The city of Chicago announced Tuesday that it has partnered with community organizations and nonprofits to invest nearly $18 million in Black and brown businesses to feed undocumented immigrants.
By the end of 2023, the food pantry’s 17 contract restaurants and caterers were serving 18,000 hot meals daily to undocumented immigrants in 21 shelters, city officials said.
“We believe food is a fundamental human right and our mission is to end hunger,” Kate Maher, Executive Director and CEO of Food Depository, told Press stated in the release. “Achieving our mission means finding solutions that feed everyone in need today while also addressing the root causes of hunger: poverty, systemic inequality, and structural racism.” Our efforts to feed new arrivals have given us an opportunity to meet an urgent need. Create economic impact and living wage jobs. To do.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson also expressed his gratitude for participating in the project.
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A group of migrants receives food outside the Immigration Landing Zone during a winter storm in Chicago, Jan. 12, 2024. (Kamil Krzazinski/AFP via Getty Images)
“In fact, I think it’s very fitting that we’re in these great small businesses, because in this moment of crisis, it’s Black and brown small businesses that have stepped up to accommodate the families that are coming here. That’s why,” Johnson said. According to Fox 32.
The number of families and individuals using shelters across the city increased by 14% from 2022 to 2023, according to a report by the Chicago Homeless Coalition.
According to data from the 2023 report, there are currently more than 68,000 homeless people in the city. This is an increase of nearly 3,000 people from the previous year.
Rising housing prices and rising costs of necessities such as food and transportation are also contributing to an increase in the number of people without a place to live.
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Migrants just arrived at a temporary shelter operated by the city of Chicago at O’Hare International Airport on August 31, 2023. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Since Texas Governor Greg Abbott and others began transporting migrants by bus, migrants have flooded into large cities such as Chicago and New York, which have designated themselves as “sanctuary cities.”
Democratic mayors are quick to complain that it’s too much of a strain on their cities’ resources.
New York City announced last week that it would soon launch a $53 million pilot program to distribute prepaid credit cards to immigrant families living in hotels.
Under the pilot program, immigrants would receive 40% more than the state gives to low-income and elderly New Yorkers. Based on SNAP benefits.
Each immigrant will receive about $350 a month to spend on food and baby supplies. As Newsweek pointed out, this exceeds the maximum allotment that low-income New Yorkers receive in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. According to the state’s website, single-person households are eligible to receive up to $291 a month in SNAP benefits, which are meant to help “low-income workers, the elderly, people with disabilities, and others” finance the purchase of groceries. .
The immigration pilot program pays out more than twice the amount of services the state provides to single veterans each month, according to FOX News’ Brian Lenas.
The announcement comes after New York City committed to a $77 million emergency hotel contract in early January to shelter immigrant families.
William Fowler, a spokesperson for the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, confirmed the deal to Fox News Digital.
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A group of immigrants who arrived by bus from Texas over the summer are given cheeseburgers as they prepare to take a CTA bus to a Salvation Army shelter in Chicago. Another bus left Texas for Chicago on Thursday, according to Gov. Greg Abbott. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
“New York City is leading the nation in responding to this national humanitarian crisis, providing compassion, care, shelter and critical care for the more than 170,700 migrants who have been in our care since spring 2022,” Fowler said in a statement. We have been providing services.” “Thanks to the around-the-clock work of city staff, we are able to provide every family with children with a bed to sleep in while working to reduce costs and move people out of shelters and stabilize their lives.” We have ensured we have a roof over our heads, and this contract allows us to negotiate competitive rates as the city continues to respond to this unprecedented crisis.”
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Fowler said the agreement formalizes an ongoing effort between HPD and the New York State Hotel Association since July 2023 to provide shelter for asylum seekers as part of the city’s response to the immigration crisis. He added that it has become a thing.
