Shechinah Carter is getting to know Chicago in a way she never wanted.

The Long Beach, Calif., resident is canvassing the city’s South Side with pamphlets bearing her brother Shalom’s face, hoping that someone recognizes him and gives her a clue about his whereabouts.

Shalom Carter, 32, has been missing from a group home since July 5. A resident of the Bridging the Gap home, 6746 S. Wolcott, Shalom suffers from bipolar disorder, and his family suspects he is schizophrenic, as well.

Though Shalom Carter went missing July 5, Shechinah Carter says the family wasn’t notified by representatives of the group home until July 11. A day later, they filed a missing persons report with the Chicago Police Department.

But so far, there’s been no traction in the case, and that has the Carters nervous, afraid and fuming.

“The issue is, I feel like I have accomplished more from California,” a frustrated Shechinah says. She complains that the detective handling the case cannot be reached, and the police department only recently began sending out photos to law enforcement and transportation agencies and local hospitals.

Shechinah says the family has not yet been able to meet with the detectives assigned to Shalom’s case. Residents at Bridging the Gap say police have yet to contact them regarding his disappearance.

She says police officers refuse to check Shalom’s financial records, saying they only do that in the case of a homicide. She worries privacy laws will hinder attempts to find Shalom in hospital psychiatric wards.

“I feel that there should be more that should be done,” she says. “I’m not certain what the laws are in the state of Illinois … but the police are treating it as if, in my opinion, this is not serious because of the fact he is an adult.”

“If no one has seen him since July 5, you call my mom on July 11 and you know he suffers from mental illness? That should have been a red flag immediately,” says Shechinah, who works with mental health patients in Long Beach.

Shalom is African-American, 5’11”, 160 pounds, and was last seen wearing baggy jeans and a white t-shirt. He has no scars or tattoos, and has short-cropped hair.

The family does not know where Shalom could have gone. They say he has been assaulted and robbed recently, and worry he may have strayed into unsafe territory.

Shechinah says the family was never notified that Shalom was assaulted. They also say they were never told Shalom stopped going to group therapy sessions.

Jermaine Allen, who lives with Shalom Carter and three other people in the South Side group home, says Shalom had been acting strangely in the weeks prior to his disappearance. Allen says Shalom was taking his medications less, and started acting violently and talking of being possessed by the devil. Allen says Shalom was using marijuana and began leaving the home at odd early-morning hours.

He also talked about going back to his home state of California.

But on his good days, Shalom is easy to talk to, Allen says.

“He was a nice person. Tough person to get along with when he wasn’t on his medications,” says Allen, who added Shalom is calmed by gospel music.

Still, Allen says Shalom didn’t like living in a structured environment, where he would sometimes be scolded for leaving chores incomplete.

“He wasn’t used to authority talking to him,” Allen says.

Shalom Carter has never disappeared before, his sister says. And while he is articulate to the point where people wouldn’t recognize he is mentally ill, the family worries about his fate with no access to medication.

Attempts to reach representatives Bridging the Gap were unsuccessful. Allen says the Wolcott address does not have a working phone; three phone numbers listed for the Wolcott address and the organization’s two other homes were disconnected. An email sent to the address listed on its Web site bounced back. An email sent to an address in the Web site’s registration records was not returned.

A reporter visiting the facility last night was informed that no staff were on the premises to answer questions.

The Chicago police detective handling the case could not be reached Tuesday evening.

The family is asking anyone who sees Shalom Carter to call the Chicago Police Department’s Area 1 Special Victims Unit at (312) 747-8385.