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For Chicagoans facing homelessness and poverty, the current economic climate is especially frightening. With prices for basic necessities rising, their limited budgets are stretched past the breaking point. Without health insurance, many are living one incident away from disaster. And as unemployment rises, their opportunities are shrinking.

At Inspiration Corporation, we see rising need in every area of our work. Meal attendance at Inspiration Cafe and The Living Room Cafe has surged. The Employment Project is enrolling larger classes and serving record numbers of people. Case managers working with members of the community have experienced a 20% increase in requests for referrals, services and financial assistance. Requests for emergency grants for rent and utility assistance – to prevent eviction – are skyrocketing. We’ve distributed more than $160,000 in State of Illinois homelessness prevention funds so far this year to keep individuals and families in their homes.

That is why your partnership with Inspiration Corporation is so vitally important. With your help, we will serve more than 35,000 nutritious meals this year. We will provide employment training to more than 400 people, enable 60 to go back to school, and help 100 find good jobs. And we are helping an additional 45 homeless individuals and families move into apartments with rent subsidies and supportive services this year.

With funding from the City of Chicago, Inspiration Corporation has launched an initiative to house and assist an additional 160 homeless individuals and families across Chicago.

Through the Rental Housing Support Services Program, Inspiration Corporation will place individuals and families into affordable rental apartments. Residents’ landlords will receive rental subsidies through the Chicago Low-Income Housing Trust Fund, and a team of Housing Retention Specialists will provide supportive services to help residents successfully transition to stable housing and self-sufficiency.

“This initiative represents a major new investment in permanent supportive housing for Chicagoans with long tenure in the homeless services system, which is a core strategy of Chicago’s 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness,” notes John Pfeiffer, Inspiration Corporation’s Executive Director & CEO.

To date, Inspiration Corporation has placed 96 households into new apartments through this initiative. Thanks to our Board member Cathye Rosengarden and other private donors, we are able to provide beds, dressers and other essential furnishings to welcome residents into their new homes.