StreetLight Chicago: Book-a-Bed option expands as free mobile app for youth completes 2nd year

StreetLight Chicago, a free mobile app of resources for homeless youth, launched two years ago this week – 2,327 people have downloaded the app since then!

Check out the app’s expanded Book-a-Bed feature: Youth can reserve a bed at overnight youth shelters. Eight beds are available at The Crib on Chicago’s North Side and three beds at Ujima Village on the city’s South Side.

Over 700 people use the app or its desktop version every week.

Kudos to our app partner, The Young Invincibles, and to the VNA Foundation for its pivotal support.

StreetLight Chicago is a joint project of the Young Invincibles and the Youth Futures legal aid clinic at the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, with generous support from the VNA Foundation.

StreetLight Chicago offers a database of resources for homeless and unaccompanied youth, ages 16 through 24. The app provides youth with a centralized list of drop-in centers, shelters, health clinics, food pantries and services, including Youth Futures. Occasional push notifications are issued when bad weather or program-change alerts are needed.

A desktop version – at www.streetlightchicago.org – was released in August 2017. It mirrors the app’s resource information, with printable lists and improved navigation for users seeking directions. The website expands access to StreetLight resources for youth without cellphones and makes it easier for service providers to work with youth clients.

Service providers should send any updates for the app to streetlightchicago@gmail.com

– Anne Bowhay, Media