CHICAGO PROJECT
homelessness in chicago
This past week i visited the city of chicago. while I was there I had the pleasure of meeting these eight incredible humans who are homeless. below are their stories.
meet ulysses
Birthplace: chicago
ulysses was a man of few words, but still had plenty to share. one thing he wants people to know about him was he served in the vietnam war and is a proud veteran. ulysses hopes to see europe one day.
some advice he wanted to share with others was, “be motivated and stay focused.” he also discussed the importance of listening to your parents and appreciating loved ones. “stay out of trouble and maintain relationships.”
meet matt
Age: 37
Birthplace: chicago
matt grew up in chicago with his parents and three siblings. he is a veteran and an aspiring artist, “i can draw anything. i like drawing people, i draw portraits very well.”
he talked about a what a normal day looks like for him and the struggles he has to face. “everyday i look for a job, the thing is you can’t go to a job looking like this. so then i go to where they are giving out food or clothes, just doing what i need to do to survive. the other thing is the bathroom, that’s a struggle because people don’t let you use the bathroom unless you buy something, so there’s been a lot of times i’ve had to go outside.”
“People won't even talk to you like you're a person.”
“what happened was i kept going to prison. i beat up a cop then i fell into drugs. the drugs are what kept me going back to prison. i’m sober now, i’ve been sober for over a year now. i don’t get high no more, i don’t drink, nothing.”
“if i could go anywhere in the world where would i go? ireland. my family is irish and my mom loved ireland and it sucks she never got a chance to go back. and i wanted to go with her and make that a trip for us. unfortunately my mom had a terrible accident. our car slid down the driveway and killed her and i was in prison when it happened so i couldn’t even go to the funeral. me and my mom were really close. my father died twelve years ago, he was electrocuted to death in a terrible accident. both of my parents died in freak accidents. they were both really good people and did not deserve it. i feel like a piece of shit and it should have been me.”
“there’s a lot of people who choose to stay like this and have done this for years because this is what they want. there’s guys who shake a cup and ask for money and they have a house, they have a home or an apartment. why? because they’re low life’s because it’s the easy route of life. i was never taught that. my parents are dead. i don’t have anybody. my sisters have their own families and my brother, i don’t try to bother him. i ask my brother for help sometimes, but i don’t like doing it. there was a time i didn’t call my brother for six months. he thought i was dead. he was crying on the phone saying, ‘why didn’t you call?’ because i wanted to get back on my feet.”
“i can go to the shelter but you have to be there by four o’clock, then you have to sit there and listen to all this church music for three hours and then they feed you and then you can go upstairs and take a shower. then they wake you up again at four o’clock in the morning and you gotta sit downstairs for another three hours while they give you instructions. and then the other thing is when you wake up the next day you might be lucky that you didn't get bed bugs or body lice. that’s the big thing is the body lice. i’ve gotten it multiple times and it sucks. and once i get that then i have to throw all my clothes out. and i don’t want to do that, these clothes they keep me warm.”
“there’s been times when people have actually gotten me a motel room and it was such a blessing. i’m an artist and this lady bought me all new art stuff and she’s gonna give me money for the week to get a motel. hopefully next week is the week that this is over with and i don’t need to do this shit no more.”
meet jessica
birthplace: chicago
jessica shared the struggles she has to face being a woman who is homeless, “for me being a female it’s hard because men always come up to me like, ‘oh you wanna make some quick money,’ and i haven’t taken that route of life and i don’t plan on doing it now. like even on a hard day i’d rather sit out here in the freezing cold and beg people for money and if i only make three dollars that day i’d rather do that because if i go the other route there is no way i could look at myself in the mirror. i’m still in my right mind and that just isn’t who i am, i may be homeless but i still have my dignity. if i wanted to take that route you wouldn’t see me sitting here with this sign.”
“They rebuilt the river walk so they kicked all the homeless people out since that was where we would sleep. so now it’s like we’re just spread out everywhere. they don’t want us sleeping at the covered store fronts so they make us get up there at night if we’re sleeping there. there’s hardly any allies out here and even if we were to sleep in an alley they will come and kick us out. it’s just hard to sleep anywhere really, there’s no where for us to go. people have tried to put up tents but as soon as there’s like five or six tents they’ll come and kick us out. you’re lucky if you get a good nights sleep. i try to sleep on the train, but they wake us up after each stop to kick us off and switch trains. i got really really lucky this winter, there was a man renting out some rooms and i got to sleep there with four other people.”
“i’m anemic so i get cold so easily, so if i could go anywhere in the world i’d go somewhere warm. anywhere warmer than here. to me it is freezing all the time.”
“use as many resources as you can because as soon as you get onto the streets it’s so hard to get off. you lose stuff, stuff gets stolen from you, you get messed with by other people, you might get jumped, it’s just so sketchy.”
meet allen
age: 58
birthplace: chicago
“i’m homeless right now by choice not by force. a normal day i’m at the library. sometimes i sit at the train station and pull out my id so people know something about who i am. i got my bus pass because i’m a paraplegic. i do get a government check, i don’t look like i’m physically disabled, but my spinal cord is disconnected and i take medicine. people are worried i’m gonna hurt somebody, but i’m worried they’re gonna hurt me.”
