The number of people experiencing homelessness in the United States on a single night was the highest ever recorded in 2024. The overall rate increased by 18%, and in Chicago, the number of unhoused people tripled from 2023 to 2024.
But homelessness among Black people is seeing an even higher uptick in Illinois, more than double the national average.
Those figures are part of a report by the University of Illinois Chicago in collaboration with the Illinois Office to Prevent and End Homelessness. The report showed a number of structural issues contributing to this disparity — a lack of affordable housing and sufficient income chief among them…