Chicago Tribune - December 9, 2005
Dave Wischnowsky, dwischnowsky@tribune.com

More than 150 homeless men and women descended upon the Salvation Army building at 1 N. Ogden Ave. Thursday to take advantage of a service fair that offered assistance ranging from applying for Social Security cards to HIV/AIDS testing to treatment for drug and alcohol abuse.

Chicago was one of about 30 cities across the country on Thursday that reached out to the homeless as part of a nationwide effort coordinated by the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness.

Inside the Salvation Army branch near the United Center, more than 15 organizations including the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the Mayor's Office of Workforce Development, the Lincoln Park Community Shelter and Housing Opportunities for Women set up tables to assist Chicago's homeless.

"We're offering one-stop shopping to meet all their needs," said Salvation Army metropolitan division envoy Jim Bracey. "We've got it all."

Bracey said Thursday's icy weather may have been a boon for the service fair by prompting many homeless Chicagoans to seek help when otherwise they might not have.

"That's great that it's cold. I wish it would snow," Bracey said around lunchtime. "[Homeless] people don't come out for help unless there's a crisis. And, for them, the cold is a crisis."

Crises, of varying levels, are just part of daily life for the homeless, many of them said.

Ricky Mays, 50, said he has been without a permanent address since May 2004. The Wichita native is staying at the Pacific Garden Mission, 646 S. State St., where he can get a warm bed and a hot shower each night. But he has to make sure he arrives before the mission's beds fill up for the night.

"If I don't, I'll probably end up in a trash bin wrapping some cardboard around me," he said. "Anything possible to stay warm."

Mays showed up at the service fair hoping to work toward finding a home. After speaking to a representative with the Single Room Housing Assistance Corp., he was cautiously optimistic.

"But, I'm gonna give it to you straight, everything sounds good until it gets down to the wire," Mays said.

Another visitor was Ford Wilson, 22, of Indianapolis, who said he arrived in Chicago five days earlier with no place to live and no friends to contact. Before finding a shelter on Monday, Wilson spent one night riding a CTA train with other homeless people.

"I just stayed on the Blue Line all night long, going back and forth," Wilson said. "It was kind of all right, until all the fights and stuff broke out."

At the service fair, various agencies helped provide Wilson information and advice. The focus for several agencies was the three key issues that many homeless men and women struggle with, according to Bracey.

"Alcohol, drugs and mental health," he said. "We tell them, if you can admit that you have a problem, then we can help. But first you've got to admit that you need help."

At the service fair, nine homeless men and women admitted having a problem with drug and alcohol abuse. They each received help in the form of immediate enrollment at the Haymarket Center for Substance Abuse, 932 W. Washington Blvd.

Among them was Nina Cook, 41, of Chicago, who said she was homeless and arrived at the service fair looking for help. But she said she never imagined she would be getting immediate assistance that afternoon.

Convenience and immediacy are two of the best aspects of the service fair, according to Bracey.

"The amazing thing with it is that we don't have to refer anyone to another place," he said. "We can help solve their problems quicker."

After four weeks of living on the streets, Cook said, she needed help to solve her problems.

"Street life is hard. I wouldn't wish it on my enemy," she said. "This lifestyle, it's no life, basically. ... I need to get help, I need to start getting my life together. It's no fun not knowing where you're going to sleep at, or where your next meal is coming from.

"I've wasted 20 years of my life, and I've made a lot of backward steps. Today, I'm taking one forward."

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