{"id":877876,"date":"2026-06-19T08:56:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T08:56:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/877876\/"},"modified":"2026-06-19T08:56:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T08:56:29","slug":"displaced-during-pride-month-chicago-reader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/877876\/","title":{"rendered":"Displaced during Pride Month – Chicago Reader"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just Neighbors<\/a>\u00a0examines the city\u2019s homeless encampment sweeps, focusing on the human impact of a fragmented, interdepartmental process.<\/p>\n

At the beginning of June, while Chicago\u2019s LGBTQ+ community was gearing up for Pride month, Ray was sorting through gender-affirming belongings, trying to figure out what to keep and what to give away. The 39-year-old resident of Logan Square was preparing for the city to close their encampment on June 12.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to be losing your stuff,\u201d they said, \u201cespecially with this group of us who are pretty genderqueer.\u201d The tent they sat in served as the camp\u2019s dressing room: A mirror was propped in a corner amid piles of clothes, cushions, eyelashes, and shoes. Many of these items were shared among residents, had been collected over time, and were difficult to come by in unhoused communities. \u201cLife can be very hard, or sometimes impossible, if you don\u2019t have these things that help you identify, whether it be makeup, hair, a certain type of underwear, your breasts,\u201d Ray said. A pitcher with a flower-shaped spout made the \u201ckeep\u201d pile. \u201cWhen poured correctly, that\u2019s the closest to a shower we can get in this space,\u201d they explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ray and approximately eight residents had lived in this encampment, on the southeast corner of North Milwaukee Avenue and West Logan Boulevard, since winter. The closure had been in the works for months, with consistent communication from Alderperson Anthony Quezada\u2019s office to the residents that they could remain on the land until the Chicago Department of Transportation was ready to begin construction on what will become a public plaza.<\/p>\n

In the lead-up to the closure, Department of Family and Support Services (DFSS) workers regularly visited the camp to offer snacks, water, and connections to any available shelters. A few days before the Reader first visited the camp, Quezada stopped by, as he had occasionally in recent months, and encouraged residents to stay connected with case managers as they wound through the city\u2019s Coordinated Entry System (CES) for housing. Ray was frustrated; they said that on previous visits, the alder had promised that the residents would be connected to permanent housing by June 12, but now, he was \u201csinging a different tune.\u201d However, over several emails to the Reader, an unnamed Quezada staffer wrote that they \u201cdid not promise or guarantee placement in permanent housing.\u201d They acknowledged that although all residents of the camp had completed the housing intake process, none had been matched to any housing as of June 8. \u201cThe demand for these housing resources significantly exceeds the number of units available citywide.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Instead, on June 12, the ward would transport residents to \u201calternative living locations,\u201d including shelters, if accepted, and would arrange for temporary storage of personal belongings as needed. \u201cAdditional context:\u201d read the end of one email, \u201cThis is not a punitive enforcement action. It is the closure of a public construction site that must be secured for a long-planned infrastructure project.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Inside a tent home at the encampment
Credit: Katie Prout<\/p>\n

