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Our Stories

News and insights from The Night Ministry community.

Meet Board Member Ike Hong

Ike Hong, a member of The Night Ministry's Board of Directors, is helping drive our 2018 Golf Outing. We talked with Hong, an engineer who runs his own construction management and real estate development business, about his engagement with The Night Ministry, which began nearly a decade ago. What attracted you to The Night Ministry? The mission. On...

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Clients Face Barriers to Hepatitis C Treatment

HIV Testing Coordinator John Werning offers free, confidential hepatitis C tests that deliver results in 20 minutes.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, new cases of hepatitis C (hep C), a deadly viral infection that affects the liver, have nearly tripled in the United States over the course of the decade. Risk factors for contracting the virus include having HIV, using intravenous drugs, and being part of the baby boomer generation, char...

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Volunteering with The Night Ministry Pays Off with Huge Dividends

Volunteer George Martin connects with clients of The Night Ministry's Street Medicine Program.

By George Martin Four years ago I heard about The Crib, one of the Youth Housing Programs run by The Night Ministry. At the time, the organization I had been volunteering with was shutting down. With my decades of experience as a volunteer coach with young people from different neighborhoods throughout Chicago and my involvement in feeding homeless...

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Illinois' Free and Charitable Clinics Weave a Safety Net for Uninsured and Underinsured

The Night Ministry's Outreach & Health Ministry Program provides free basic medical care to many individuals who otherwise would go without services.

By Paul W. Hamann,  MA, MNA President & CEO The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has increased health care coverage to approximately 670,000 low- and moderate-income Illinoisans through the expansion of Medicaid and 400,000 more through the marketplace. Yet significant gaps in health care access remain. Barriers such as affordability, transition ...

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Beyond Phoenix Hall: The Night Ministry Provides Other Supports in North Lawndale

With summer coming to a close, residents of Phoenix Hall are among the hundreds of thousands of Chicago Public Schools students gearing up for the new school year. The Night Ministry opened Phoenix Hall last August to provide students from North Lawndale College Prep High School (NLCP) who are experiencing homelessness with stable housing and servi...

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The Associate Board Preps for Night Lights 2018

The Associate Board supports the mission of The Night Ministry through fundraising, advocacy, and networking aimed at young professionals.

The Night Ministry's Associate Board is once again preparing for the annual Night Lights Gala, our biggest event of the year that raises funds in support of The Night Ministry's work providing housing, healthcare, critical outreach, and other social services to Chicago's most vulnerable populations. This year, we're setting our most ambitious fundr...

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Youth Outreach Evolves with the Times

A partnership with Chicago Adventure Therapy provides empowering activities like rock climbing to young people served by The Night Ministry.

You'll find The Night Ministry's Youth Outreach Van at the corner of Belmont and Halsted in Chicago every Thursday night, but the work of the Youth Outreach Team happens throughout the week. Many young people experiencing homelessness are drawn to the Lakeview neighborhood for services like safe space drop-in centers. But, said Youth Outreach Profe...

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In My Own Words: The Night Ministry Was That Helping Hand

Darrick, a client of The Night Ministry, spoke to attendees at Lighting Up the Night, our Annual Awards Dinner & Auction, in 2018.

By Darrick S. After a successful career as a celebrity photojournalist, I retired and started my own limousine company. Business was thriving when, in November of 2011, I got a phone call that something was wrong with my mother. On investigating, I found that she'd been living in the dark for nine days in our family home. We soon learned that she h...

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Health Outreach Bus Rolls into the Loop

The Health Outreach Bus will make a special stop next week. Six days a week, the Bus brings free basic medical care, food, hygiene supplies, clothing, case management, and a sense of community to seven underserved neighborhoods across Chicago. On Friday, July 27, it will pull into the heart of the city for a visit to Daley Plaza during lunchtime. T...

