As a mom of four living and working in Lincoln Park, I was shocked to learn 55% of the students at Lincoln Park High School are on the free lunch program and numerous are considered homeless. It is my mission to help these children feel safe, comfortable and welcome in the neighborhood by providing them with food and basic necessities. Every donation received results in gift cards for food, clothing and toiletries, as often as needed.
Did you know…
That there are 11,645 children in Chicago Public Schools who are homeless or live in shelters? Did you know that almost every CPS high school has students who are homeless or live in shelters?
Frankly, we did not know this, but upon learning it, we decided that we, regular citizens like you, can and must do something. Hence, YIMBY was created.
Because poverty effects every community and is in everyone’s backyard. There is nowhere to run. It is our collective problem. And though we can’t fix it all, we figured we can, and must, do something. We start with a clearly identifiable target: kids who get to school each day after waking up homeless or in shelters.
We are talking shoes, toiletries, clothes, even tampons. All the things most take for granted. And YIMBY also seeks to fund after-school programs to bridge the gap between when school ends each day and when students enter their shelters at night.
We keep it simple.
First, we raise money. Then we give the money, in the form of gift cards for meals, socks, gloves, toiletries and in school snacks, to the principals and homeless coordinators at each school who know who the homeless and sheltered kids are. Our contact then works directly with the kids to meet some of their basic, unmet needs. Finally, the principal works alongside a YIMBY volunteer as they monitor the program and track the funds.
By design, the program is intended to be low maintenance, no frills, self-executing, and self-sustaining. The short term goal is to have a YIMBY chapter in every school. The long term goal is to put YIMBY out of business, meaning to have a day when no kids in school are homeless or sheltered.
