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Beneath the shadow of the bustling overpass on Chicago’s Near West Side, where Desplaines Street meets Hubbard, is an informal encampment residents call the “Chocolate Factory.”
Jeremy Holomshek, better known as Elmo, is a 43-year veteran of the streets who has faced a lifetime of displacement. “Foster care, boys’ homes… I got tired. Took to the road.”
As a long-term resident, he reflected on the years he has spent at the site. “I have a tent over there. Been here around three years. I feel like I’m stuck here though.”
Ali Simmons, a senior case and street outreach worker at the Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness, argues that these displacements are not only ineffective but harmful. “We definitely believe that encampments shouldn’t be displaced,” Simmons said. “If there is not enough affordable housing and you can’t offer anybody who’s unsheltered or experiencing homelessness with housing, then you shouldn’t be forcing them to move.”
