A note from CCH: The CCH Law Project is proud to partner with Access Living and the law firm of Porter Wright to improve access to shelter for people with mobility disabilities.
Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune
When Nabi Yisrael left his Hyde Park apartment last year after his rent increased, he had to put most of his belongings into storage. The 51-year-old, who has multiple sclerosis and uses a power wheelchair to get around, didn’t have a home anymore.
For nearly six months since then, Yisrael bounced around between his friends and families’ apartments, carrying the necessities in a travel case — two pairs of jeans, a few pairs of shoes and five shirts, he said. For someone who prides himself on his fashion sense, it was a difficult transition.
“I’ve been wearing the same clothes since October,” Yisrael said in a recent interview. “Since October.”
About three months into essentially being homeless — for the first time in his life — Yisrael came to another difficult conclusion. Despite the “horror stories” he heard from friends about the conditions inside Chicago’s homeless shelters, particularly for people with disabilities, he decided he had no other choice but to seek placement at one. He needed a place to stay, and he needed it quickly, he said.