That wasn\u2019t much consolation for encampment residents like Ray. \u201cIt\u2019s hard for us to consider the next space to go,\u201d they said ten days before the closure. \u201cThis community is very welcoming of queerness, and it\u2019s allowed us a bit of comfort in feeling like we\u2019re safe.\u201d If they and the other residents understood they were not getting permanent housing in June, Ray said, they would have made plans to leave long before this. A few days earlier, when a DFSS worker showed Ray pictures of the shelter on offer, they began having traumatic flashbacks. \u201cIt looked just like inside of prison, from the color of the floors, to the sheets on the bed, to the location of the window, the bunk beds,\u201d they said. Ray worried that any shelter the city had to offer wouldn\u2019t be safe for their authentic gender expression.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ray was very upset with the alder and with DFSS. They said they\u2019d been shouting, in their words, \u201cbarking,\u201d at some workers from the city. But in a previous life, Ray had been a nurse; they said they knew what it was like to be on the other end of very angry people who were physically or mentally struggling. Why was this housing and encampment sweep process so confusing? In recent days, mutual aid groups and housing advocates had begun showing up to offer the residents support, but Ray wondered what took them so long. As they read a copy of \u201cThe last days of Legion Park, before the city swept it\u201d (published in the Reader\u2019s May print edition as \u201c\u2018How the hell can they decide what my needs are?\u2019\u201d)<\/a>, Ray wondered aloud if their camp could also get an accelerated moving event (AME). \u201cWe definitely deserve the opportunity to use those same resources,\u201d they said. Although Legion Park residents didn\u2019t have keys in hand the morning the city forced them to leave, a month after the March 17 sweep, 16 of 20 former residents had housing. \u201cThat\u2019s a beautiful thing to hear about,\u201d said Ray. \u201cIt\u2019s very uplifting to me, [to hear] it is possible that [by] doing the right things and maybe making some noise, you can potentially get that result.\u201d<\/p>\n

Could Quezada delay the neighborhood\u2019s construction project and give folks at the encampment time to get permanent housing? Ray wondered. If not, could the alder find them a temporary option that was still local, where they could have permission to live until permanent housing came through, and \u201cwould allow us to be part of the community, like we are?\u201d Ray asked. \u201cI mean, they listed us as \u2018residents\u2019 on that sign [the notice of closure sign Quezada\u2019s office fixed to a nearby fence], so we\u2019re residents of this community. Can you allow us somewhere that we can be able to not feel like we\u2019re being pushed out?\u201d Ray liked living in a queer-friendly, queer-visible ward, and they laughed about being a camp of mostly Black people in a neighborhood that has seen rapid displacement of racial minorities over the last 20 years. \u201cI\u2019m regentrifying for my life,\u201d they chuckled. \u201cI\u2019m a hipster now.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the final week before the sweep, supportive groups like Parks for All, the Orange Tent Project, and Logan Square Mutual Aid (LSMA) continued to meet with residents. Quezada had a phone call with camp residents and members of the mutual aid groups about the planned closure. The next day, the mutual aid members, with the camp residents\u2019 direction, wrote Quezada an email. Would the sweep be postponed until residents had access to an AME? If not, would the alder identify alternative spaces residents could safely move to, and would those spaces have portable toilets and electricity? The email was posted on social media<\/a> by LSMA, along with calls for the broader Logan Square community to donate cash aid to the residents. (On an update to the post dated June 11, LSMA shared that all funds raised for the encampment residents had been distributed to them \u201cdirectly and evenly.\u201d)<\/p>\n

During that same week, the camp received more visits from DFSS workers and the Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness. Workers from the alder\u2019s office had picked up residents and driven them to scope out three different locations in the ward, all public spaces, where they could relocate with the ward\u2019s support. (When asked if DFSS participated in this effort to relocate residents to other public spaces, DFSS spokesperson Linsey Maughan wrote in a statement that \u201cDFSS has no part assisting in the relocation of residents from an encampment,\u201d but on the day of a closure, DFSS does offer to transport residents to available shelters if the residents accept them.) The location Ray chose, a viaduct in the ward, lacks electricity, but it does have a portable toilet.<\/p>\n

\n

[Ray] laughed about being a camp of mostly Black people in a neighborhood that has seen rapid displacement of racial minorities over the last 20 years. \u201cI\u2019m regentrifying for my life,\u201d they chuckled. \u201cI\u2019m a hipster now.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cI\u2019m gonna miss this wall,\u201d Ray said, pointing to a colorful wall of murals and graffiti tags behind the camp. It was June 11, the day before the sweep. \u201cGonna miss Jason\u2019s little bitty-ass tent. It\u2019s a pretty street right here, Milwaukee and Logan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ray continued to pack up their camp with the help of mutual aid members, who brought food, water, packing supplies, and vehicles. The air was humid from the night\u2019s storms, and the camp was slick with mud. Periodically, Ray took a break to cry. Their goal wasn\u2019t to just move\u2014it was to clean up the camp as if they were moving out of an apartment at the end of a lease. They were also gonna miss New Wave Coffee, they said, the cafe across the street. The staff were friendly there; they let residents use the bathroom and charge their phones. Every morning, Ray walked in and got two cups of ice for free. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to find a place that treats the homeless like they treat everybody else,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

