Although the exact number is unknown, Mayor Peter Schwartzman estimates that around 200 or more people are homeless in Galesburg.
While a number of community leaders and organizations are working to address this issue, they are not fully equipped to provide a broad solution.
Seeking shelter at the library
The Galesburg Public Library has become a place where homeless people seek shelter and other services.
“We have, I would say, maybe 10 to 12 people that are here every day who I know are experiencing homelessness,” said Executive Director Noelle Thompson. “Some of them sleep at the library, actually, outside, so they’re here first thing and are sleeping on the cement outside, on our patio, or front steps.”
Thompson said homeless people who utilize the library represent a wide range of demographics. She said homelessness can touch anybody.
Although those experiencing homelessness frequently come to the library to find shelter, other needs and amenities such as safety, community, comfortable furniture, restrooms, and internet access are also found there.
The library also started using a new system that makes it possible for users who don’t have addresses to get library cards. Because of this, 40 homeless people were able to have access last year.
“In Illinois, you're required to prove that you live in the community to get a library card, so now we have a system where if a service agency can verify that you reside in Galesburg, even if you’re unhoused, you can still get a library card,” said Thompson.
Food, clothing, and other necessities
Hope House is another resource available in Galesburg. It provides free meals, clothing, and other necessities to anyone in need. Currently, about eight to ten volunteers are regularly involved.
“On Mondays, we do 150 to 200 meals free of charge, no questions asked to the first to come and get them. People can come up and say they need eight to ten meals, grab them, and go,” said Champ Coleman, Hope House partner.
Hope House also provides a mobile food truck that takes groceries to various parts of the city, including Moon Towers, Mary Allen West, Whiting Hall, and Galesburg Towers.
Coleman said that a majority of those using their facilities are homeless by choice.
“They want to have a place to go but there are so many rules, and then a lot of them are excluded because of past things they’ve done,” said Coleman.
He also notes that disturbances are seldom, and typically aren’t intense.
“We’ve had disturbances, it’s happened, but it’s never escalated to the point where I’ve had to call the police,” Coleman said.
Although Hope House is able to provide for a good number of people, it does run out of supplies.
“It happens almost every week where we run out of meals and we still have people come, but as long as we get 150 to 180 meals, that’s the best we can do,” said Coleman.
Teaching responsibility and structure
Galesburg’s Rescue Mission and Women’s Shelter is a Christian organization that offers similar resources free of charge, supported by the donations of churches and other individuals.
“We provide housing, food, clothing, and spiritual guidance. We have 40 men’s beds and 40 ladies’ beds, so we can have up to 80 people,” said Darrell Grimm, executive director of the Rescue Mission.
At the time of our interview, the Rescue Mission housed around 36 men, 16 women, and 5 children.
The Rescue Mission has a set of rules that those being housed there are required to abide by.
“They have to go to chapel twice a day at 8 in the morning and 7 at night, they have to go to church on Sundays, and they have to meet with a chaplain once a week. We also have a case manager that tries to meet with them once a month,” said Grimm.
The organization also has a strict policy of no violence, swearing, alcohol, or drugs.
“I would guess 90% of the people that come in test positive for THC, which we’ll take that and if they stay for 30 days we’ll test them again and hope that they’ll be clean," Grimm said.
“They get a chore every week. If they miss the chore once they get a warning, the second time they get a warning, and then the third time they're kicked out. Same with chapel and curfew,” Grimm said. “We’re trying to teach them responsibility and structure.”
Grimm said that disturbances resulting in a call to the police are quite common, and a number of people have been banned from using the facility.
“Sometimes it’s once a week, sometimes it’s once a day. Some of them have got mental issues, and they’ll get triggered,” Grimm said. “There’s probably 20 or 30 that are banned completely.”
One of the Rescue Mission’s main goals is to help with the transition between homelessness and finding a stable living environment.
The Rescue Mission also regularly takes in people from correctional facilities.
“We have about three or four right now where they can’t go home. They don’t have anywhere else to go, so they can spend their parole here,” Grimm said.
Behavioral health resources
Mental illness and substance abuse are common challenges homeless people face.
Bridgeway, a behavioral health organization, provides services to those experiencing these issues, as well as aid for housing and employment across Illinois, including Galesburg.
“We provide psychiatry, outpatient services, substance use services, we have services that assist with developmental disabilities in the workforce,” said Jessica Boock, System of Care Director and Mental Health First Aid Coordinator at Bridgeway.
Aside from general services, the organization provides a program meant to help individuals who are experiencing psychosis for the first time.
“Oftentimes when an individual experiences psychosis and they get rapid services the first time, they usually don’t experience psychosis again,” said Boock.
Additionally, a mobile crisis response team is on call 24 hours a day.
“They go into the emergency rooms or schools based on the location of the individual that is in need. They do evaluations, and then assist with the recommendation of either being hospitalized, or they put together a care plan so that they can return home safely under advisement,” said Boock.
The response team also offers Screening Assessment Support Services (SASS). Individuals who are on Medicaid or under the age of 18 can meet with SASS for up to 90 days, though there can be a waitlist for outpatient treatment.
A Behavioral Health Co-Responder is also available, who is housed in the Galesburg Police Department and goes out on calls concerning individuals who are in distress.
“If they feel that it could potentially be mental health related, the Behavioral Health Co-Responder will go with the police officers and help de-escalate in the field to try and help eliminate them getting arrested,” said Boock.
