The Night Ministry

Our Challenge the Gap program was created to find and support progressive, non-proselytizing religious charities whose work reflects shared values with the humanist community. The Night Ministry is a Chicago-based nonprofit initiated by a collective of 18 congregations (a spectrum of Christian and Jewish groups) to provide, through a variety of programs, housing, health care, and human connection to the homeless, with a particular emphasis on disenfranchised youth. They operate the only shelter in Chicago that will work with pregnant or parenting teens as young as 14 and also have programs aimed at transitioning teens from homelessness to long-term independent living within two years. Among their outreach services, The Night Ministry operates a Health Outreach Bus that works in six neighborhoods, four nights per week. The Health Outreach Bus “offers medical exams, treatment and HIV testing as well as coffee, conversation and a sense of community.” Their Youth Outreach team operates two nights per week in one neighborhood to offer support, food, and self-care supplies to homeless and LGBT youth.