I learned about the passing of Father Behrens two days ago, and today, the official email notification arrived in my inbox.
| April 20, 2024 Dear Henrietta, It is with a heavy heart that we share the news of the passing of Rev. Tom Behrens, the Founding President & Former CEO of The Night Ministry. Tom’s vision, dedication, and unwavering commitment to serving our community’s most vulnerable members left an indelible mark on our organization and the city of Chicago.As we mourn the loss of Tom and keep his family and loved ones in our thoughts, we also celebrate his remarkable legacy. Tom’s passion for helping others, particularly our unhoused and marginalized neighbors, inspired all who knew him. As the organization’s first employee, he laid the foundation of compassionate service that still anchors The Night Ministry today. And as our Founding President & Former CEO, Tom provided visionary leadership for decades that deepened and widened our impact in Chicago.In 1976, a coalition of diverse congregations hired Tom to perform outreach to individuals on the streets of Chicago at night in response to loneliness, poverty, and homelessness in the community. As Tom told the Chicago Sun-Times the following year, it was his job “to be present to them, to be available, to listen.”As Tom pioneered street outreach in Chicago by holding office hours from the trunk of his car and visiting bars and all-night diners, the encounters he had raised his awareness of gaps in the availability of services to Chicago’s unhoused population, specifically in the areas of shelter for youth and health care. And as his awareness grew, he took action.In the late 1980s, Tom played a key role in successfully advocating for the passage of new state legislation allowing nonprofits to operate group shelters for unhoused youth, which had been prohibited in Illinois. As a result, the landscape of youth services in the state changed dramatically as opportunities became available for unhoused, runaway, and at-risk youth to access safe shelter. The Night Ministry launched its first youth shelter, with 16 beds, a few years after the legislation was enacted. Today, across several Youth Programs, we provide shelter, supportive services, and critical resources to hundreds of young people and their children each year.Tom also oversaw the launch of The Night Ministry’s Outreach & Health Ministry Program in the early 1990s, when the organization outfitted a recreational vehicle to offer mobile healthcare services to individuals who struggled to access more traditional means of care, such as clinics or physicians’ offices. Initially focused on Chicago’s North Side, today our Health Outreach Program brings free medical care, case management, and resources like food and clothing to neighborhoods across the city and even to public transit, serving thousands of people each year.Tom’s tireless efforts transformed countless lives and set the standard for compassion and advocacy in The Night Ministry’s work. His spirit will continue to guide us as we carry forward his mission of providing human connection, housing support, and health care to those who are unhoused or experiencing poverty. In gratitude, |
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| Carol J. Sharp, MPA President & CEOMichael V. Borromeo Chair, Board of Directors |
I was extremely privileged to know Father Behrens in person. Moreover, when many years ago, my friend from Russia, who worked for a similar organization in Sain-Petersburg, “The Night Bus,” asked for guidance and emotional support; Father Behrence wrote a long letter to her. I just found it!
Questions from Russia about working with homeless people
November 2010
Here are some of the questions you asked:
1. Many of the people in Russia think very negatively about their work (working with homeless people). How do you deal with such negatively?
a. Many people in the USA think negatively as well. However, people who like to help out homeless people and help them to get situated better, can help them. Who are the homeless people?
i. Some homeless people have families
ii. Some homeless people lost jobs, got kicked out of their homes due to foreclosure
iii. Some are teenagers living alone and homeless
iv. Some are adults on their own
v. Some are homeless because of drinking problems
vi. Some are homeless because of drug abuse
vii. Some are homeless because of mental illness and not taking care of themselves. Some don’t take their medicine for the mental illness
viii. Some are homeless do to the death of an important person in their lives: spouse, parent, children, etc.
ix. Some are homeless to abuse, like sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, etc.
x. Many other issues (homeless because of sexual identity)
b. Some of the wonderful people who have helped others in many ways over history:
i. Benjamin Franklin was homeless as a teenager. He was indentured (made to serve as a “slave” for awhile by his older brother and father. Benjamin moved from Boston to Philadelphia. Later he helped form the U.S. and signed the U.S. Declaration of Independence in the late 1700’s.
ii. Many current politicians and stars were homeless at some point.
iii. We could go on and on about people who were homeless and where they helped to build careers for themselves and the community.
c. What is your own goals for helping people who are homeless? If you feel it is important, then you have to forget about other people who are against helping homeless people.
2. Are there data on the social info regarding homeless people in Chicago; do they have families; ever carry permanent jobs, etc.
a. We have worked mostly with homeless teenagers. In Chicago there is an excess of 10,000 teens living on their own over the course of one year. In the State of Illinois, there are over 25,000 teenagers over the course of one year. Some teens have children, which may be why they have become homeless. Some of the teens are homeless because their families kicked them out for being homosexuals. For teenagers, alcohol abuse is NOT a reason for them to being homeless. However, for adults who are homeless, alcohol abuse may be the cause for about 1/3 of the population who are homeless. About 1/3 are homeless because of mental illness. Many of these people do not take their medicine to maintain a stable personality. Many homeless people are homeless because of physical abuse by a husband or old boyfriend and they have been kicked out. Some are hiding from physical abuse. There are many reasons why people become homeless.
b. Many homeless people have held permanent jobs before they became homeless. Many can go back to a job when they figure out their own paths.
