DuPage Foundation, county and PADS fund emergency winter shelter for 70 people

DuPage County, the DuPage Foundation and DuPage PADS announced a combined public-private effort to shelter about 70 people through the coldest weeks of winter.

The county’s chair, Deborah A. Conroy, said the county provided $200,000 from the affordable housing fund in December and that the DuPage Foundation raised about $190,000 after an appeal to donors. “When Chair Conroy’s office called for assistance, Barb Sapaniak, my colleague and our staff sprung into action and we reached out to our network of donors,” DuPage Foundation CEO Mike Citrick said. “Within just one week we had $190,000 committed, between our emergency fund and approximately 25 funding partners.”

The collaborative funding was intended to shelter 70 people for 104 days at an interim housing center in Downers Grove that PADS is operating while the weather remains dangerously cold. April Resick, identified in remarks as president and CEO of DuPage PADS, said the program had already sheltered 52 people and credited the rapid community response with saving lives this winter. “We were able to just immediately move them into a hotel room…that’s a kid with a safe bed and a blanket now,” Resick said.

Conroy described the effort as a proof point for a “whole community” approach that pairs county resources with philanthropy and municipal partners; she said longer-term solutions will require continued cooperation among governments, nonprofits and donors. Mike Citrick said the foundation’s donors also provided in-kind donations such as blankets and coats in addition to cash.

DuPage PADS said the interim center has accepted people who otherwise would have been unsheltered in extremely cold weather and that the county and foundation funds allowed staff to place families and individuals immediately. Board member Paula Garcia had brought the need forward before Thanksgiving and county staff and the foundation worked with mayors and local agencies to assemble funding and services.

No formal board action was taken at the meeting to authorize additional county money; Conroy said the December allocation of $200,000 had already been approved by the board. County and foundation leaders said they would continue to assess needs and work toward longer-term housing and supportive-service solutions.

For now, county and nonprofit leaders framed the effort as an urgent, short-term intervention to prevent deaths and provide shelter while broader solutions are pursued.