As the influx of Central American asylum-seekers in the Chicago area grows, Evanston has offered limited housing and funds to incoming migrants, instead directing them to a South Loop intake center. Evanston/Skokie School District 65 has consistently offered help for migrant students and their families, according to Evanston resident Kristin Huzar, who housed a family.
After living on the floors of police stations and warming centers, an asylum-seeking Venezuelan family of four arrived at the home of Evanston resident Kristin Huzar in early 2023. She planned to house them for a few days while they found their bearings. They ended up staying with her for nine months. Huzar, with the.
Kristin Huzar recently became a host for a family of immigrants from Venezuela. She said she’s happy to house them as long as she can. But the overarching support system for refugees from Venezuela in the Chicago area is simply insufficient, Huzar said. “We don’t have the interest. We don’t have the infrastructure for this,”.
Community groups and volunteers are stepping up to assist and sometimes take into their homes new immigrants seeking refuge around the Chicago area as shelters fill up and temporary housing spaces, including shuttered schools, spark controversy.