Oak Park has done more over two decades to bring shelter, empathy and needed social services to unhoused people than any community we know. Under the umbrella of what is now Housing Forward, communities of faith, funders of all stripes, adjacent nonprofits and village leaders have collaborated in ways resourceful and caring.
Just last week we reported on the leap made by Housing Forward in securing funding to purchase the old Write Inn on Oak Park Avenue for continued use as interim housing.
The Oak Park Homelessness Coalition is a long-term effort, gathering a wide range of leaders from the police department to downtown Oak Park to many nonprofits, which has worked on positive responses to those who are unhoused.
Now though, Oak Park and many other communities are seeing a small increase in numbers of people living outside, some in tents in semi-sheltered spots. And simultaneously, individuals, activists and some social-justice organizations in Oak Park have offered immediate and practical support to a wave of South and Central American migrants who have been left to fend for themselves in Chicago, many on the West Side.
The call is out right now for average Oak Parkers to step up with winter clothing for people who arrived here, often victimized by cynical politicians exporting pain from their states. We know local people will be compassionate and helpful.
Oak Park’s village government has just announced it will hold two community forums in late November and early December to address issues facing the unhoused in the village. The topics will range from how best to provide help to an unhoused person, to a discussion of Oak Park’s efforts at affordable housing.
The challenges are immediate and complex. The foundational needs are compassion and action. Good to see the village taking a lead role in both educating the community and supporting every person living within our village.