Black residents in Illinois are almost eight times more likely to be homeless than white people, with lack of livable wages and affordable housing among the primary drivers.

Researchers from the University of Illinois Chicago said homelessness is an issue of equity with Blacks disproportionately represented across the state. Rent burdens and economic hardship are both driving factors. In 2022, about 63% of Black renters spent more than 30% of their paycheck on housing.

Chama St. Louis, director of organizing and network expansion at the National Black Worker Center, experienced homelessness in the winter of 2011. Even though she was working full-time, she said she could not afford to pay for housing and basic needs for her and her family.

"I felt like I was doing everything right," St. Louis recounted. "You can do everything right and still end up in a place where you don't have a home, because the system is failing us."

One in four Black residents is living in poverty in Illinois and one in seven is in deep poverty. St. Louis argued the Trump administration's dismantling of DEI efforts will only further compound matters.

The state has increased investment in programs such as Home Illinois to address the significant rise in homelessness. St. Louis pointed out even though she registered her and her family as homeless, many programs required her to travel based on the availability at shelters on any given day.

"When we had no gas, then we were sleeping in Walmart parking lots," St. Louis explained. "And on days it was really cold, I would take the kids inside of Walmart and make pallets for them at the bottom of a cart and push them around Walmart for seven hours until the sun came up."

St. Louis added she is now dedicated to helping others who experience homelessness. Along with advocating for improved conditions and wages for Black workers, she stressed she tries to humanize the crisis.

"Outside of the real work that we have to do around policy and making sure that people from a systemic standpoint are being treated fairly, we still have to make sure that we are human beings who care about one another and want to see each other do well," St. Louis emphasized.

The state has earmarked $290 million for homeless services this year but advocates are asking for an additional $100 million for emergency housing, assistance and prevention programs.

Gov. Bob Ferguson has signed Washington's first rent stabilization law and renters and advocates who fought for the bill are breathing sighs of relief, after years of effort.

The new law caps the amount landlords can raise yearly rents at 7% plus inflation or 10%, whichever is less. For manufactured homes, increases are limited to 5%.

Caroline Hardy, secretary of the Leisure Manor Tenants Association and a retiree in Aberdeen whose manufactured home community faced up to 50% yearly increases under new corporate ownership. She said her community is mostly seniors living on fixed incomes and the increases had become untenable.

"It was getting to the point where people were skipping meals and they were not able to afford prescriptions," Hardy recounted. "I couldn't afford my diabetic medicine. It was getting scary and we were getting mad."

Landlords associations and real estate agencies fought hard against the bill, saying it would impede development. Proponents countered under the law, new construction is protected from the cap for the first 12 years.

Hardy spent three years knocking on doors, making phone calls and testifying in support of the new law. She said she was deeply relieved to hear it passed and is grateful to Sen. Emily Alvarado, D-Seattle, and Sen. Yasmin Trudeau, D-Tacoma, who sponsored the bill.

"We were so thankful that they listened to us, and they helped us," Hardy added. "It was a great accomplishment. We're really proud of ourselves."

Nine Washington counties had record-breaking eviction rates in 2024. The state now joins Oregon and California as the only states in the nation to enact a statewide limit on how much landlords can raise the rent.


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With rates of homelessness on the rise, advocates are decrying plans to remove a long-standing camp from the Sandy River Delta, also known as Thousand Acres.

The Department of State Lands is planning to remove the encampment this week, along with its residents, some of whom have been there for decades. In response, residents have filed an injunction.

One outreach worker, who would prefer to stay anonymous fearing backlash, has been working with the 30-some residents of Thousand Acres for the past year. They said the state has failed to connect residents to promised resources and the people living there have nowhere else to go.

"They can offer you a bed in an overcrowded, low-quality shelter, or they can offer you to get on a housing waitlist that will last for years," the worker explained. "It's really not a legitimate option at all."

The state said the camp is making the area unsafe and they need to close it temporarily to restore the land. New data show Oregon saw a 13% increase in people experiencing homelessness in 2024 alone.

Residents of Thousand Acres have created a Cooperative Stewardship Proposal, which they are providing as an alternative to eviction from the site.

Tyrell Graham, a musician, has lived at the park for more than three years.

"People have been peaceful down here, been peaceful for a long time and this is like a sanctuary," Graham emphasized.

Advocates for the unhoused say the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office has been leaving people at Thousand Acres when they have no other options, including after their release from Multnomah County Jail. The outreach worker argued evicting people who have nowhere else to go is inhumane.

"People aren't trash. You can't just pick them up and throw them away," the worker stressed. "They've created a home there and they've lived there for decades, and you can't just disrupt that on a whim."

The number of people experiencing homelessness once again set a record last year, nearing 775,000 nationwide.


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Laramie, Wyoming is short on affordable housing but a new partnership aims to help.

Albany County's population grew nearly 7% between 2010 and 2021 and many newcomers are remote workers, according to a statewide needs assessment. Because the county is home to Laramie, the state's only bona fide college town, many homes are rentals occupied by students, adding to a housing crunch for vital workers such as teachers and nurses and the schools and hospitals working to retain them.

Todd Feezer, assistant city manager of Laramie, and others have eyed the site of the former Slade Elementary School, due to be demolished soon, for housing built under a new partnership model.

"Really, I think we've got a good team that's all pulling together," Feezer observed. "As long as that team can continue to pull together, we should be able to see some success in this, hopefully within the next year to 18 months."

He noted the school district is appraising the property to see what is possible. Feezer pointed out the public-private partnership taking on the project includes the City of Laramie, Albany County School District, Laramie Chamber Business Alliance, Ivinson Hospital and WyoTech.

The exact mechanics of the project are still in the works but Feezer stressed he hopes to add 34 workforce-attainable housing units to the mix.

"We're excited for the interest in our project," Feezer emphasized. "This isn't the solution but this is a start for us to try to create solutions to the housing issue here in Laramie."

According to the statewide needs assessment, Wyoming in 2030 will need between 21,000 and 39,000 more units than it had in 2021 to cover housing needs.


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