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The Night Ministry Receives Cook County State's Attorney's Pride Award

​The Cook County State's Attorney's Office and its LGBT+ Employee Resource Group honored The Night Ministry with a Pride Award for its leadership and commitment to the LGBTQ community. Paul W. Hamann, The Night Ministry's President & CEO, accepted the award during a ceremony on June 26 at the Center on Halsted. Also honored that evening we...

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2018 Lighting Up the Night

​The Night Ministry focused on the ways it addresses the complexity of homelessness during Lighting Up the Night, its Annual Awards Dinner & Auction, held June 12, 2018. "At The Night Ministry, we recognize that there is no single cause of homelessness, that it instead results from the intersection of several factors, such as affordable ho...

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The Night Ministry Intervenes at the Intersectionality of Homelessness

The Intersectionality of Homelessness More than 82,000 people experience homelessness in Chicago each year. For each and every one of these individuals, homelessness did not just happen. It was the result of a matrix of social, systemic, and personal factors such as economic inequality, discrimination, physical and mental health, job insecurity, an...

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Phoenix Hall Supports Educational Success by Stabilizing Housing

The school year is wrapping up for residents of Phoenix Hall, The Night Ministry's housing program for North Lawndale College Prep High School (NLCP) students experiencing homelessness or housing instability. This was Phoenix Hall's inaugural year, having opened last August in time for the 2017-18 academic year. Its first year was ca...

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The Night Ministry Takes Home the Henry Schein Gold

The Night Ministry's commitment to providing health care to Chicago's most vulnerable communities has been recognized by Henry Schein, a leading medical supply company.Henry Schein awarded The Night Ministry the Gold Henry Schein Cares Medal for excellence in expanding access to health care to underserved populations.The Night Ministry was honored ...

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New Chicago City ID Program Gets Input from The Night Ministry and Its Clients

How often do you use your driver's license or state ID to prove your identity? Would you be able to get a job, enroll in school, or find a home without one? Yet, for individuals experiencing homelessness, the process of obtaining identification required to find work, secure stable housing, and access public services is often complex and confusing. ...

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Reap the Rewards of Service 2018

Earlier this month The Night Ministry honored 16 employees at our annual Reap the Rewards of Service luncheon. Their colleagues, members of our Board of Directors, and supporters of The Night Ministry gathered to celebrate their multiple years with the organization. Honorees were presented with awards by Paul W. Hamann, The Night Ministry's Preside...

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Vistex Founder Sanjay Shah Talks with CS about His Support for The Night Ministry

Sanjay Shah, Founder and CEO of Vistex, recently spoke with CS magazine about his involvement with The Night Ministry.  "The Night Ministry is one of the few organizations I have had the opportunity to work with that brings services directly to the most needy people in the most challenging places," he said. Shah is chairing this year...

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The Associate Board: Passion, Diversity, and Service

It's really easy to be passionate about The Night Ministry, isn't it? Look at the incomparable work we are doing, the communities we are serving, and the incredible staff members who inspire so many of us on a daily basis. But what really puts it over the top for me is serving alongside an unbelievably passionate, diverse, and committed group of As...

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Mobile Pet Care at the Health Outreach Bus

When Stacy Lempka pulls up in her red van next to The Night Ministry's Health Outreach Bus, she receives a warm welcome from guests, including the four-legged kind. "They come and greet me as soon as I get to the sidewalk," said Lempka, a veterinarian who provides free basic health care for the dogs and cats of Bus guests in Humboldt Park. From the...

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Youth Programs Respond to Mental Health Needs of Clients

Nearly 70% of young people experiencing homelessness face mental health issues, according to the report "Missed Opportunities: Youth Homelessness in America," released by Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago late last year. Helping young people addresses these challenges is part of the comprehensive continuum of care provided by The Night Minis...

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1735 North Ashland Avenue, Suite 2000, Chicago, IL 60622 | 773-784-9000
The Night Ministry is a 501(c)3 charitable organization. Our Federal Tax ID (EIN) is 36-3145764.