The Illinois Department of Human Services announced today that construction will begin this week on two new shelter sites in Chicago. The sites, a base camp in Brighton Park and a brick-and-mortar site in Little Village will house up to 2,200 asylum seekers in total. The locations of the shelters were identified by the City of Chicago and both shelters will operate as part of the existing City of Chicago shelter system. Work to construct and operate the shelters is being funded by the State through a recently announced $160 million investment to improve the asylum seeker pipeline as well as the $478 million in State funding that has been provided or committed to the asylum seeker response over state fiscal year 2023 and 2024.
Available beds will be prioritized for families and individuals with disabilities who are currently sleeping outdoors, at police stations and at O’Hare airport. While construction on both locations will begin this week, asylum seekers will not move into the Brighton Park location until all environmental concerns have been addressed. Pending this work, the shelter sites are expected to open and begin housing asylum seekers as early as mid-December.
Both sites will offer warm sleeping spaces as well as meals, hygiene facilities, and wraparound services to allow asylum seekers, particularly those eligible for temporary protected status, to gain work permits and achieve self-sufficiency, thereby alleviating the strain on State and City resources. Construction, shelter operations and wraparound services will be funded by the State.