose rose at 4 a.m. to sell the Chicago Sun-Times and made a dime a copy. Currently, as the coordinator of the coffee project of CCH, Jose places and prepares orders and schedules leaders for jobs. Jose believes passionately in the need for living wages jobs and is active in educating alderman and fellow community members about this need.

Johnnie Lee Savory became involved in CCH when he met an organizer who was reaching out to people who are labeled "ex-offenders" to work on social injustice to build power within the reentry community. His first task at hand was educating legislators about the SMART act, an alternative to incarceration. He traveled to Springfield several times several times to lobby various legislators and was successful in passing this legislation. After being wrongfully convicted, he spent 30 years of his life fighting for freedom and now that he is out, he is fighting for a second changed. But not only for himself, he is fighting for the thousands of voiceless victims and families who are affected by the issue.

Helen Smith, 48, is a survivor of the sex trade and is currently homeless. She became involved in prostitution at the age of 13. Her work with the Prostitution Alternatives Roundtable has given her a sense of purpose and the strength to work toward a positive life. Now she spends her time taking care of her aging mother, searching for a job that will hire her with her background, and fighting for policy changes that will help the women coming after her lead better lives.

Charles Jenkins has been involved with Chicago Coalition for the Homeless for over 10 years. He came across the coalition during his time at a homeless shelter. Meeting the organization gave him hope that there are good people out there fighting for change. After getting involved in an effort to create affordable housing, Charles was inspired to address the mismanagement that had led to his homelessness. A long time community activist, Charles enjoys challenging members of the audience to get involved in the fight to end homelessness.

Cary Martin speaks about the harsh reality of growing up without a home. One of the unseen faces of homelessness is children; over one million children in the United States are homeless. Cary's mother lost her Section 8 subsidy when Cary was just ten years old. Cycling between the streets and the system, Cary became a ward of the state when she was 13 years old. Cary has fought hard to obtain an education in the midst of poverty, homelessness and social isolation. Cary was a summer intern with the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless and received her law degree from Northwestern University School of Law. Cary speaks about her experience as a homeless youth and advocates for a better system. She speaks about the role education can play in breaking the cycle of poverty and dependence.