Chicago Homelessness and Health Response Group for Equity (CHHRGE)
CHHRGE has been working collaboratively to address the issues and implications relative to COVID-19 in Chicago.
Today the CHHRGE Report has been released. It’s our honor to be a partner of CHHRGE and to share it with you. Please take the time to read it over to understand the needs being addressed.
Below are excerpts from CHHRGE.ORG and the link to the report.
WHO WE ARE
On March 13, 2020, a group of seven individuals consisting of homeless service providers, faculty, students, and staff from Rush University Medical Center convened to discuss the implications of COVID-19 on guests at Franciscan Outreach shelters on Chicago’s West Side. The group recognized that public health guidelines for social distancing would put shelter guests at considerable risk unless urgent actions were taken. Seven priorities were identified as immediate actions for serving vulnerably housed individuals at Franciscan Outreach. Within one month, daily calls included 100+ members from healthcare, service, and government agencies across the City of Chicago coming together to support vulnerably housed populations. The collaborative became known as the West Side Homeless COVID-19 Response Group and was later renamed the Chicago Homelessness and Health Response Group for Equity (CHHRGE).
THE CHHRGE REPORT
In “the CHHRGE report” we share lessons learned and resources developed by a team of healthcare professionals and homeless service providers who convened in mid-March 2020 to address the impact of COVID-19 on the health of people experiencing homelessness in Chicago. Together, the stakeholders of CHHRGE worked to address the devastating impact of COVID-19 across Chicago’s entire vulnerably housed population. In the report we discuss how the aligned multidisciplinary group of individuals and agencies worked collaboratively to address this public health crisis.
