After what some say was an unprecedented pattern of violence against people experiencing homelessness in Chicago last year, activists are calling on the city to better investigate these crimes and to do more for the victims.
In July 2020, fires occurred nearly simultaneously at encampments at Belmont and Kedzie, Belmont and Kimball, and Diversey and California, according to police reports. Another Belmont-Kedzie encampment burned in October, and police reports from the July and October fires say encampment residents, many of whom lost all of their belongings, believed the fires were an act of arson.
And late last year, Chicago police also charged a man with brutally stabbing four homeless people, one fatally, in separate attacks between July and August last year. According to online court records, he’s currently being held without bail.
The Chicago Coalition for the Homeless says the city’s count is grossly deflated, however, because federal housing authorities only recognize people as unhoused if they live in a shelter or on the street, and not those temporarily living with others. According to CHC, based on the most recent U.S. Census data available, roughly 76,998 people actually experienced homelessness in Chicago throughout 2018.
The previous alderman in the 35th Ward, Rey Colón, was particularly nasty to the unhoused population in the area, which includes Avondale, O’Connell says. She pointed to Colón’s decision to add concrete slopes under the Kennedy Expressway that were specifically aimed at making it difficult for unhoused people to sleep under the freeway.
In the aftermath of last year’s fires, Avondale residents rallied around the homeless population, giving new tents, food, and other supplies. Neighbors say that’s not uncommon for the community.