Jamie Kennedy is Bridgeway’s Adult Care Coordinator, a position which is funded by the Galesburg Community Foundation’s Hunger Collaborative. It mainly focuses on the unhoused and helping those individuals find and sustain housing and find employment.
She says the number of people she helps fluctuates based on the time of year.
“From basically October through April, it can be as little as four people to as high as 15 people. It gets more peak level right around the holidays, and then it starts to level off right around spring and summer time because it’s warm and they're finding ample ways to be ‘housed,’” said Kennedy.
At the time of our interview, Kennedy was working with two homeless individuals, and three others were on the verge of being homeless.
Kennedy also works with the Galesburg Public Library to help those who are unhoused.
“The library is a big, significant hub of individuals that come in, and they would run the gambit anywhere from being homeless to on the verge of homelessness, or needing help for a job, and I was able to connect them to the various resources within Knox County,” said Kennedy.
In collaboration with the library and the Salvation Army, Kennedy also helps people get state IDs. Those who utilize this service can use the Salvation Army as an address until the ID arrives.
“A person that doesn’t have one, they come in and fill out a form, and then it gets notarized. They have to go back at least once a week to check the mail at the Salvation Army, so that when it does come in they have a state ID,” said Kennedy.
If they don’t have a Medicaid card, Kennedy can also help obtain one.
Homelessness takes many forms
One of the biggest issues Boock and Kennedy face in helping people is the eviction process.
“What happens is if somebody is living in a Housing Authority complex and they don’t follow through with their eviction notice, it’s seven years until they can apply again for that,” said Boock.
She said the number of people facing eviction seems to change with the seasons.
“We often see our evictions go down in the winter, go up in the summer. We kind of alternate with where our utilities are going unpaid because in the winter months they cannot legally shut utilities off when it’s so cold, so they’ll stop paying electricity and continue paying rent,” said Boock.
She said they're also starting to see more repeat clients.
Both Boock and Kennedy also stress that homelessness can take different forms. Boock said that among youth, she frequently sees individuals “couchsurfing,” which refers to cases where someone who doesn't have a permanent residency stays with a friend or acquaintance.
She said that in many cases, the “couchsurfers” are 16 or 17 year olds, and that the Department of Children and Family Services typically doesn’t get involved with children of this age.
Boock also said that most younger Bridgeway referrals she sees come from school districts, and for this reason there are fewer in the summer.
She also said the link between crime and homelessness is misunderstood.
“I think there’s a lot of stigma around that an individual experiencing homelessness or a substance abuse or mental health disorder would also be experiencing criminal activities.” Boock said. “Statistically, an individual experiencing a mental health crisis is more likely to be a victim than to be a perpetrator.”
Getting rides
Transportation is also an obstacle for homeless people.
“Public transportation exists, it’s fairly inexpensive, but it doesn’t run on Sundays, it doesn't run after six o'clock, and it doesn’t run all over the city,” said Schwartzman.
Thompson expressed a similar sentiment.
“It’s really difficult when I say this place is having a free meal, but it’s a mile away, it starts in 15 minutes, and the bus is about to end, you’re out of luck,” said Thompson.
Another service Bridgeway provides is helping individuals get access to transportation cards. But challenges still persist.
“Something to keep in mind is that if you live in Monmouth and you’re homeless, your closest Walmart is in Galesburg, it might as well be Chicago,” said Boock. “Transportation is hard, and transportation doesn’t have to look like a car or a bus, it could be a bike, or other things.”
Ward 4 Alderman Dwight White said that this heavily affects the south side of Galesburg, especially with accessing things such as grocery stores, which are mostly found on the north side. White has been pushing for a better public transportation system.
“If you look at our city council, there’s two wards south of Main Street and five wards north of Main Street. So if the north side of Galesburg doesn't believe that the south side needs this, nothing will ever pass,” said White.
Galesburg completed a transit study late last year, which allowed the city to get a number of new buses. However, the city has not yet fully implemented the recommendations of the study.
“The only problem with the transit study is that we need more funding. We need money to get it funded,” said White.
Investing in housing at all angles
Mayor Schwartzman hopes to establish a community center in Galesburg.
“It would be open 24/7, it would be a place anybody can go, there would be food there,” said Schwartzman. “I think anybody who goes hungry in Galesburg, that’s a human rights violation by the city.”
Schwartzman also hopes to expand access to utilities such as water.
“If you live in a residence in Galesburg, you should get the first unit free,” said Schwartzman. “We shouldn’t have people living in homes that have no water. We are promoting disease, there are children living in these homes. We have to stop these things before they start.”
In terms of housing, Schwartzman would like to create more opportunities.
“We know we need to invest in housing on all levels, and we need to be very clear when we do that we mean all levels, so we need to enhance housing for people who currently can’t afford it,” said Schwartzman.
Schwartman believes that if Galesburg doesn't invest in these types of initiatives, the city will be impacted in various ways, including economically. He said there will be more people living on the streets and more crime.
The mayor also believes it will be difficult to advance on the projects he is advocating for without council support.
White expresses a similar sentiment.
“It’s a big problem when you’re talking to people on the city council because there’s so many people that don’t understand it. We were talking about homelessness and one of the council members didn’t believe that I knew what I was talking about, and I had to have somebody else cosign it,” said White.
Editor's note: This story was produced in a journalism class at Knox College.
