New McHenry PADS homeless shelter opening this week

The Pioneer Center for Human Services is opening a new McHenry County PADS emergency homeless shelter this week.

Services at the current McHenry County PADS facility, located at 14411 Kishwaukee Valley Road, in Woodstock, will be transferred to The Chapel, located at 1809 Route 31, in McHenry.

The new 10,500 square-foot facility will open Wednesday, and will serve 70 people as opposed to 34 at the Woodstock location to meet the needs of the community.

“This county has been talking about this for 30 plus years. And it's finally happening. Like, it should be a really exciting time for the county,” Director of Homeless Services Carrie Freund said.

Clients at the new facility will have access to lockers, beds, a kitchen, showers and services. Meals will be provided three times a day. The kitchen also will give the center the ability to provide a cooking training program in which clients can learn about food service management and can potentially work in the restaurant business.

By partnering with different services, the shelter further helps its clients get access to the resources that will help stabilize their situation, including transportation, housing, getting a job and learning skills.

“We don't have a lot of recidivism either. That's the other key is you can't just get somebody housing, you have to teach them the skills they need to be able to maintain that housing,” Freund said.

Last year, the shelter served 220 people and of those, 66% moved to a more stable housing environment. The shelter provided 7,903 nights of shelter to 151 people, including 11 families and 26 children in the emergency sleeping rooms.

Over her 20 years working at Pioneer Center, Freund said she learned why some become homeless.

“Most of us are one life away from becoming homeless ourselves. Most of them are not lazy, drug addicts. Most of them are just like us," she said. "Most people in this country rely on income. And if something happens, where they get divorce, someone dies. This guy with the 4-year-old daughter, his wife had an aneurysm. He had a job, all of a sudden, he can't afford to live in his place. And they show up at our door and we help them get back on their feet."

The center found that many homeless people were living in the woods. Freund said while it’s not illegal for people to camp, the city of Woodstock in the past year cracked down on those who had been camping.

“They don't want to be discovered because a lot of that's your one little piece of stability and this helps people not have to do that,” CEO Sam Tenuto said.

The center is 70% funded through donations and 30% through the local government.

“We have a lot of fundraising that we have to do for the shelter. This is not supported by the government to any great extent. They helped us a lot with this one. But we have to think of operating expenses each year,” said Randy Leggee, director of development.

Donations can be made at charity.gofundme.com/o/en/campaign/padshomelessshelter.