'Nobody's willing to give them a second chance,' Rockford woman reflects on annual homeless count
The homeless count is part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development`s (HUD) Annual Point in Time (PIT) Count of the Homeless.
Ebony Teamer has worked for the Jubilee Center for three years as a case advocate. Two years ago, Teamer participated in the annual count, and said the experience was eye-opening.
'We walked down the rocks of the side of a bridge, and it was a ledge that someone had got a mattress on,' Teamer said. 'It was a hiding spot, somewhere people wouldn't normally think of. We have to go to these parts. This is where someone's sleeping. This was the only way that they can get warm or go to sleep and feel safe.'
City of Rockford Health and Human Services staff, the Northern Illinois Homeless Coalition, Park District Police, Rockford Police Department and Rockford Fire Department also participated in the count.
The city's Health and Human Services Homeless Program Manager Angie Walker said no one should be unhoused.
'We want to make sure that regardless of what populations they are, they can get the help that they need,' Walker said, 'even if they do have addiction issues or mental health issues or physical disabilities. They can still be housed.'
Teamer said a common misconception is that most of the homeless are poor, addicts or mentally unstable. She said in reality, most people that she sees are struggling to meet the needs of the landlords.
'The landlords sometimes ask for three times the rent,' Teamer said. 'They also could be held for things they may have done wrong years ago. Nobody's willing to give them a second chance.'
Both Walker and Teamer are determined to continue providing resources and collecting data to ensure the numbers go down.
'Not only are we going out to count these people in, but we're also going to find these places and we're going out giving supplies if we have them,' Teamer said. 'I need to be the one that's going out here looking for an actual place that they can go and rest their heads.'
The homeless count will continue through Tuesday afternoon.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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