fbpx

Our Stories

News and insights from The Night Ministry community.

Lighting Up the Night 2023

On June 7, 2023, more than 300 of our friends gathered with us for Lighting Up the Night: An Evening to Benefit The Night Ministry. During the event, members of The Night Ministry staff spoke about our the agency helps clients find a home. Thanks to the generosity of supporters, we raised more than $350,000 in support of our mission ...

Continue reading
  1962 Hits

Solving the City’s Housing Crisis Will Protect the Lives of Unhoused Chicagoans

An encampment on Chicago's Lower West Side. Protecting the safety of our unhoused neighbors requires us to expand access to housing and widen the range of supportive service options available to the population.

All of us at The Night Ministry were deeply saddened to hear of the tragic loss of Kevin Powell last month. We mourn with his family and others who knew and cared for him. Mr. Powell, who was killed while utilizing Chicago's public transit system, was one of the more than 65,000 Chicago residents who experience homelessness every year.[1]...

Continue reading
  3307 Hits

2022 in Review

As the year comes to a close, we are looking back at memorable milestones and accomplishments at The Night Ministry in 2022.  Parenting with Purpose Settles into Its New Home Parenting with Purpose provides long-term, supportive housing for up to eight pregnant and parenting young mothers and their children. The private bedrooms for each resid...

Continue reading
  2897 Hits

Street Medicine Survey Sheds Light on Experiences of Unsheltered Chicagoans

Senior Nurse Practitioner Stephan Koruba consults with a patient. A new survey provides insight into the challenges faced by unhoused Chicago residents.

The Night Ministry's Street Medicine Program provides free health care, food, survival supplies, and supportive services to unsheltered individuals across the city. To stay informed on the program's progress and about its clients, the agency's Learning and Impact Department conducts an annual Street Medicine Survey. The survey aims to identify who ...

Continue reading
  2600 Hits

The Night Ministry in the News

The Night Ministry's mission to serve unhoused members of our community has been featured in many news stories recently. Chicago's Night Ministry Plows Ahead, Despite Expected Blizzard | WBBM Newsradio | 12/20/22 As Possible Blizzardlike Conditions Barrel toward Chicago, Advocates for Homeless Work to Provide Shelter, Save Lives | Chicago Tribune |...

Continue reading
  2984 Hits

Remembering Those We've Lost

As we prepare for the longest night of the year, we remember our unhoused community members who lost their lives in 2022.

The Night Ministry staff gathered today to remember and honor those who have died this year while living on the streets. Below are the remarks delivered by our staff on this solemn occasion. Every year since 1990, on December 21, the longest night of the year, a National Homeless Persons' Memorial is held to bring attention to the tragedy of homele...

Continue reading
  3075 Hits

Our Mission Remains the Same

December 1, 2022 Dear Friends, Last month, we shared news with you about a leadership transition at The Night Ministry. I am following up on that announcement to reconfirm the agency's commitment to its mission. Just as we have done for decades, The Night Ministry will continue to provide human connection, housing support and health care to those w...

Continue reading
  2465 Hits

Leadership Transition at The Night Ministry

A message from Kiantae Bowles, Chair of the Board of Directors | November 10, 2022 Dear Friend, It is with mixed emotions that I announce the departure of our President & CEO, Paul W. Hamann. After more than twenty years of service to The Night Ministry, Paul has decided that this is the most advantageous time to step away from the Organiz...

Continue reading
  2285 Hits

Survey Confirms Health Outreach Bus Visitors Face Housing, Food Insecurity, and Health Care Challenges

Outreach Professional Lavelle Horne provides a meal at the Health Outreach Bus. A new survey indicates that nearly three out of four visitors to the Bus rely on the program for at least some of their daily food intake.

Unstable housing, food insecurity, and limited access to health care remain widespread among visitors to The Night Ministry's Health Outreach Bus. That's according to the 2022 Outreach and Health Ministry Bus survey, conducted by The Night Ministry's Learning and Impact department. The survey also finds that the Bus provides an important source of ...

Continue reading
  3121 Hits

Revised Mission Statement Recognizes Primacy of Human Connection and Dignity of Clients

Princess (right), a resident of the Pathways Transitional Living Program, speaks with Program Specialist Tracy Walker.

The Night Ministry has revised its mission statement, as it continues to pursue innovative solutions to the challenges of homelessness and poverty in Chicago while remaining true to its core beliefs. "We are not changing our mission," said Paul W. Hamann, President & CEO of The Night Ministry. "Rather, we have updated our mission statement...

