DuPage adds two Compass Church sites as disaster-relief shelters under MOA

The DuPage County Judicial and Public Safety Committee on June 17 approved a memorandum of agreement with Compass Church to add two church facilities as disaster‑relief centers and mass‑care shelters.

Craig (county emergency-management staff) told committee members the MOAs add two sites to the county’s existing roster; Benedictine remains the long‑standing agreement in place for roughly 20 years. Craig said the county encourages municipalities to use local shelters first and described these sites as “shelters of last resort” for large‑scale incidents that require sleeping, feeding, family reunification or countywide distribution of medications.

Member Desart asked whether the agreement applies to all Compass Church locations. Craig said the agreements cover two specific Compass Church sites (the Hobson Road location and the Wheaton Roosevelt location) and do not automatically extend to other Compass Church campuses. Members asked whether the county is actively seeking more sites; Craig said more locations are welcome but not actively sought. The committee discussed other potential locations including the fairgrounds and College of DuPage; staff said operational considerations and scheduling at host sites would factor into use.

Committee members asked how often the county uses these agreements. Craig said Benedictine has been used infrequently — “once every few years” — and that additional sites increase geographic coverage across the county.

The committee approved the MOA; there was no recorded opposition.