Many residents say that resources to find housing and work are not accessible in their communities as they transition into adulthood.
By Alonso Vidal and Amaris Edwards
Osiel Gomez, a 24-year-old Pilsen resident. (Alonso Vidal/for City Bureau).
What should be an exciting stage of life — starting adulthood — can often be difficult for young people seeking independence.
City Bureau Civic Reporting fellows spoke with residents in Little Village and the Illinois Medical District about the resources available in their communities to help young adults (ages 18-25) find housing and jobs.
While some were aware of resources that could help them gain economic and housing independence, many said these tools are not easily accessible in their communities. They often rely on word-of-mouth support from neighbors and family to find housing and work.
Rising housing costs also have made it harder for young people to move out of their family homes, residents told us.
Property taxes in Pilsen have skyrocketed in recent years, while Little Village residents have organized to protest potential gentrification creeping into the area. A 23-year-old Pilsen resident said that his family nearly lost their home due to financial challenges. Similarly, a 25-year-old from Little Village said he and his family are experiencing homelessness after they lost their home.
Many residents said they wanted to find long-term work locally, funding to maintain and renovate housing, as well as guides and resources on how to transition into young adulthood.
These interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity.
Neighbors and organizers march in La Villita Park in February to protest President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. (Alonso Vidal/for City Bureau).
La Villita Park
Nine years ago, neighborhood activists in Little Village joined forces to turn a Superfund industrial area into a lively community space: La Villita Park. On Feb. 8, neighbors gathered at La Villita Park to protest President Donald Trump’s administration policies targeting undocumented immigrants. The park’s skateboarding area saw hundreds chanting and waving banners advocating for immigrant rights before departing for the “Day of Love and Resistance” rally through 26th Street.
Stephanie Herrera, a 27-year-old arts entrepreneur, is the founder of the Pilsen-based Ruidosa Collective. She wants to change her current job situation due to the lack of funding for the arts.
What kind of housing is available for young people like you in your neighborhood?
Housing is super expensive. It's really a crisis to live paycheck to paycheck. I’ve found apartments online, but those are the most expensive.
What support exists for young adults in your community to find housing or work?
I know there's a lot in Pilsen. I don't remember the name, but they've done a good job with housing and affordable apartments. Some of them provide assisted living, like half of the rent, or they'll find really cheap housing.
I would also say my book club, which mostly serves as a community organization and support – a home away from home. We like to provide all the youth with somewhere to go because, sometimes, having a notion of a home is difficult, especially through all the political and economic uncertainty. Having a place where your soul and your spirit can find a home amongst the community is what we really strive for.
Stephanie Herrera, a 27-year-old arts entrepreneur. (Alonso Vidal/for City Bureau)
How do young people find housing in your neighborhood?
I would say we probably tend to stay more online. We don't know that there are other ways.
I’ve lived in communities of immigrants, on la lavanderia – the laundry room – they'll have announcements on a piece of paper. Usually, those are the most affordable ones.
I know personally that if I didn't come from an immigrant background, I would have only stayed online because that's what America suggests, and that's what all my peers are doing.
What is your current employment situation? How do you want that to change, if at all?
I'm an entrepreneur. I've started a bunch of creative endeavors and collectives. [But ] I would like that to change because there's not a lot of funding for the arts. It's been difficult to fund my projects from community outreach and at the same time, be able to survive, and pay my basic bills.
What housing and work resources do you wish were out there?
More accessibility – only certain groups know about resources. I think helping each other and the young people put forward the resources and doing the work is really important.
I hope to see more grants put into the arts in Latino communities because we're all counting on it. We're depending on it. There's a lot of good work that happens in the Latino communities that don't get to be seen because of all of the other bulls**t that covers it.
Nayeli Jimenez, 23, lives in Little Village with her parents after finishing her master’s degree. She said that financial and accessibility barriers make it challenging for young people trying to find independent housing in her neighborhood.
