Even on Chicago winter days accompanied with a wind chill of negative 30 degrees, Northwestern Streetside Health works to protect the health of the homeless population. 

The organization launched back in winter with a mission to help homeless individuals in the Chicagoland area.

The group was founded by Bienen senior Christopher Axline and Weinberg senior Lauren Wang after they realized a need in support of the homeless population in Evanston and Chicago.

“I thought we could really make a good, tangible impact on our community, and so I agreed to be co-founder with her, and from there, we just kind of dug our heels in and hit the ground running,” Axline said. 

The Streetside Health team is small, but they work together to ensure the work is completed, Axline said. 

All of the items the organization passes out at their events are donated. They receive hygiene products, clothing, food and beverages to hand out to the homeless.

The first project the group did this spring was packing hygiene kits and partnering with ShowerUp Chicago to create shower pop-ups for the community. 

Medill sophomore and Member Development and Communication Chair Supriya Akella said she is focused on inviting new members to grow the organization. 

“Anyone who wants to be there (is welcomed). The more help we have, the faster it goes and the more kits we can pack,” Akella said.

Publication Chair and Weinberg senior Jules Johnson said that after packing, Streetside Health distributed the hygiene kits for free at showering events with ShowerUp. The nonprofit uses shower trailers they can transport through the city to provide homeless individuals with a free shower.

“We had a few clubs on campus that were directed towards awareness for homeless people in the area, but Streetside Health is the only club that actively works with the homeless population,” Johnson said. 

During winter, Axline said a part of helping the community is making sure they are warm. When it was too cold for showers one day, negative 30 degrees with windchill, they focused on passing out warm clothing, beverages and food, he said. 

Streetside has been able to work with ShowerUp and there were Evanston-based events back in spring. The events will start again next month, Johnson said.

“We are trying to, through every one of our events, make sure that we’re actually trying to achieve our goals of having a positive impact on the unhoused in Evanston and Chicago,” Axline said.

For some events, Streetside Health packs up materials and walks around Evanston and Chicago offering the donations and shower kits to anyone in need, Axline said. 

In the future, Axline said that the main goal is for the organization to continue to grow after his graduation date while continuing to pursue the mission of helping the homeless population with general health. 

“We are always trying to grow not only our membership, but also what we do,” Axline said. 

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