1,600 ‘Backpack Beds’ Planned For Chicago’s Homeless Under Nonprofit’s Fundraising Plan

LITTLE ITALY — An Australian nonprofit is fundraising to make good on its goal of distributing more than 1,600 portable “backpack beds” to Chicago’s unhoused population this winter.

Good Night Chicago, an initiative of the nonprofit Backpack Bed for Homeless, has set a $202,368 fundraising goal to provide 1,632 backpack beds, at a cost $124 each, to people who are homeless in Chicago. The campaign has raised more than $53,000 as of Monday.

The nonprofit’s campaign goal is informed by the annual Point-In-Time homeless population survey conducted by the city’s Department of Family and Social Services, which documented 1,634 people living unsheltered in 2024.

Backpack Bed for Homeless, founded by Australian entrepreneur and humanitarian Tony Clark, has provided more than 38,200 of its beds across the U.S., including in New York and Kansas City, according to its website…

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