JACQUES ABOU-RIZK
Medill Illinois News Bureau
CHICAGO — Homeless people are much more likely to face emergency room visits, hospitalizations and premature death than the general population, and state officials are struggling to stem the crisis, according to a new report by the Illinois Department of Public Health.
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A tent in a homeless encampment in Chicago. Tents subbing as living quarters are common among unhoused people.
Jacques Abou-Rizk, Medill Illinois News Bureau
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Forcing survivors to litigate their restraining order hearings is a regular reality — and a gaping fault in a system that continues to fail battered women, advocates say.
Most women who have experienced homelessness report experiencing violence from strangers. Transgender women find they face additional challenges.
Most cities, such as Portland where Michelle now lives, do not offer many safe, clean, accessible or free restrooms despite public health experts acknowledging the very real, very ordinary need.
To break free from the domestic abuse and to protect her children, Rachel experienced homelessness in hopes of something safer on the other side.
Faced with a homeless services system largely built for men, women experiencing domestic abuse may find themselves choosing between violence and the street.
The Lee Enterprises Public Service Journalism Team surveyed 150 women from July through October 2024 across eleven women’s daytime and overnight shelters throughout the Pacific Northwest.
Data show that women experience unique causes of housing instability and challenges when experiencing homelessness, according to a survey cond…
Jacques Abou-Rizk is a graduate student in journalism with Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications, and fellows in its Medill Illinois News Bureau working in partnership with Capitol News Illinois.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
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