Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – Gov. JB Pritzker was in Springfield Monday to announce $2 million in state funds will help local homeless programs.
“This is an investment in permanent supportive housing,” said Heartland Housed executive director Josh Sabo, “and our three permanent supportive housing providers are Fifth Street Renaissance, Helping Hands, and Mercy Communities, so this investment will help each of those organizations help individuals and families exit literal homelessness — which means they were in a shelter, potentially a transitional housing program, or an unsheltered situation — into an apartment that’s theirs with appropriate case management.”
The situation is not to be taken lightly, said Illinois’ chief homelessness officer, Christine Haley.
“People experiencing homelessness are 38 times more likely to die from cold-related injuries than those who have a home,” said Haley. She also said homeless people’s average age of death is 56, about twenty years short of the national life expectancy.
