A night out in the cold: Volunteering for the 2019 Point-in-Time Homeless Count

The Point-in-Time Count of Homeless Persons, a census held annually in cities nationwide since 2005, is organized in Chicago by the Department of Family and Support Services, and is meant to understand the homeless population in the city during a few hours on one given night in January. The data is used to guide federal funding, homeless services and resource planning, but it is far from comprehensive.

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Wound care for the homeless: a long and painful path

An ache came from Abana Tabb’s legs. He looked down and saw the open wound bleeding like a leaking faucet. It seemed like a full cup of blood.

Tabb’s heart cannot pump well because of congestive heart failure, but it started beating rapidly. He felt dizzy. He lay down on the street.

“I thought, ‘I’m going to die.’ It’s crazy,” he repeated. “It’s crazy.”

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Mexico City-born artist Amanda Gutiérrez uses sound to address gentrification

The screech of a train, the ring of paleta-cart bells and the chatter of children—these sounds define Pilsen in the summer. And artist Amanda Gutiérrez is listening to every sound the neighborhood has to offer. She has called Pilsen, a neighborhood on the Southwest Side of Chicago, home for over 15 years. “I feel very emotionally and historically attached to this neighborhood,” she said.

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