County, DuPage Foundation raise almost $400K to help shelter homeless this winter

DuPage County and DuPage Foundation teamed up to provide nearly $400,000 to DuPagePads to help provide housing for residents throughout the winter months.

DuPage County and the DuPage Foundation will direct nearly $400,000 to DuPagePads to help the Wheaton-based nonprofit shelter those experiencing homelessness through the winter.

County board members agreed in December to allocate $200,000 from the countyโ€™s affordable housing fund to support DuPagePads after President and CEO April Redzic highlighted the demand for shelter.

The nonprofitโ€™s board dedicated $150,000 โ€” tripling the budgeted amount โ€” to provide additional winter emergency shelter for people on a waitlist for rooms at an interim housing center DuPagePads operates in a former Downers Grove hotel. But that sum still wasnโ€™t going to be enough.

โ€œPads requested $353,000 to shelter 70 people for 104 days until the weather is reliably warmer,โ€ County Board Chair Deborah Conroy said. โ€œBuilding on our community approach, I asked our friends at the DuPage Foundation if they could make an appeal to their donors to see if there was interest in helping shelter, secure shelter, for these folks.โ€

The response, Conroy said, was โ€œtremendous.โ€

The foundation marshaled $190,000 from its emergency fund, donors, fund holders and network of area funding partners, officials announced this week.

โ€œThis is a true public-private response to a community concern,โ€ said Conroy, who on Tuesday joined DuPage Foundation President and CEO Mike Sitrick in a ceremonial check presentation combining the foundationโ€™s efforts and the countyโ€™s allocation.

โ€œNo one should be left out in the cold in the winter,โ€ Sitrick said. โ€œEnsuring that children, families and individuals who are struggling have a warm bed at night, to access the help they need, is crucial not only for the trajectory of their lives, but for the long-term health of our county.โ€

Within just one week, the foundation had the $190,000 committed between its emergency fund and about 25 funding partners, Sitrick said.

โ€œOne of our board members also reached out to her network, which resulted not only in significant funding support, but warm blankets and coats, which we donated directly to Pads,โ€ he added.

Redzic said it was โ€œpretty mind-blowing to hear how quickly folks moved into action when we shared our worry that people were going to freeze to death.โ€

โ€œI will tell you weโ€™ve reached 52 people so far and got them into a safe place to stay,โ€ Redzic said.

County board member Paula Deacon Garcia, who chairs the panelโ€™s finance committee, originally brought the issue forward. A formal vote is expected at the boardโ€™s Jan. 28 meeting.

โ€œIโ€™m just grateful to all of you for seeing the need like I did. The unhoused โ€ฆ (are) near and dear to, I think, all of our hearts here. We donโ€™t want to see anyone suffer in DuPage County,โ€ Deacon Garcia said.

Itโ€™s not the first time the county has rallied behind DuPagePads.

County board members awarded $5 million to help the organization acquire the hotel property that became the interim housing center. The county used $2 million in American Rescue Plan money, plus $3 million from the Community Development Block Grant fund.

DuPagePads prioritizes rooms in the center for parents with children and people fleeing domestic violence.