'It means everything': Local nonprofit sets up ice fishing tents for homeless amid freezing temps

CHICAGO (WLS) -- As Chicago temperatures plummet, a local nonprofit is doing its part to save lives.

"It means everything. There are people in this city that I know for a fact have died from this cold," said Andrew Allamen, who is experiencing homelessness.

Andy Robledo owns a plant shop in the University Village/Little Italy area and got tired of seeing the homeless suffer outside in the cold. Roughly 95 ice fishing tents are set up across the city, and on Sunday, Robledo and some volunteers are upgrading the tents near South Desplaines Street and Roosevelt Road.

"We're replacing everyone's summer tents with insulated fortified ice fishing tents and heaters so that they can stay warm and get some relief from the from the freezing cold temperatures," Robledo said.

The hope is to make about 15 to 20 of the tents on Sunday, and that's something that isn't possible without volunteers taking time from their morning. Many of them heard of what Andy was doing and wanted to immediately step in.

"I thought about the fact that a lot of the people that were out here doing this for are in this cold the whole winter. So I was like, 'I think I can deal with it one day to try to help out with that,'" said Thomas Clemens, a volunteer.

There was some pushback from city officials when these tents propped up in different areas.

Back in October, the ABC7 I-Team reported that some tents were tagged with red notices, indicating the items "may be discarded" because they violate city code.

"Optically, it just looked at for the mayor and for the city. Like, how can you take people's one chance of survival and being comfortable?" Robledo said.

Robledo said thankfully, the city never ended up removing those tents, which cost around $500 dollars each.

"You get through all this, and you want to actually change something. You want to do something. That's what Andy's doing," Clemens said.

With a long winter ahead, it's act like these that are saving lives, especially with how difficult Allamen said it is to find space in a local shelter these days.

"He's not just putting up tents ... he brings us propane... he's got girls that come out and feed us five days a week... He's doing more than anybody," Allamen said.