\"\"The exterior of New Wave Coffee
Credit: Katie Prout<\/p>\n

The day before the sweep, Ray was still frustrated with the alder and the city, but less so. They hoped Quezada, a first-time alderperson, whom Ray called \u201cthat young man,\u201d was learning about the city\u2019s closure processes through the experiences of this camp. It\u2019s like Quezada said himself, Ray pointed out, referring to the closure notice put up by his office, \u201cwe\u2019re a resident of Logan Square, this community, whether of this encampment or of a condo on the top floor.\u201d Ray credited the notice for alerting the mutual aid members now moving belongings in the mud. Ray was appreciative of them, too, and amended their previous statements that questioned where that community had been until now. \u201cThey didn\u2019t show up late; they showed up on time.\u201d One member in particular had Ray\u2019s gratitude. \u201cShe is the best thing that ever happened to me,\u201d they said through tears. \u201cShe did everything she said [she] was gonna do. I didn\u2019t know what to say or how to do nothing about this\u2014she helped.\u201d<\/p>\n

The topic turned to Pride. What did it mean for Ray, a queer unhoused person, to be proud of themselves during the queerest of months, as they prepared to dismantle their home? \u201cPride is something that\u2019s for you, yourself,\u201d they answered. \u201cI can\u2019t allow myself to not feel equal or the same as others. I can\u2019t allow myself to wait for others to be proud of me, because that don\u2019t happen often. It\u2019s for me and not nobody else.\u201d Ray was proud of advocating for themself and other residents but said they wouldn\u2019t feel true pride until the move was done.<\/p>\n

On the morning of the sweep, DFSS workers were on site offering food, water, and transportation to a shelter. The Department of Streets and Sanitation was disposing of what remained of the camp, but the residents were already gone. According to a statement from DFSS, one did accept the offer of a shelter and had moved there earlier that week. According to a statement from Quezada\u2019s office, another had moved in with a housed friend. The rest had \u201crelocated to alternative locations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Across the street from where the camp had stood, the workers of New Wave kept making coffee. \u201cWe were always happy to help keep [the residents] fed, warm, and hydrated,\u201d wrote Dave Easterly, a barista at New Wave, later over text. \u201cEveryone was very respectful about asking for what they needed and giving us the space to do our jobs as well.\u201d Sometimes, it was stressful, Easterly admitted, like when a resident or visitor of the camp came in during a mental or physical health emergency. He and other workers weren\u2019t trained for those situations and \u201cdidn\u2019t fully have the resources to help people when they needed it most.\u201d Given that stress, why help at all? \u201cBecause they are human beings lol,\u201d Easterly replied. \u201cI\u2019m not Christian, but I think about Jesus a lot and how someone like him would\u2019ve acted. Life isn\u2019t about shooing people away when they need your help. You can either provide what you have, or redirect to others who are more equipped.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, over at the viaduct, Ray and several mutual aid members were busy setting up a new camp. Periodically, Ray was overcome with emotion. There were piles of wigs and some chairs, a hair dryer, tampons, a broom. Ray wanted to get things right; other people in need, especially queer people, were sure to come through. Mutual aid group members placed a tent on a platform, and Ray hurried over to help secure the flaps. Together, they raised the tent up.<\/p>\n

More in NEWS & CITY LIFE<\/p>\n

The news you should know in the city you love.<\/p>\n

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