Overview
- The Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness estimated 58,625 people experienced homelessness in 2024, compared with HUD’s 18,836 based on a single-night tally.
- The coalition’s year-round approach uses administrative and service data and counts people temporarily staying with others in overcrowded conditions.
- The report found disproportionate impact on Black residents, with more than 12,000 in shelters or outdoors and nearly 21,000 doubled up, representing over half of those affected.
- Outreach groups said the volunteer-led point-in-time count scheduled for Thursday misses many people in tents, vehicles and vacant buildings because of safety protocols.
- Advocates highlighted more than 109,000 vacant housing units in 2024 and warned that threatened HUD funding cuts and expiring voucher programs could worsen instability.