The measure of a community’s health is found in its life expectancy. On Chicago’s Northwest Side, we pride ourselves on being a place where families grow old together. But a grave report from the state reveals a “death gap” that should haunt every resident of Illinois — and especially those of us on the Northwest Side.
The recently released “Illinois Homelessness Mortality and Morbidity Report” for 2017 to 2023 confirms what outreach workers have long known: Homelessness is a terminal diagnosis. In Illinois, the average age of death for a person experiencing homelessness is just 55.5 years, compared to 74.2 years for the housed population. We are watching our neighbors lose two decades of life simply because they lack a home.
For too long, the Far Northwest Side has treated homelessness as a “downtown problem.” But the report’s data on morbidity — the rate of disease and injury — tells a story playing out in our own parks, libraries and transit stations. Our unsheltered neighbors are 39 times more likely to die from an overdose and nearly four times more likely to die from exposure to the cold.
The status quo is a death sentence, and the Far Northwest Side is currently unequipped to stop it. To bridge this 20-year gap, we need more than “light touch” services. We cannot simply hand someone a granola bar and a list of phone numbers and call it “outreach.”
Our community urgently needs both intensive homeless outreach and housing case management to prevent homelessness before it starts. We also need the first-ever dedicated adult emergency shelter on the Northwest Side. It is a failure of our city’s shelter infrastructure that an unsheltered adult here must travel miles across town just to find a bed. This displacement severs the person’s ties to local jobs, families and health care. We need a local shelter that keeps our community members in their community.
The report is clear: The only cure for the morbidity of homelessness is a home. We need deeply affordable housing built on the Northwest Side, and it must be distributed equitably. No ward can be exempt from this responsibility; the “not in my backyard” sentiment has stalled progress and cost lives for decades.
The 20-year death gap is not an inevitability; it is a policy choice. We can choose to continue the rhetoric that excludes the vulnerable or we can demand that the mayor’s office and the City Council ensure every neighborhood provides its residents the chance to grow old.
The data is in. The cost of our inaction is measured in funerals. It’s time to build, fund and house — in every ward, all across the city.
— Monica Dillon, registered nurse, NWS Outreach Volunteers, Chicago
Helpline shows surging need
More than 300,000 Illinoisans may struggle to put food on their tables now that new Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) work requirements have taken effect.
This is just one federal policy change contributing to the ever-growing challenge of meeting our neighbors’ basic needs.
Social service requests are rising alarmingly in our region. 211 Metro Chicago saw a 99% increase in food assistance requests this past December compared to December 2024. It is a free social services support helpline operated 24/7 year-round by United Way of Metro Chicago in partnership with Cook County and the city of Chicago.
This development is shocking but unsurprising.
The data paints a dire picture. We know anecdotally that the social services sector has experienced ripple effects from last fall’s SNAP benefit delays. The delays cut thousands of individuals from food assistance and deepened the backlog of support requests.
Without direct food support, individuals turn to other assistance programs to stretch their dollars and avoid impossible choices between basic needs.
211 Metro Chicago connects those in need with resources while also helping organizations manage high demand. The helpline disperses the weight of neighborhood needs using real-time contact data to assess requests and organizational response capacity.
For example, 2-1-1’s partnership with the Greater Chicago Food Depository updates local resources in their database every six hours. This enables local food pantries to support as many individuals as possible without being overwhelmed by rising demand.
United Way of Metro Chicago also uses 2-1-1 data to track changing needs and drive impact across the region. This empowers them to mobilize quickly and work efficiently with philanthropy and community-based organizations to address emerging needs.
In 2025, United Way distributed $250,000 in emergency response grants to 24 organizations combating food insecurity. United Way will continue to use 2-1-1 data to inform future response grants addressing critical local needs.
This information is also shared with Cook County, the city of Chicago and other organizations to support proper resource allocation and other local action.
The reality is that community needs continue to grow faster than funding and resources can be deployed. Public-private partnerships such as 211 Metro Chicago are critical to keeping the social safety net intact and meeting the increased demand.
— Jackie Rosa, vice president of strategic initiatives, United Way of Metro Chicago, and Xochitl Flores, bureau chief, Cook County Bureau of Economic Development
Transparency in lawsuits
Illinois’ courts should be fair, transparent and accountable. That’s why Illinois lawmakers should pass HB5244, the proposed Illinois Litigation Financing Transparency Act — a practical reform that brings transparency to a fast-growing industry operating too often in the shadows.
Third-party litigation financing lets outside investors pay for lawsuits in exchange for a cut of whatever money comes out of the case. Sometimes, that can help people bring legitimate claims. But when no one knows who’s funding the lawsuit, who truly benefits or how much influence investors have behind the scenes, it raises real concerns about fairness in the legal system.
This bill strikes the right balance. It does not ban litigation funding. It simply creates basic rules — registration, disclosure and guardrails — to ensure outside funders aren’t steering cases, pressuring settlements or turning a legal system into a business opportunity.
It also addresses two important gaps. First, it limits excessive recoveries so the injured party — not the investor — receives a meaningful share of any award. Second, it tackles the growing world of commercial lawsuit lending, which is increasingly turning litigation into an investment product. The bill also blocks foreign funding so Illinois courts are not used as a financial tool by outside interests.
Other states such as Wisconsin and New York have already acted. Illinois should join.
At its core, the principle is simple: If you’re going to profit from lawsuits filed in Illinois, you shouldn’t be allowed to hide in the shadows.
— State Rep. Dan Ugaste, R-Geneva
Sound priorities for health
I read Laura Washington’s Feb. 11 column “SNAP junk food bans punish poor families” with interest. While I agree that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a former trial attorney, may not be the strongest choice for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, I found an inconsistency in her argument.
Washington accurately notes that many of the products proposed for restriction “can increase the risk of Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer and other maladies.” If we accept that these health risks are real and well documented, it seems reasonable to question whether taxpayer-funded nutrition assistance should subsidize those same products.
This is not a novel or partisan idea. As first lady, Michelle Obama championed efforts to improve access to nutritious foods in so-called food deserts.
Denying SNAP funds for soda or candy does not prevent anyone from purchasing those items with their own money. It simply aligns a nutrition assistance program more closely with its stated public health purpose. I doubt that refraining from subsidizing sugary beverages denies poor and working-class families the occasional joy of a treat.
Public policy can respect personal choice while also reflecting sound health priorities — especially when taxpayer dollars are involved.
— Peter Calabrese, Clearwater, Florida
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