Save Uptown Homeless Shelter

Hello all,

Thank you so much for your heroic generosity. I would like to update people that the shelter closing seems very imminent. As Dick Simpson, former alderman, notable scholar and board member of the shelter provider, has claimed, "This is a complete political failure". At all levels of government, more than enough funds are there that would have kept this facility alive, yet the PRIORITY was not. We have a billionaire governor who had photo-ops at this shelter around the near time of the past state election, a man who owns multiple owns, $10,000 bottles of wine and cars worth more than most Americans' retirement accounts, yet a mere $250,000 a year could not be provided to keep this shelter open right before the Holidays. We have a millionaire mayor who has spent more on slanderous commercials out of his own pocket, than what would take to keep this facility open. Lastly we have Alderman James Cappleman, who has quite the record on homelessness issues. You, the everyday people of our city and country, have done more to raise funds for this shelter than this current alderman. Looking at the alderman's real estate agenda and immense campaign contributions, I do sincerely believe that he wanted this shelter closed and he wanted it closed years before this budget impasse. He would regularly send inspectors to harass the church, looking for every code violation they could find to shut them down years before this budget crisis. Chicago Flats, an Uptown developer whose affiliates have donated to the alderman's campaigns and who the alderman considers "a very good friend", have shown interest in the past for purchasing this building years before the state budget impasse was even on the horizon. This closure has shown both who has our local government's priority and whose interests do they really serve.

As the odds are against us in keeping this shelter alive, I would like to tell you that we are still giving funds to the shelter provider, Northside Housing and Supportive Services, due to the countless other programs they operate and the countless homeless individuals who have been put into permanent housing through their work. Even if the shelter closes, we are still raising money in a last dicth effort this holiday season hoping for miracle. If you have objections to us giving your money to this shelter provider even with the closure, please message me and I will be able to provide you your money back. There have been other gofundme collections that have been set up not affiliated with me or the shelter provider, who seem questionable. I want to provide every guarantee I can to show you where the money is going.

I wish you all happy holidays,

Ryne Poelker

PS I've attached a thank you letter from the shelter provider's Development Manager to once again assure you where the money is going. Wouldn't it be nice if we had the same transparency from our country's politicians?

Wonderful news. It appears the Uptown homeless shelter that was at risk will remain open afterall, or at least for the rest of the year. Thank you to all who donated. We will still raise and donate what we have gathered in such a short amount of time to help them with some of their expenses as it appears they are still in a precarious situation.

http://www.northsidehousing.org/

"The new spending plan provides funding to cover critical state operations including the payment of the utilities used at state prisons and mental health centers as well as gasoline and vehicle repairs for vehicles driven by the Illinois State troopers"

Don't know if this will include the shelter's funding. We should still raise to help with some of the shelter's expenses like food and rent payments. 250 in a few hours is great!
http://fox2now.com/2016/06/30/illinois-lawmakers-approve-stopgap-budget-deal/