Continue reading
  3081 Hits

Overdose Reversal Drug Is a Key Tool in Saving Lives

Substance Use Specialist Yoela Tepper assembles a harm reduction kit, which includes the overdose reversal drug Narcan.

Deaths from drug-related overdoses have soared in recent years in the United States. With opioid use common among a segment of the population The Night Ministry serves, the agency is often on the front lines in efforts to save lives by preventing overdose deaths among Chicagoans who are unhoused. Naloxone, a non-addictive medication that can revers...

Continue reading
  4327 Hits

Reap the Rewards

The Night Ministry community recently gathered to celebrate milestones of service among our passionate and dedicated staff. Our Reap the Rewards luncheon, the first held since the pandemic, honored employees with 15, 10 and 5 years of service with The Night Ministry. Please join us in recognizing the following:  15 Years 10 Years 5 Years Yasmi...

Continue reading
  3213 Hits

Lighting Up the Night 2022

On June 13, 2022, nearly 300 of our friends gathered with our staff and Board of Directors for Lighting Up the Night: An Evening to Benefit The Night Ministry. During our first in-person benefit since 2019, we raised more than $370,000 in support of our mission to provide human connection, housing support, and health care to members ...

Continue reading
  2507 Hits

The Night Ministry in the News

The Night Ministry's mission has been featured in the news lately.

Our ongoing work to provide human connection, housing support, and health care to members of our community who are unhoused or experiencing poverty has been featured in the news lately. The Night Ministry transforming lives of Chicago's homeless by bringing services directly to them. Suzanne Le Mignot from CBS 2 Chicago explores how our mission mak...

Continue reading
  2659 Hits

Decades of Systemic Housing Discrimination Contribute to the Overrepresentation of Black Americans Among the Nation’s Homeless

A color-coded map issued by the federal government in 1940 showing the southern portion of the metro Chicago area. Neighborhoods in red, where African Americans lived, were deemed too risky for investment.

As The Night Ministry continues its series of articles exploring the intersection between race and homelessness, we delve into a theme that weaves through more than a century of national and local history: how systemic housing discrimination has contributed to disproportionate numbers of Black Americans among those experiencing poverty and homeless...

Continue reading
  4016 Hits

Pregnant and Parenting Program Bedrooms Get Special Makeovers

One of the eight redesigned bedrooms at the Parenting with Purpose program.

The young mothers and children who reside at The Night Ministry's Parenting with Purpose transitional living program are enjoying homey bedrooms uniquely designed for the comfort and privacy of families, thanks to a partnership with nonprofit Humble Design Chicago. Humble Design Chicago provides custom interior design services and furnishings for t...

Continue reading
  2955 Hits

Street Medicine Programs Collaborate to Improve Care for the Unsheltered

Members of the Loyola chapter of Chicago Street Medicine working with The Night Ministry at the CTA Blue Line stop in Forest Park.

When The Night Ministry began piloting its street medicine approach six years ago, bringing health care services directly to individuals living in encampments, it was the first program of its kind in Chicago. Today, the agency's Street Medicine Team serves as a model and a hub in the burgeoning network of street-based medical outreach programs curr...

Continue reading
  3502 Hits

The Night Ministry Engages in Dialogue and Examination to Foster Racial Equity

The Night Ministry is working to realize racial equity across its programs and departments.

The Night Ministry is taking steps to realize racial equity in its day-to-day operations, a process which involves becoming an anti-racist organization. The agency's mission makes it imperative for The Night Ministry to take these steps, said Chief of Staff Traci Rivera. "We have a social responsibility to move things forward. Systemic racism and i...

Continue reading
  3514 Hits

COVID Continues to Create Barriers for Chicago’s Homeless Population

Marcus, a client of the Health Outreach Program, with the COVID vaccination card he received after getting a booster shot from The Night Ministry.

The temperature is dropping on an already cold January morning. Still, Marcus, a client of The Night Ministry's Health Outreach Program, has removed his coat and sweatshirt and pulled his arm out of his shirt sleeve so Stephan Koruba, The Night Ministry's Senior Nurse Practitioner, can give him a COVID vaccination booster. Marcus had lost his vacci...

Continue reading
  4242 Hits

The Night Ministry in the News

The Night Ministry's mission is featured in The Chicago Sun-Times.

The Night Ministry's ongoing work to provide services to members of our community experiencing homeless as the COVID-19 pandemic continues is featured in a recent column by Neil Steinberg of The Chicago Sun-Times. ‘The need gets larger and larger’ - Chicago Sun-Times Overtaxed social service agencies struggle to cope with COVID-19 and help the city...

Continue reading
  2566 Hits

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.