In the brutal cold, Night Ministry brings warmth to West Siders at outdoor encampments: 'They're like family'

For workers with the Night Ministry street medicine team and many of the homeless Chicagoans they serve, the warmth of their human connection made it worth braving the bitter subzero temperatures to provide material and emotional support Saturday.

"Honestly, they're like family right now," said Dominic Elizondo, a 49-year-old man living in an encampment at Flournoy Street and Kildare Avenue in West Garfield Park. "It not only helps with the physical [needs] but also the mental and emotional.

"This group of people, they touch on everything," Elizondo added.

After one of Chicago's coldest nights this season, when the overnight wind chills were between minus-15 and minus-30, two Night Ministry employees and a volunteer spent hours driving around several West Side encampments they visit weekly, handing out hot cocoa, gloves, coats, sandwiches and scarves, in addition to badly needed medical care.

At one stop, Derek Ma, clinical supervisor with the nonprofit's medical outreach branch, treated a wound on a man's hand.

Ma said the Night Ministry "provides an alternative option for unhoused clients who have had bad experiences with health care."

"We carry different antibiotics, cold [and] flu medications and we help kind of build that trust back up," said Ma, 34. "And, hopefully, when we continue that relationship, we can hopefully get them back into a clinic somewhere."

One of the "foundational pillars" of the Night Ministry is the human connection formed with homeless community members.

"We can't really provide any care without that trust," Ma said. "It's really neat to meet folks and kind of learn what their story is."

Sean Johnson, another member of the encampment community on Flournoy and Kildare, emphasized the group's positive impact on the neighborhood where he has spent his entire life.

"A lot of people look forward to them coming around because they know it just ain't judgment with them," said Johnson, 43. "Without them, a lot of people suffer" more.

Volunteer Ali Noe used to drive by encampments on her way to work and decided to join the Night Ministry after seeing them providing aid.

"It's a community effort and anybody can help out," Noe, 33, said. "If people want to get involved and help out in some way, they should look into places that are already doing good and help contribute because there's a lot of great efforts already that need support."

One encampment member, a 32-year-old woman who only wanted to be identified by her nickname, "Babe," shed tears of joy as she described how important the Night Ministry members have been to her.

"When I need a shoulder to lean on and a hug, they come through," she said. "I don't share my business with nobody else, but I share my business with them because I believe in them and I love them so much."

The street medicine team is one of several programs that provide assistance to those in need Monday through Saturday, according to David Dodd, the Night Ministry's director of marketing and communications.

"They just have this wonderful way of bonding and connecting and speaking with them and making them feel seen," Dodd said. "They're often feeling invisible to the world, and with our services and with our team, we make them understand that they really matter.

"Sometimes asking how your day is goes even further than the items we're giving them," Dodd added.

Johnson urged anyone needing assistance to "not be afraid to ask for help."

The Night Ministry team "don't have to come out in the cold and do this, but they do it because they want to show — 'We love you as much as you love yourself,'" Johnson said. "They'll make you feel like you're somebody instead of nobody."