red tape, n. The collection or sequence of procedures required to gain bureaucratic approval for something, esp. when oppressively complex and time-consuming.

This is the tenth in a series of excerpts from my oral history, Of No Fixed Address: A Collection of Voices from the Streets of Chicago....

I used to see guys who were on the street and homeless, and I just never, you know, fathomed that it could be me one day. I just never pictured it. And I just didn't prepare myself. And it happened.

--Alonzo, panhandling outside CVS in Lincoln Park

This...

I could tell you things that would make your hair stand on end. I could tell you stories that are--they're not even fit to print. They're so horrendous. They're so dreadful. They're so awful. They're so terrifying and terroristic that you couldn't even print things like this. That's how bad...

Crack is one of the, I think, one of the worst drugs of all. 'Cause it makes you do anything to get that high. I can take ten dollars and go to the store, get me a pack of cigarettes, six pack, and a half pint. I'm cool for the...

Homeless is not no joke. You think it's funny you got nowhere to go when it gets dark? And it's cold? The snakes come out at night. There's snakes out there. They will take your hat, they take your shoes. They will beat you, they get your shoes, they take...

The Bible says, "A man don't work, don't eat." And God doesn't lie, you know. His word is true, will always be true. So that's true, you know? If you don't try to go out and sew good seeds, plant good seeds, what's gonna come up? You can't take anything...

There's a lot of homeless women out here that are pregnant, they gonna have babies. So if they have babies, that means that's another addition to people that are gonna be illiterate. Okay? And if there's nobody speakin' up for 'em, then nothin's ever gonna be done about it.

--Macey

They won't even let us use the bathrooms, half these places. If we don't buy nothin'--even thought I'm a Vietnam vet--they tell me I can't use the bathroom. I fought the war for them, got shot four times, and I can't use a bathroom?

--"Downtown Dave"

This is the third...

A lot of these people don't wanna be homeless. You know, they want a place of they own. They wanna get they lives back together. But nobody's comin' out to help 'em. Nobody's sayin', "Well, what can I do? What can we do?"

--Toni

This is the second in a...

See, homelessness isn't too much different from, like, family or any, you know, friendships--any other personal relationships. You're going to have to deal with a wide variety of characters.

--Mark Antony

This is the first in a series of excerpts from my book, Of No Fixed Address: A Collection of...

Based on a 40-hour workweek, to afford an apartment in Chicago you need to make:

In Illinois, the minimum wage is $7.50 an hour.

--National Low Income Housing Coalition