Helping the unhoused 'a matter of life and death,' Johnson says during Bring Chicago Home push

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Mayor Brandon Johnson campaigned for the Bring Chicago Home ballot measure during a tour of Jesse Brown VA Medical Center on Thursday, a day after an appellate court ruled votes would be counted in the referendum.

“I’m encouraging everyone to get out and vote because addressing homelessness, a humanitarian crisis in the city of Chicago, is a matter of life and death,” Johnson said during a tour detailing the services the hospital provides homeless veterans. “But most importantly, it’s a matter of making sure that people have dignity and that they find their purpose.”

If passed, Bring Chicago Home would increase the tax on high-end real estate transactions to generate an estimated $100 million annually for homeless services, according to the city. Properties valued above $1 million would be taxed at a higher rate, and properties valued below that amount would see a tax cut.

The referendum has faced legal challenges from the real estate industry ahead of the March 19 primary election. The appellate court ruled Wednesday that election officials should continue counting votes on the measure, reversing a circuit court judge’s decision.

Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

Johnson visited with social workers and health care providers at Jesse Brown who help connect veterans to Department of Veterans Affairs services including housing opportunities, primary medical care, assistance for interpersonal violence victims and reentry programs after incarceration.

Regina Freeman, deputy chief of the medical center’s social work program, said Jesse Brown is a “one-stop shop” of resources for veterans who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. Those services come from community groups and federal, state and local government programs.

Nicole Bowden, a veteran who was previously homeless, said VA services got her back on her feet.

After retiring from the military and returning to Chicago, Bowden struggled with homelessness. But a visit to a VA clinic in Auburn-Gresham “changed the trajectory of my entire life,” Bowden said.

Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

She was diagnosed and treated for post-traumatic stress disorder and bipolar disorder, and she was able to get stable housing. She joined support groups. She went back to school and earned a bachelor’s degree from Chicago State University.

“I had gotten lost somewhere, and I had to get me back,” Bowden said. “Getting stable housing meant I was able to focus on my education, on my son.”

Bowden now works for the VA as a peer support specialist in the same housing office she once needed to use.

“I came back to Jesse Brown,” she said, “because I wanted to work with veterans to give them what was freely given to me.”