Chicagoans should call “311” if they need weather-related help in frigid winter weather, including access to homeless shelters or city warming centers.
Garfield warming center at 10 South Kedzie Avenue is open 24/7. Six other neighborhood warming centers, listed here, are open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays whenever temperatures go below 32 degrees.
In the suburbs, people can contact police non-emergency numbers to ask about warming centers, many of which are housed in police station lobbies and libraries. To find a warming center statewide, see www.keepwarm.illinois.gov
StreetLight Chicago, a free mobile app for homeless youth, provides alerts and lists resources such as shelter and drop-in centers that serve unaccompanied youth through age 24. The free app can be downloaded from iTunes or Google Play.
Supported by the VNA Foundation, the app is maintained by the Young Invincibles and the Youth Futures legal aid clinic at the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. A desktop version is at http://www.streetlightchicago.org
Homeless people can seek legal aid by phoning the CCH Law Project at 1 (800) 940-1119.
Chicago Coalition for the Homeless is now Chicago Coalition to end Homelessness (CCH).