Peru donates $5,000 to Illinois Valley PADS

The Illinois Valley Public Action to Deliver Shelter is another donation closer to the creation of two new websites after the Peru City Council agreed Monday to contribute $5,000 of city funds.

The homeless shelter will use the funds to develop two new websites, content creation, an integrated point of sale system for the retail stores, the hardware needed for the website point of sale system and training.

Carol Alcorn, the executive director of Illinois Valley PADS, said the current website is 10 years old and encompasses both Lily Pads and the shelters.

“The website is pretty broken,” she said. “They are not fixable and we have to take the stores out of that website and build their own domain and one for the shelter.”

Alcorn said PADS is building a new website because the nonprofit organization wants more hits on its Lily Pads website to bring in more revenue – in contract, the nonprofit doesn’t want more hits on the shelter as it could bring an influx of patrons from Chicago or Springfield.

“We want more awareness for our resale so we can generate income,” she said. “But we do not want to create more for the shelter … We don’t want to be the highest homeless shelter hit in the state.”

Alderman Bob Tieman said he had a discussion with Alcorn a few weeks prior and opened his eyes to the issue.

“I do think this is a necessity,” he said. “It is something that helps the people that need it. So, I think this is a great idea.”

Alcorn said the shelter has raised $9,000 to its website project, including the Peru donation. It previously received $4,000 from the city of La Salle.

Alcorn said the shelter has received bids for the project ranging from $17,000 to $30,000.

Illinois Valley PADS will be requesting funds from the city of Ottawa next.