This is the 1st in a series of articles by Knight Center students who attended the 2026 annual convention of the Society of Environmental Journalists.
By Lillian Williams
Lillian Williams
Journalists gathered with street outreach workers during the Society of Environmental Journalism Conference in Chicago to discuss the increasingly severe effects of climate change on the homeless and how reporters can approach the topic with humanity and respect.
Street outreach workers generally focus on connecting homeless people with shelter, employment and other support that might help them, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness.
The panel was moderated by freelance journalist Erin Rhode, who advised listeners to be aware that interviews could take away from people’s ability to meet their basic needs.
“In some cities that I’ve worked in in Southern California, you have to be lined up by 3 p.m. if you want a shelter bed that night,” Rhode said.
Ali Simmons is a street outreach worker with the Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness. He started the discussion by detailing his firsthand experience working with homeless people during extreme weather events.
“It was during a polar vortex. A person who was living on the street had real severe health issues and was trying to get out of that world,” Simmons said in reference to living on the street. “Each and every place where he went, because of this mental health condition, everyone kicked him out and he had nowhere to go but the cold.”
Simmons advised that reporters can effectively report on homelessness by writing about why someone is living in the streets and remains in the streets. Continue reading
