Chicago Coalition for the Homeless has released its 2018 Facts Behind the Faces.

The downloadable 4-page fact sheet paints a picture of homelessness at the national, state, and city level.

Key findings include:

* In Illinois, a person working at minimum wage must work 99 hours per week to afford a two-bedroom apartment at the average fair market rent of $1,058.

* Of all Chicago renting households, 31.6% are extremely low-income, earning less than $20,000 per year. As of 2015, 640,700 rent-paying households in Chicago were cost-burdened, paying more than 30% of their income for housing.

* In 2017, the Illinois Emergency and Transitional Housing Program turned away people who sought assistance 21,935 times.

Facts Behind the Faces examines many components of homelessness, from healthcare to student homelessness to racial inequality. The fact sheet calls attention to the urgent need for policy reforms and funding that would assist those people who are most vulnerable in our communities.

– Dana Nothnagel, Policy Intern

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