PADS in Kendall County
Homeless People in Kendall County
Kendall County has homeless people. Sharon Schultz, the Homeless Liaison for Grundy and Kendall County, Regional Office of Education, registered 84 homeless school-aged children in the fall. The number is up. The Food Pantry has records of 121 homeless children (and their families) using the pantry. Grundy County averages 10 guests per night. Kendall County (population 100,000) is more than double that of Grundy; statistically Kendall’s homeless population is estimated to also be more than double.
What is PADS?
PADS (Public Action to Deliver Shelter) provides free safe shelter, food, and hospitality to people who need temporary help. It operates from mid-October through mid-April. In most neighboring counties in Illinois the sheltering sites are hosted by seven different churches - each taking one night per week through the cold months of the year. Other churches provide volunteers to help staff the hosting locations and/or to provide monetary or food donations. In developed programs, volunteers from other churches, local organizations, and even businesses, provide volunteers to staff the 3 shifts (4 hours per shift). Click here to learn more about how you can volunteer to serve.
YCUCC Group Offers Leadership
The Yorkville Congregational United Church of Christ committee (18+) continues to research and dialogue about the possibility of operating PADS in Kendall County. Both hopeful and cautious, the committee has encountered not road blocks, but building blocks -- enthusiastic and supportive agencies and services in Kendall County, as well as many folks within our congregation and in the county who very much see the need and have expressed a willingness to help!
Much Support in the County
These are some of the things we have learned so far that will be extremely helpful for the operation of PADS in Kendall County.
- The Kendall County Food Pantry is very willing to work with a PADS organization in the area of planning and ordering foods and/or supplies, using the Food Bank, where a dollar donation equates to $6.00 of items.
- The Kendall County Sheriff and Director of the Jail offered to provide the sleeping pads, all the linens on a daily basis (sheet, blanket, pillow case, towel, and washcloth per each guest). In addition, the inmates will do all the laundry.
- The Kendall County Area Transit (KAT) is very willing to work with the PADS program as KAT develops its routes in the coming year.
- The Kendall County Health Department wants to be involved and is willing to provide some of the much-needed social services to the homeless.
- Two churches in Kendall County have committed to be a site; several others are bringing preliminary information to their congregations for consideration.
PADS group visits an Operating Site
Several people from the PADS committee visited a PADS site at the First Presbyterian Church in Morris a few weeks ago as their guests were registering for the night. The observations and the dialogue with the site coordinator, the director of the program, and pastor of the church were very informative.
All are Invited to Informational Meeting
As members of Yorkville Congregational United Church of Christ, we formed an action committee to research the feasibility of a PADS program in Kendall County. P.A.D.S. (Public Action to Deliver Shelter) is a non-profit, volunteer organization whose purpose is to provide food and shelter to people in need. Compassion, hospitality, and dignity are the key characteristics of the PADS program. Each PADS location provides its guests a safe shelter for the night, a place to clean up, a sleeping pad with sheets, blanket and pillow, a hot evening meal, a light breakfast, and a sack lunch the next day.
We are ready to take some next steps together as a larger group of Kendall PADS leaders! Six churches have come forward with verbal commitments to serve as shelter sites. At least four other churches are in discussion as to the extent they wish to be involved. What a wonderful response to the call to help our homeless neighbors!
As leaders, you are invited to attend the next PADS meeting on Wednesday, August 11th at Yorkville Congregational Church, 409 Center Parkway, in Yorkville. The meeting will begin at 7:00 p.m.
This is a new, unchartered adventure for all of us, who need the guidance of the Holy Spirit, as well as the synergism of all our combined ideas, enthusiasm, support and energy. Please invite others in your church, neighborhoods, organizations, and places of business to come to this meeting, especially if they have shown interest in serving as leaders in the Kendall PADS program.
We encourage you to come to listen, to learn, to ask questions, and to become a part of this important and needed program for Kendall County. Please feel free to extend this invitation to others in your church, your organization, and/ or your business. We welcome all of your interest and support - whatever that may be or may become.
Please RSVP via email to the PADS committee if you wish to attend.
Thank you for your interest and willingness to take this journey together.
In the name of God,
The PADS Committee from the Yorkville Congregational United Church of Christ
(Pastor Mark Gregory, Doug Clevenger, Natalie Cooper, Fred Dickson, Jim Davis, Jim Dirst, Anne Engelhardt, Jerry Engelhardt, Kathy Farren, Gail Gaebler, David Heywood, Norm Kuhman, Sandy Lindblom, Aimee List, Derek Simmons, Mary Lee Swickert)
