Outside Resources

HOMELESSNESS

• We Can Solve Homelessness
• What is Chronic Homelessness?
• Holding Leaders Accountable
• Facing Eviction - PBS episode
• Homelessness Resources: Case Management

Practices

Housing First

• https://endhomelessness.org/resource/housing-first/
• ​https://nlihc.org/sites/default/files/Housing-First-Research.pdf
• https://www.headinghomeinc.org/housing-first-model/
• https://www.usich.gov/news/four-clarifications-about-housing-first/
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7427255/
• Housing First in New England
• Housing First in Oak Park
• Housing First in Hawaii
• Housing First in Philadelphia

Hotel Sheltering

• YSPH study: Hotel housing improves well-being of individuals experiencing homelessness
• Hotel-based homeless shelters changed lives in pandemic. Some want them to be a model moving forward
• Addressing Homelessness Through Hotel Conversions
• Noncongregate Housing Plus Services Can Better Protect People Experiencing Homelessness during and beyond the Pandemic​

Other​

• ​​Housing Forward: Best Practices

Housing

• Neighborhood Defender's Handout
• The Privileged Few: How Exclusionary Zoning Amplifies the Advantaged and Blocks New Housing—and What We Can Do About It
• It's Time to End Single-Family Zoning
• How Zoning Perpetrates Homelessness

Youth Activities
(6 - 12 years old)

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The 30-Day Challenge
The 30-Day Challenge offers a daily activity to start the conversation, shift your thinking, and motivate you to get involved in ending homelessness!

• ​30-Day Calendar

​Volunteering:
Families can volunteer by preparing bagged lunches or coordinating donation drives. For more information and to get involved visit our volunteer page.

Recommended Reading: 
Click here to download a list of children's books about homelessness and giving back.
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Recommended Videos:
In 2018, Sesame Street introduced Lily, a seven-year-old experiencing homelessness. In the short videos below, Lily and her new friends talk about the impact of being homeless.

• Dot to Dot
• Rainbow Kind of Day
• Home is...

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Activities for Teens & Young Adults

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Activities & Resources
​This guide includes activities, videos, articles, and opportunities to learn, do, and give back! 

• Activity Guide

Recommended Films & Videos:

• The Homestretch: 1.5hr 2015 documentary following 3 Chicago teens as they face homelessness.
• The Way Home: 4 short episodes 2020 docuseries about the homelessness crisis in California
• United States of Tents: 1.5hr 2019 documentary about the homelessness crisis in the U.S. 
• All Together Now: 1.5hr film based on a book about a homeless teen.
• ​The Pursuit of Happyness: 2hr film starring Will Smith about a single father experiencing homelessness.
• ​Priced Out: LA's Hidden Homeless: 25min 2019 CBS News piece featuring the stories of residents navigating the housing crisis and homelessness.​

Interactive Tools:

• Take the Poverty Quiz to test your knowledge on poverty in the U.S.
• Take the​ Homelessness Simulation Game to gain understanding about the options available to people experiencing homelessness.

Volunteer Opportunities:

• Drop-in support at Hilda's Place and Dewey Avenue
• Making bagged lunches or dinner
• Organizing an in-kind donation drive
• And more opportunities!

​For more details about how to become a volunteer, please visit our volunteer page.

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Activities for Adults

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Listen: 

• According to Need is a 5 chapter documentary podcast that asks: What are we doing to get people into housing? 
  • Listen now! 
• ​Listen to this 8-minute segment from New York Public Radio answering the question, "Why Do Black Americans Suffer the Burden of America's Homelessness?"
  • ​Listen now!
• This 35-minute segment of Fresh Air features a discussion on the history of segregation and its impact on today's housing crisis with author Richard Rothstein. 
  • Listen now! 
• Curious City answered the listener question, "How many homeless kids are there in Chicago, and what can I do to help?" in this 9-minute clip. 
  • Listen now!

Watch:

• The Homestretch: 1.5hr 2015 documentary following 3 Chicago teens as they face homelessness.
• The Way Home: 4 short episodes 2020 docuseries about the homelessness crisis in California
• United States of Tents: 1.5hr 2019 documentary about the homelessness crisis in the U.S. ​​
• ​Priced Out: LA's Hidden Homeless: 25min 2019 CBS News piece featuring the stories of residents navigating the housing crisis and homelessness.​

​Volunteer:
​Learn about our many volunteer opportunities by visiting our volunteer page.

Read: 

• The 12 Biggest Myths about Homelessness in America from NYU News by Robert Polner
• We Can End Homelessness in Our Cities from The ​​New York Times by Binyamin Appelbaum
• CityLab University: Understanding Homelessness in America from CityLab by Benjamin Schneider
• Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond
• Evanston's Road to Reparations in Chicago Magazine by Bryan Smith
• We Could Solve Homelessness if We Wanted in Slate by Henry Grabar

Click the image below to download a helpful resource guide to learn more about homelessness and ways to get involved.