By Holly Krig
JCUA Community Organizer
Eviction, displacement and homelessness.
Those are the sad keywords that have described the Chicago Housing Authority’s “Plan for Transformation” in the 13 years since the CHA first unveiled it. JCUA has been monitoring the awkward implementation of this plan all along. We are anxiously looking forward to presentation of the updated edition – “Plan for Transformation 2.0” – in June.
This anxious feeling is shared by displaced people and their allies across the city. More than 150 of them came together recently (April 24) for a housing justice teach-in, held in the Spertus Building on Michigan Avenue, where JCUA is located.
Advocates march to the Chicago Housing Authority office, demanding that vacant apartments be leased to residents on the CHA waiting list.
Families shared powerful personal stories of eviction, displacement and homelessness resulting from CHA policies. We heard from real people with strong voices that amplified the need to act now and brought the scary statistics to life:
- The number of homeless people in Chicago is rising. According to the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless 93,780 Chicagoans were without homes in 2010-2011.
- As reported by the Chicago Tribune, 60,000 families are on the waiting list for subsidized housing.
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