On cold nights between October and May, volunteers from dozens of Evanston faith communities staff an emergency overnight shelter. On any given night, a Baptist and a Jewish volunteer might be working together, or a Quaker and a Catholic volunteer. 

The shelter is run by Interfaith Action of Evanston, a coalition of 39 faith communities founded in 1970. In addition to operating the overnight shelter, IAE also does advocacy work related to affordable housing and food insecurity.

“It doesn’t matter which god you worship and how you worship,” Executive Director Sue Murphy said. “It’s how you care about people.”

Now, as the Trump administration enacts reform relating to social welfare programs, Murphy said her organization may face an influx in need for food and housing services. 

Thousands of Illinois households could lose benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program as soon as May following tightened work requirements under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The Trump administration has also proposed eliminating the Continuum of Care program, which funds local housing resources. IAE does not receive federal funding, however Murphy said the effects on organizations that do will “trickle down” to IAE.

“They’re able to provide less, and more people become homeless or hungry,” she said. “We have an increase in people who need to go to the soup kitchens.” 

The organization runs eleven soup kitchens, with at least one on every day of the week. It also distributes basic household goods like laundry detergent and toilet paper through the SNAPGap program at Vineyard Christian Church’s food pantry twice a month.

Amid the challenges posed by federal funding changes, Murphy said the organization’s role is to provide as much as they can — whether it is toothbrushes, razors or clothing. 

“People who are homeless don’t hear the word ‘yes’ very often, so we try to be the people who can say yes to them as much as possible,” she said.

That ethos, volunteers say, is what unites the coalition across differences in doctrine and denomination. 

Carol Wilson, a council member of Trinity Lutheran Church and longtime IAE board member, said the volunteer work has introduced her to people she never would have come to know in her everyday life. 

“When you volunteer for these things, you meet people you would never have met otherwise,” she said. “It really comes down to that core shared value and firm belief that everybody deserves to have a home.”

For board member Joyce Davidson, faith is an engine for the work she does with IAE. Because faith is a central part of the organization, it deepens the individual’s commitment, she said. 

“I give back to my God for all the blessings he has given me,” Davidson said. “My passion in life is to be of service.”

The organization’s structure, which brings people of different faiths into direct and sustained contact, makes it inhospitable to division, Davidson said. 

While the organization is not immune to challenges to this sense of unity, IAE Board Vice President Simon Anolick emphasized that outside political tensions do not interfere with the mission and purpose of the organization, which is to help the homeless and the hungry. 

“From a Jewish perspective, what we would call ‘tikkun olam’ — repairing the world — we all have this core belief that we need to make the world a better place,” Anolick, a Beth Emet congregation member, said. “Regardless of our faith, this is important work to be done.” 

Advocacy committee member Melissa Appelt said she was drawn to the work after helping a refugee family navigate finding housing. IAE organizing is less ideologically fraught than some may think, she said. 

“It’s a shared value among all these faith communities that you welcome the stranger, do justice, show kindness and walk humbly,” Appelt said. 

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