3. Do you ever meet people who claim they are “homeless by choice?” Eugenie (the person asking these questions from Russia) often meets people who are saying that they prefer to be homeless, and “free from any obligations.”
a. For homeless teenagers, who have experienced sexual and physical abuse at home, they find it dangerous to be there. Therefore, these teens find it safer to live on the streets. However, these teenagers would like to have their own place to live. Some adults like living on the streets if there are services, such as shelter, food, and the like. This is often the case with people who have alcohol and drug problems. However, many adults who come to shelters and to counselors, want to have permanent housing and want to have the jobs (however, they just can’t seem to find either).
4. Male and female homeless are heavy drinkers or alcoholics. In the majority of cases their drinking problem is the reason they have ended up on the streets. Are there ways for them to return to normal life?
a. You can see on item 2.a. above some of the adult related homeless who are drinkers (sometimes as a way to treat mental illness). Often, in the U.S.A., heavy drinking can be stopped through programs. Some go the Alcohol Anonymous meetings which are usually free, or to programs to stop the use of alcohol. There is a lot of literature in the U.S. about drinking problems. A heavy drinker can return to a normal life if they stop drinking. Some shelters won’t allow drinkers into the programs to sleep at night. Others do. There is lot of info on this.
5. Often, emergency workers don’t really help the homeless persons. Sometime paramedics would refuse to deal with homeless people with medical emergencies.
a. Certainly some emergency workers have issues with homeless. But most cities have social service agencies (NGO’s) trying to do something to help the homeless. Emergency workers and paramedics are supposed to deal with emergencies of homeless people. Some police don’t like having homeless people in their areas and kick them out to other neighborhoods. Our outreach workers are on the streets working with homeless people to get them the services they need.
6. How do you organize funding for the work with homeless people?
a. The City of Chicago, with some support from the State of Illinois and U.S. Federal government provide some money for non-profits to provide shelter, medical care and case management to help homeless people become stable and live normal lives. There are more social service agencies serving homeless adults than those serving homeless teenagers.
b. Some private foundations give money to social service organizations (NGO’s) to help serve homeless people survive and help get them into permanent and secure housing.
c. Churches, community groups, companies, often give money to NGO’s to solve problems of homeless people.
d. We send letters asking people to help save homeless teenagers. There is a practice to doing this in the best possible way. Again, the NGO must understand its mission, tell its story, and the results of what they do. To do this the right way is important.
7. Why did you choose to help homeless people among other causes?
a. When The Night Ministry was established, we did not know what the exact issues would be. We started out with one staff person (Tom Behrens) visiting mostly bars and nighttime restaurants. We had no message to deliver to folks at night (particularly in the bars). We were there to meet their needs. After many years, we discovered that there were issues we could focus on. We discovered homeless teenagers with no shelter (ie, no place to go), while there were some shelters for homeless adults. So we got more involved with homeless teenagers. We added two staff to look out for the needs of homeless teenagers. In discovering them and the lack of services, we decided to provide shelter for homeless teenagers. Many people outside of our organization had never realized that a need existed amongst homeless teenagers. So, we educated people about them. We first started with foster homes in 1987. We opened our first shelter program in 1992 and 2nd and 3rd shelter programs in 2006. We developed other programming around street outreach for homeless youth.
In 1989 we bought a bus to do health care at night. This program mainly reaches adults. This bus goes out on six nights a week to six neighborhoods. A nurse practitioner is on the Bus each program night. We do rapid HIV-testing from the Bus. The Night Ministry has a niche with the services we provide, which is how we are able to get the amount of volunteers that we do, as well as the funding. It has taken a lot of energy and passion, and we have grown to 100 staff people.
8. What would you say to people who are saying that by helping the homeless you are just spoiling them and discourage them from trying to fix their lives by themselves?
a. Some years ago, a State of Illinois Director asked homeless teens who lived in our shelters if they were just trying to run away from home/their parents by coming to our shelters. The teens answered “no”. They have more rules and chores in our shelters. While it is much harder from them at the shelters, they do like the shelters and the services that the shelters provide. They work harder as homeless people. If you take a close look, homeless people get food, shelter for the day, use of bathrooms, showers, and the like…they spend most of their time surviving on a daily basis. While some sit, or read, or whatever, they still have lots of concerns for the day. Those who are serious want to find a job, a living situation, a better life for themselves. For many, this is very important. Yes, some don’t want to get away from homelessness, but most would rather have what everyone else has — a better life.
These are important issues you have raised. We have just barely talked about these in this discussion. It often takes many discussions to sort through the issues and concerns. We wish we could talk more. Ask more questions, which would be fine. There is literature on some of these issues, such as alcohol issues, fundraising, structure of the organization to help it grow, and the like. If this is your desire or passion, please continue to develop and grow your NGO.
My name is Tom Behrens. I started The Night Ministry in 1976.
Hettie's Reflections 