And what happens in Boone County? Taxi fare to Rockford?
PADS expects higher demand as number of poor increases
By JOSEPH BUSTOS - jbustos@shawmedia.com
As PADS prepares to open its overnight church shelters in October for homeless people, the agency expects to have higher demand for help.
At the church sites, there usually are 35 to 40 people a night taking shelter. Director Matt Kostecki said he will prepare for as many as 47 people a night.
What is happening at PADS isn’t just a problem in McHenry County. The number of poor has increased nationwide to a record high 46.2 million, according to the Census Bureau.
The percentage of poor in Illinois also increased, jumping from 13.2 percent of the population in 2009 to 14.1 percent in 2010.
With one in six Americans now below the poverty level, the homeless population is likely to increase as well.
The Illinois Department of Employment Security said Thursday that Illinois’ unemployment rate surged from 9.5 percent in July to 9.9 percent in August, further hurting the economic outlook.
In McHenry County, during the 2011 fiscal year that ended June 30, PADS helped 538 homeless people, including 60 families and 99 children.
The summertime usually is a down time for PADS, but this year the agency has been busy with people coming in for assistance to help buy fuel or pay utility bills, among other things, Kostecki said.
“It’s been a busy summer for case management,” Kostecki said. “We’re seeing more and more foreclosures in the county.”
Home of the Sparrow also is receiving more calls for help, said Debbie DeGraw, vice president of marketing, development and public relations.
For the first six months of 2010, the agency that provides housing for homeless women and children had 318 calls.
For the first six months of 2011, it had 425.
More of the phone calls are from people who have nowhere to go, DeGraw said.
Home of the Sparrow has a waiting list of 20 families, and the agency can hold 21 families at any one time.
There are few transitional shelters in the county, and DeGraw expects Home of the Sparrow’s waiting list to grow, she said.
“You would think by this point there would be more job opportunities out there, but there are very limited job opportunities [and] limited Section 8 vouchers,” DeGraw said.
Kim Halper, coordinator of the Neighbors Food Pantry of Wonder Lake, said she has had trouble keeping the shelves stocked as need has increased and donations have decreased.
Last year in August, the pantry helped 700 people. In August 2011, it helped 1,132 people, and Halper said she expects the numbers of those seeking help to continue going up.
Halper said many people in the area are contractors and carpenters.
“There’s just no jobs,” Halper said. “No one is doing construction, so there’s no work for people.”
Some said the Beloit Police Department should leave immigration enforcement to Homeland Security.
SAN DIEGO -- Nearly 70 years after expelling Melvin Dwork for being gay, the Navy is changing his discharge from "undesirable" to "honorable" – marking what is believed to be the first time the Pentagon has taken such a step on behalf of a World War II veteran since the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell."
