CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A Chicago activist chose the coldest night of the year to huddle under blankets on the sidewalk outside City Hall in an effort to raise awareness about people who are doing that every night.
There were subzero wind chills when WBBM Newsradio's Mike Krauser found Andrew Holmes gathering his bundle of bedding outside City Hall on Friday morning.
WBBM: You chose the coldest night of the season.
"We usually do this every year - the coldest night, just to bring awareness that they need to do more to get the homeless up off the streets and off the CTA," Holmes said.
WBBM: What was it like out here last night?
"Just brutal," Holmes said.
WBBM: You have been doing this for a long time. How many years?
"Five years, two administrations - the Daley Administration and the Emanuel Administration," he said.
WBBM: And now the Lightfoot Administration.
"Yep, well Mayor Lightfoot, she cares about the people. She just inherited this, but those veteran aldermen need to do more to make this a priority," Holmes said.
WBBM: Has anything changed in five years, except for more homeless people having fewer places where the city allows them to be?
"You have children going to school from the streets," he said.
WBBM: Anyone stop by and chat with you?
"No, people just look and keep going," Holmes said.
WBBM: Because they think you are homeless. That is part of your point.
"Yeah...people just take a look at you and they keep going and you wonder why and you wonder if they really care," Homles said.
Holmes appeared barely adequately dressed for the temperature around 0, standing in just a couple of sweatshirts and sweatpants with a bundle of bedding at his feet.
Last year, WBBM Newsradio's Mike Krauser spoke to Holmes after he spent the night outside during the polar vortex, and he said, "no human should lay out here on the concrete and the homeless ought to be looked at different - you know all of our elected officials go home, they have good heat and good pillows. We have to do more to get them off the grounds. This was brutal out here last night. I mean brutal. This is the coldest I've had since we have been doing this."
Activists are pushing for more humane treatment of the homeless by the city.