What kind of housing is available for young people in your neighborhood?
I think the housing that's available for us is mostly living with our parents. I think just culturally, that's what we've been adjusted to or accustomed to. I believe that most of us are trying to find our own way sometimes, but it's kind of difficult in certain situations.
Are you happy with your job situation, and would you like to change it?
I’m currently in the process of obtaining a job, so I am unemployed since I just graduated [with] my master's [degree]. It is a bit difficult to obtain a job based on the retirements.
what community organizations or resources do you know of that support young adults?
There's One Summer Chicago that functions during the summer and helps students or young people. Also, UCAN help students or youth obtain jobs. I believe there is an abundance of organizations that can assist youth with this. The difficult part is that not a lot of people know about it.
How did you find this information?
I have found it through social media or just by networking with other people who've already been in those internships.
Gerardo Reyes Baizan, 25, lives in Little Village and wants to start a cleaning company and go to mechanic school. He emphasized the importance of financial literacy in young adults after his family lost their house after property prices skyrocketed in his community.
What kind of housing is available for young people like you in your neighborhood?
All my family is homeless. So, we've been saving up for our home.
What is your current employment situation? How do you want to change it, if at all?
I haven't found work, so usually what I do is clean or do mechanic work. So I might go back to school for mechanic work. I want to start an organization.I want to find out how to do that, but I guess no one wants to tell you how to do it.
What support networks are in your neighborhood that provide housing or work resources for young adults?
One that I know is Central States SER – It helps you look for work. (Editor’s note: The Illinois non-profit, with a center in Little Village, offers education and employment support to support low-income young people and adults.)
Because I'm homeless, I go to public aid to get my Link card. That's where they help you with your EBT card, and to get my healthcare.
Gerardo Reyes Baizan, 25, of Little Village. (Alonso Vidal/for City Bureau).
What type of work and housing resources would you like to see in your community?
A homeless shelter because I see a lot of homeless people in the street. A community center for Little Village where people can go 24/7 and be warm, or under air conditioning.
Teaching the youth about their rights and how to do basic stuff like change the car oil or change a spare tire. Learning all the pros and the cons of using weapons, I guess about our Second Amendment.
–
My mom used to sell flowers over some club right here, but they closed down. She never saved up the money to buy her house. That's the reason we're here because we didn't save up our money, and we didn't learn to invest our money into a home. As humans, we gotta learn how to save our money and not to be spending it on stuff that we don't need.
I would like a fund in our low-income neighborhood to go to people as soon as a kid is born. That they get money into an account or like a stock account so when they're older they can see their money growing, and they all see how this is working. Why don't we keep saving money and putting money into our savings account so when we're older, you have money to survive and not be wandering the street.
Osiel Gomez, a 24-year-old Pilsen resident, goes to school full-time and ives in his parent’s home, which they almost lost due to rising property taxes. Gomez said that the same financial challenges make it a struggle for young people to find housing in his neighborhood.
What housing options are available for people your age looking for a place of their own?
[Pilsen] property tax has gone up. Even if you could barely rent a place, imagine buying a house, then repairing it, and all that – It's definitely a struggle.
Right now we own a house. My parents definitely worked hard to earn that house. There was a time when property tax skyrocketed, and we almost lost the house, but [my family] definitely worked hard to get that back.
What support networks, community organizations or resources are available for young people seeking work?
It's all just networking. What I do is just talk to friends and see if anyone's hiring. I worked in a restaurant for four years because of a friend. At this point, it doesn't really matter what the job is as long as you find a job.
I know a lot of people who don't know any resources that can help them find a job. The easy answer is always to go online and try to find anything, but everything requires a resume. So it's hard for people who are barely starting out to get a job—people who just finished high school or are just trying to support their family.
Ely Guzmam, 35, is a single mother who has lived in Pilsen for many years. As a long-time resident, she has witnessed firsthand how gentrification has impacted housing in her community.
