On June 26, 2018 youth service providers, funders, City of Chicago officials, community stakeholders and young people gathered to celebrate the impact of the Chicago Youth Storage Initiative (CYSI).
Pierce Family Foundation was a founding partner in CYSI, along with Knight Family Foundation, Polk Bros. Foundation and Tracy Baim of Windy City Times. CYSI was created to address a top need identified by youth experiencing homelessness—the storage of personal belongings. There were limited spaces in youth housing programs in Chicago, and for youth not in those programs, safely storing their belongings while they were at school or work was a significant concern.
In three years, CYSI funded the purchase of 755 storage units across 22 program sites and provided over 12,000 nights of secure storage to over 1,000 unique program participants. In addition to providing secure storage, CYSI piloted virtual storage programs and laundry at grantee sites across Chicago including schools, shelters, and youth program spaces. Learn more about CYSI’s history, impact, and next chapter in CYSI’s final report.
While Chicago Youth Storage Initiative has officially come to a close, the legacy continues with the LYTE Collective, which will house over 200 units of diverse storage at their LYTE Lounge, including secure phone charging, mail and document storage, scanning and virtual storage, daily, and long-term storage. The LYTE team has also committed to serve as a resource to organizations interested in creating their own storage sites.
It is our hope that the work of CYSI will incite enthusiasm and action from other organizations and communities to create and fund innovative interventions to youth homelessness.