“it was the army that i was incorporated into in college. i’m not a veteran but i pray for the troops. i have a prayer that if you’re army, navy, air force, marines, whatever you are, i’m praying for you.”
advice allen wished to share with others was, “do onto to others as you would have them do onto you.”
he talked about his struggles with getting a job and the valuable lesson he learned about taking responsibility for his life. “i didn’t know how to pray. i would pray for god to give me a job, not for strength to go fill the application out. so i had to learn.”
more than anything else allen just wants people to see him for who he really is. “i want people to see who i am.”
meet andreevich
Age: 19
Birthplace: russia
andreevich is only nineteen years old and has been homeless for the past several months. he was nine months old when his family moved to chicago. when we found him he was crying on the side of the road.“i’m sorry it’s just been a rough day that’s all. your kindness is very unlikely.” he was happy to have someone to talk with and share his story.
“my family moved out here, my dad got arrested and then passed away in 2010 from a heart attack on christmas eve. after that my mom was an alcoholic and she developed brain cancer. i was her caregiver, i was paying the rent as a bus boy at a restaurant.”
eventually andreevich’s mother passed away from brain cancer and liver failure.
“i pretty much went through a depressive stage. losing her was hard, she was my rock. i was an only child and i have no other family in the states. i stopped working and couldn’t pay the rent. then i was on the streets for awhile. it’s been rough, it’s been really really rough. i had an alcohol problem for awhile and then i got into aa and i haven’t had a drink in 54 days now. i’m truly happy with myself actually.”
“my backpack was stolen with my social security card, passport, id, birth certificate, all that. so i’ve been working with the state and i’m supposed to be getting it next week. i’ve waited nearly eleven weeks to finally get this. i have a job lined up at starbucks and everything. once i get my social security card i get to start that day. that’s why i’m upset today, i feel like i’m so close, yet so far.”
“The hardest part is the loneliness and the agony. I'm trying to put it into just one word. The scariest thing is will I ever be able to make it back into a normal lifestyle? That's the hardest thing, overcoming this lifestyle and getting that stability back. Once you're out here for awhile you get used to it, but I refuse to accept that, I want a life for myself. stay in school and listen to your parents. life is tough but there is hope for everybody no matter what. “
meet charles
Age: 33
birthplace: chicago
“i don’t have any family. i grew up in a group home in arlington heights. i had a foster family out there, i hAVEN’T SEEN THEM SINCE I WAS SEVENTEEN. THEY HAD ISSUES TOO. THEY USED TO DRINK A LOT. I USED TO DRINK A LOT AND IT REALLY MESSED MY LIFE UP. BUT I HAVEN’T HAD ANY ALCOHOL IN OVER FIVE MONTHS.”
charles works when he can, “THERE’S SOME DAYS I WORK WITH A COMPANY, IT’S JUST MINIMUM WAGE FOR DIFFERENT LABOR JOBS BUT IT’S WHAT PAYS.”
“LISTEN TO YOUR PARENTS AND STAY OUT OF TROUBLE. I HAVEN’T SEEN MY PARENTS IN OVER THIRTY YEARS.” he wanted to emphasize the importance of appreciating all that you have in life and to not take things for granted, “THE MOST IMPORTANT THING HOMELESSNESS HAS TAUGHT ME IS YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE UNTIL IT’S GONE. I’M TRYING TO HOPEFULLY GET OUT OF THIS SOON.”
meet jared
birthplace: south suburbs of chicago
“i get up about nine or ten o’clock. i’m in the methadone program so i’ll go there. occasionally, i mean i’m not gonna lie to you there are drugs involved, i'll get high. but that’s why i’m in the methadone, i’m really trying to kick the habit. i try to stay off the hard drugs. it’s been a long time, but i haven’t been in any legal trouble.”
“i have some medical issues which makes it hard to get a job. i’ve had back surgeries and it’s hard to stand for long periods of time.”
“Not all the homeless people out here are degenerates. They’re just people who fell into a bad spot. Once you dig yourself a hole it's really hard to get yourself out. i luckily have some family around, but a lot of these people don’t have anyone which makes it so much harder to get out of this cycle. they just don’t have any support, they’re on their own. these are not just drug addicts and lazy people, a lot of them have other issues that are involved, sometimes it’s physical sometimes it’s mental, but they are good people.”
meet glennie
age: 48
birthplace: west side of chicago
when i ran into glennie on the street he shared a lot of interesting things about himself. he’s a well known author who also happens to be homeless. “i already wrote my book and it’s called sidewalk profit and then i have another book i’m writing now.”
“the normal day is grim. the normal day is just uncertainty.”
despite the struggles glennie faces on a daily basis he remained upbeat and friendly, “i represent poverty and i represent other people.”
“who in this world means the most to me? i would have to say god. it’s important to accept the world for what it actually is and not what i want it to be. accept the situation and the coldhearted, the evil, the anger, and the hate in people. because we coexist and i have to deal with that, there’s nowhere for me to run from that. and that’s been one of the hardest things and it can bring out a lot of emotion, anger, frustration, and sometimes violence, but it’s hard because i have to face that.”
“listen to your mother and your father. the guys or the girls that they tell you, ‘hey don’t hangout with them’ listen to ‘em. take the advice of your elders because they know.”