Advocates for the unhoused community are not in favor of the city’s plan to clear out the Humboldt Park encampment.
Last month, Ald. Jessie Fuentes (26th Ward), along with city officials, announced the proposal to remove all tents from the area before the holidays as part of the Humboldt Park Encampment Housing Initiative.
The city plans to start removal Friday morning, but advocates want officials to reconsider and explore other options.
“We feel that it’s representative of a pattern that’s going on in the city, where the city is closing down public spaces and making them unavailable for people experiencing unsheltered homelessness to live,” said Ali Simmons, senior case and street outreach worker with the Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness (CCH). “We don’t think that is the right approach.”
Chicago Coalition for the Homeless is now Chicago Coalition to end Homelessness (CCH).