CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Advocates for the roughly 58,000 people experiencing homelessness in Chicago rallied across from City Hall Thursday.
“58 ‘K’ need a place to stay,” chanted advocates, activists, and service providers Thursday outside of the Thompson Center — which Google recently purchased for $105 million.
They demanded the city council pass a resolution that would fund homeless services with a tax on real estate transfers over a $1 million.
Anne Holcomb runs a homeless youth center.
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“If the real estate transfer tax was in place right now, $2 million from that sale would have gone to providing services like housing, mental health care, and life skills,” Holcomb said.
Mary Rosenouse is a homeless outreach worker.
As she spoke she pointed toward the fifth floor at City Hall: The mayor’s office.
“The basic needs are something to empower them to have somewhere to use the bathroom, for Christ’s sake,” Rosenouse said. “Come on now, up there. Can we get some showers and some bathrooms available to the homeless?”
They say the transfer tax would bring in $150 million a year for homeless services.
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