What kind of housing is available for people like you in your neighborhood?
I kind of feel weird about that question, just because I do live in the Pilsen neighborhood, and right now we are going through gentrification….it’s all really old housing and apartments, and I feel like the city really has done nothing to support people who own homes in the community, to be able to renovate their homes and provide that funding for them so that we have better housing.
A lot of homes that are in my community, they look like regular, single-family homes, but they are really not. They are two-, three-apartment homes, and a lot of times they do end up having a back building with several apartments. So there is a lot of people, multi-generational families living in those really old school homes that need to be revamped and renovated.
What differences are there between young people find housing and jobs versus older generations?
With this economy, it’s way harder. I remember when I was a kid, my dad migrated here and he was able to support a five-person home with his job. We were able to live in a three-bedroom apartment and it was fine. Me being a single mom, it is a struggle having to pay $1,200-$,1500 for a one-bedroom apartment. You can’t support yourself, it’s harder.
What supportive networks exist for young adults in your community?
Our community does support itself. I don't really believe that the city put enough funding to help us. We do have the Resurrection Project that does kind of work with the city, but I feel like they are the ones who try to reach out to people in the community to help them look for jobs, for funding to go to college and things of that sort.
What is your current employment situation and how do you want that to change if at all?
I am in an industry that I’ve been wanting to work in since I was 21. I do work in the cannabis industry and I feel that it is an industry that has been largely marginalized. The drug war, it was all about racism, and our people [felt] the foot of the bill from that one. We should get more help in the cannabis industry to help our people in the industry, because we were most impacted by the war on drugs.
Ariana Vega, 19 is a college student from Pilsen.
What differences are there between how young people find housing and jobs versus older generations?
I think it can be a bit overwhelming. The city is so huge that there’s so many students coming in inexperienced with living on their own. [Questions like] where am I supposed to live? How am I supposed to afford this by myself?
What type of supportive networks exist for young adults in your community?
I think [the city] should definitely create some type of support groups students can seek out when transitioning from living with their parents or family to living on their own in the city. Also, resources for them to be financially stable enough to [live on their own].
Jewel-Osco, Illinois Medical District
A bustling environment of eager patrons fills the grocery-anchored shopping center on Ashland and Roosevelt, located in the Illinois Medical District. A Chicago investment firm, Kite Realty Group, closed a deal in May 2024 of $30.6 million investment, for a Jewel-Osco- anchored shopping center in the Near Westside community. The shopping center includes other businesses such as a beauty supply, Dunkin’ Donuts, Rainbow Shops, Bank of America, Subway and a nail salon.
Keisha Brown is a full-time security officer attending school to obtain her bachelor’s degree. Brown has a 16-year-old son, and they live in low-income apartments on the Near West Side.
What supportive networks exist for young adults in your community?
We have case managers that help us with jobs. But it is not jobs to get them prepared for the real world. It’s jobs that give them stipends but get their feet wet at the same time.
What supportive networks do you want to exist for young adults in your community?
I have a 16-year-old, so anything that would show them the way of how it works: What it’s like to be independent, what it’s like to get their own income, what it’s like to budget, and things like that.
I’m not just saying [in] our neighborhood, but in our community…when you're seeking outside of your community it’s harder to sustain and to get things versus when you have the right type of setup in your community, you get more advantage of that being a minority, living in a minority neighborhood.
What is your current employment situation and how do you want that to change if at all?
I’m looking for basically an upgrade. I’m a full-time security officer, and I have my associate’s [degree] already. I’m currently in school right now to obtain my bachelor’s, so it’s more out there, and that’s what I’m trying to let my son see.
You see your mama single and independent. You see me getting up, going to work every day. You see me trying to do better for myself so y’all can have a better life.
Support City Bureau’s Civic Reporting fellowship by becoming a recurring donor.
Check back in April and May to see more of our fellows’ work on young adults, housing and jobs.