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Acts of Altruism | Alumni Interview | Class Profiles

FEATURE STORY — November/December 2004



How one man has helped thousands on Chicago's nighttime streets

By Laura Weisskopf Bleill

The Rev. Thomas J. Behrens '67 LAS, MSW '72 (UIC), wants to interview his interviewer. The autumn sunlight pours into his large but sparsely furnished office on Chicago's far north side, and the president of The Night Ministry does what he does best — he listens.

And so the reporter gets firsthand experience as to why Behrens succeeds at his work — he actively listens, and he acts on what he hears. That is how he built The Night Ministry — a non-denominational social service organization that responds to the needs of a cross-section of people on Chicago's nighttime streets — from a solo operation into a nationally recognized nonprofit institution with more than 60 paid staff members and a $3 million budget.

"I think [Behrens] doesn't let anything discourage him," said Peg Thomson, a longtime supporter of the organization. "He's always hopeful about the results."

Behrens' twin trainings in both social work and divinity weave seamlessly into the mission of his work at The Night Ministry.

"I think my faith in people and my faith in God is strengthened by [whomever] I meet on the street," he said.

When Behrens went to work the streets of the Lake View neighborhood as the sole night minister in 1976, the network of churches behind the project envisioned him counseling second- and third-shift workers, the homeless and other adults who needed a friendly face after dark. He also found himself listening to the voices of teen-agers, often homeless and weary.

Under Behrens' direction, The Night Ministry has expanded into a multi-faceted organization serving thousands of Chicagoans who have fallen through the cracks of the traditional social service system. The organization's goal is to build relationships and empower individuals to meet their own needs. Perhaps its signature programs are those that help homeless teen-agers find housing and realize self-sufficiency. In 1992, The Night Ministry opened the Open Door Youth Shelter for at-risk youth ages 14 to 21 who are not wards of the state, and a second shelter is in the works.

The organization also operates a health outreach bus that provides basic health care to the uninsured and the underinsured. Trained professionals and volunteers walk the street, offering support and care.

"You learn a lot when you meet another person, what makes them tick," he said. What makes Behrens tick is his infectious optimism and selfless determination. He traces his desire to work with people back to his mother, and their nightly turn at washing the dinner dishes.

"She would always quiz me about different life situations," said Behrens, who has three children and three grandsons himself. "How would you handle such and such a case with two people, and how would you handle someone who is poor — just different kinds of things going on in the world at the time, and she would share those with me."

His home church exposed him to the opportunity to spend two summers during college volunteering at a settlement house on the city's northwest side. The experience inspired him to go into social services.

After finishing his master's degrees in social work and divinity in 1972, Behrens became a mortgage banker to learn how to create low-income housing. He quips that he left the mortgage business to "hang out in bars at night" when he became the first full-time night minister.

"First and foremost, he's a people person," said D. Stephen Bishop, MSW '67 (UIC), a Night Ministry board member who met Behrens through their involvement in a community organizing group in the early 1970s. "He's a fun, warm, caring human being. I know he delights in interacting with people. I think he gets a deep sense of satisfaction from being able in any way to assist and help others."

Since moving into management in 1986, Behrens has worked extensively with government agencies to secure funding for The Night Ministry's services. He has also focused on bringing problems of its seemingly invisible populations to the attention of state and federal lawmakers.

Behrens has plans to broaden The Night Ministry's impact by developing a training institute for professionals doing outreach work with homeless youth. Organizations worldwide and around the nation have used The Night Ministry as a model for their own communities.

Behrens has surprised himself by staying with the organization since its infancy. But something kept bringing him back—the people on the street.

"I've learned a lot from them," Behrens said.

And they, in turn, have learned from him.