Northwest Side Man Gives Away Free Clothes To Migrants

Frank Schmeda has been setting out clothes, bottled water and snacks in front of his home, which is across the street from a government office asylum seekers visit for support services.

SAUGANASH — A Northwest Side neighbor has started clothing giveaways to help asylum seekers visiting a nearby governmental services office.

Frank Schmeda of Sauganash launched the donations last week, setting up a table in front of his home stacked with clothes, snacks and cold water with a sign reading “Gratis” so migrants are welcome to take whatever they needed.

Schmeda said he got the idea after realizing the people with backpacks and children in strollers gathering in the area were among the thousands of asylum seekers trying to settle into their new lives in Chicago. Schmeda’s home is across the street from an llinois Department of Human Services office.

The clothes are extras from a garage sale he hosted in May, Schmeda said. Several neighbors on the block “caught wind” of what was going on and have started to drop off their own clothing on his front lawn, he said.

“[I] put out a table, put the sign up there and by the time I turned around and got to like the garage, I just happen to look over my shoulder … and there was 10 people at this point there,” he said “So there’s a need, they’re looking you know for something and I just am lucky enough to be in a position where you know it really it’s fine. I don’t need these clothes.”

Around 60 people come through “at any given time throughout the course of the day,” Schmeda said.

“Not everybody takes something, but everybody stops,” he said. “A lot of the first things to go were basic necessities, shoes, shirts, clothes.”

Migrants from Central and South America have come to Chicago in large groups since Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and other Republican governors near the border started sending families to Democratic-led cities in protest of federal immigration laws.

Nearly 12,000 asylum seekers have arrived in Chicago since last summer. Many migrants arriving in Chicago on buses are from Venezuela, which has struggled with political upheaval and an economic crisis resulting in severe food and medicine shortages, surging inflation and rising unemployment and violent crime.

Carlota Quebedo, 57, is among them. She arrived in Chicago three months ago with her husband, daughter and two grandchildren, she said.

Quebedo has been staying at one of the city’s makeshift shelters on the Near North Side and said she did not know of any place to get donated clothes.

She said she was glad to grab collared shirts for her husband at Schmeda’s giveaway, though finding a job for her and her daughter has been difficult.

“We are trying find a job, do something. But we still don’t have a work permit, so we are going to have to wait. We are barely in the process,” Quebedo said in Spanish. “Little by little, we are trying to move forward. It’s hard at first when you arrive to any country because you don’t know anything and you slowly start to learn things.”

She said she has tried several times to get health insurance support from the state, but without much luck.

“A lot of people go there, and I’m starting to think we need to show up earlier so we can actually get it,” she said.

As the winter approaches, Schmeda said he plans to order packs of new socks and bring out more of his winter clothing.

“There could be some really ugly days. … Coming from a really nice and warm environment, you’re not going to be ready for that,” he said. “I got some more sweaters, things of that nature which are going to be needed.”

Despite the difficulties, Quebedo said she and her family have felt welcomed in the city.

“Chicago is beautiful and people have treated us well. There’s a lot of nice people,” Quebedo said.

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