Setting Prisoners Free

I work in a place where I'm surrounded by hundreds of men, women and children who not only have to deal with the devastating reality of locked and closed doors, but also have to constantly deal with having doors slammed in their faces! For those who don't know; I'm a case manager and outreach worker at Cornerstone Community Outreach, a homeless shelter in Uptown, Chicago! I want to start by emphasizing something very important: most of the time, the closed doors people at CCO face, are completely out of their control. Most of the time, these doors are not closed because of laziness, a lack of effort or an unwillingness to open doors, but rather, they are closed because of harsh realities like oppression, inequality, discrimination and racism. The sad and ugly truth is; certain people in my neighborhood, Uptown, want to shut Cornerstone's doors for good, not because we've done something wrong, but simply because we open our doors to house, feed, clothe and...

I often have a tendency to fall into melancholy; as I look at my surroundings, it's easy to dwell on all the negatives, the oppression and the constant injustice that floods the streets of Uptown! But this summer, I want to focus my attention on little stories or snippets of hope, flowing from the streets of Uptown!    Here's one from last Thursday.... Last Thursday evening, our family went down to Clarendon Park with Darrell and Laura for a picnic. After eating, we took Cyrus and Muriwai down the block so they could run around in the playground. As they played, we adults sat on the park bench chatting.  From behind, a lady who's a little older than I, limped up to me with a big smile on her face and said, "hi Jeremy!" I did a double take and exclaimed back, "hi Tamara! It's great to see you". She shocked me! I hadn't seen her for well over a year, and there she was, standing beside me, looking good and healthy, watching over her grandd...

On Thursday I went to the dentist in the western suburbs! After my appointment and while nursing my numb mouth, I hopped into my vehicle and started heading back to CCO. I was expecting a long, tedious and boring traffic ridden drive back to the Northside. It was into this mundane scenerio that I was hit by 5 pleasant surprises! These surprises blessed me, but more importantly, they would ultimately bless many others in big and powerful ways!  I love it when the mundane is overwhelmed and overtaken by surprises; of course, surprises can be downright horrendous and terrifying, but on this particular day, these surprises were most certainly pleasant and were amazing blessings for some of Uptown's poorest and most marginalized people... 1.  I'd bearly left Melrose Park when I received a phone call from David. (don't worry y'all, I was wearing headphones)  He told me that Greg had been accepted into permanent housing for seniors. This made me very happy because he...

Imagine if you'd been homeless since 1974? Just try to imagine that.... I was born in 1972, so trying to wrap my head around John's reality is virtually impossible! This man was born in Wisconsin, moved to Uptown with his family as a very young fella, was raised in Uptown and then lived as a homeless teenager and man in Uptown until this year: 2014. He's seen and been through it all. He's seen and lived through all the changes to the neighborhood! Uptown is his home, Uptown is his family, Uptown is his support network, Uptown is where his Church is, Uptown is where his faith is challenged, Uptown is his community; Uptown embraces him and we are his people! John's "streetname" is Chief and I consider him as the "Chief Survivor" of Uptown; he's been the victim of many vicious and unprovoked attacks, simply because he was homeless and sleeping in an alley. He's also been attacked because he's Native American, because h...

Let me start by telling you a quick story; I first met James back in 2002, he was paroled to our shelter and needed help. The games started immediately. We'd let the older guys come in early so they could get off their feet, he faked his age and told me he was 64. Even though I showed him his parole papers that stated he was 46, he wouldn't drop it and continued to lie about his age, trying to convince me that the Illinois Department Of Corrections got it wrong! That was only the beginning, it got worse, he told story after story, hustle after hustle, often doing it in the name of Jesus! James could act! He could preach! He could fall on the ground, get loud and cry crocodile tears. He could condemn you if you didn't believe him. There's so many stories I could mention here, I heard stories about a dead daughter, how he was beaten and robbed on multiple occasions and how he owned a fleet of trucks with 2 black panthers guarding them. Of course, all these ...

As most of you know, I work in a homeless shelter on the northside of Chicago.    At Cornerstone Community Outreach, I witness daily how people have been rejected from their families and friends for many different reasons; they're lonely and grieving because they've gotten into trouble, burnt too many bridges and caused other people to suffer. Unfortunately, their families and friends have wound up saying to them, "we've had enough, it's time to go!" As a result, they end up homeless and staying with us at Cornerstone.    I also see people ending up homeless, grieving and lonely, because of other things they may struggle with; it may be their mental illness, their addictions, a physical limitation, some sickness or a death in their family! All these things are very real, and unfortunately, they also create isolation, grief and loneliness within our communities.    To be honest, this is a question that challenges me, it causes me to a...

Here's something that irks me! Something that drives me nuts! I know a fella who was homeless for an incredible 40 years! I know another fella who was homeless for 30 years. .... and what's more, this man is a quiet and humble Vietnam Veteran!  I also know plenty of men and women who've experienced homelessness for well over 10 long tedious years!  These numbers are very hard to comprehend; especially for those of us who enjoy the warmth and comfort of our own homes.... The thing that irks me can be summed up with this sentence: after all these years of homelessness, a few diligent outreach workers and caseworkers on the "front lines" created possibilities for many individuals to be accepted into housing programs and then qualify to move into permanent housing, yet as they move toward the light at the end of the tunnel, a bureaucratic nightmare blackens their horizon, inevitably delaying or even preventing their dreams from becoming reality!  To p...