Ministry planning homeless shelter near St. Charles reports threats

Neighbors of a proposed homeless shelter in unincorporated St. Charles recorded their fears about the plan at public meetings this month, but it's the threats allegedly made off the public stage that may become a problem for Kane County.

H.E.L.P.S. Ministry leader Angelo Valdes filed a police report this week alleging three people made threatening comments to him in the Kane County Government Center parking lot after zoning hearings on June 8 and June 15. One person told him, "We can burn the place down," while another threatened to "Take matters into our own hands," the report said.

Then on Tuesday, Valdes told police, a driver's side tire of a company vehicle fell off while an employee was driving along Interstate 88, causing about $1,000 in damage to the GMC 2500. He told police he believes someone "loosened the lug nuts on the vehicle and caused the tire to come off," according to the report.

In an interview, Valdes said the vehicle recently had four new tires put on, each secured with eight lug nuts tightened by machine. The incidents, he said, are just part of the increasingly hostile actions neighbors of the shelter have exhibited in recent weeks.

"I've got ministry people who love helping other who are like, 'What's going to happen next?'," Valdes said. "People have said, 'We'll just burn the place down. We'll just chase you out of your house.'"

Valdes said when he first moved his ministry into the old Salvation Army building on Tuscola Avenue, someone shattered all the windows on three separate occasions. There also have been many fake stories about things happening at the ministry since it opened, Valdes said.

"Someone accused my wife of buying alcohol for homeless people," Valdes said. "Come on. Do you know how many homeless people we'd have showing up if that were true? This is definitely an uphill battle."

That hill is about to get a bit steeper.

The Daily Herald received an anonymous e-mail Thursday stating neighbors will gather at 7 p.m. Friday to host a "peaceful protest assembly" at the intersection of Roosevelt Road and Courier Avenue against the proposed homeless shelter.

Valdes said he will not attend.

"We're going to pray," he said. "They'll be having a peaceful protest; we'll be having a peaceful prayer."

H.E.L.P.S. Ministry isn't the first organization to battle with neighbors after announcing plans to create a homeless shelter in the area.

Darlene Marcusson, executive director of Lazarus House in St. Charles, said her organization also received "some push back from some folks" in the lead up to the transitional shelter's opening in 1997. But the controversy waned once residents recognized that Lazarus House was helping locals get back on their feet, and not just offering warm meals and beds, she said.

"I understand people can be very skeptical," Marcusson said. "But the folks we're serving here have been here all along. And I think once the community saw that was true, and that people were getting genuine help, we haven't had the blowback."

Kane County Sheriff's Lt. Chris Collins said Valdes' concerns are under investigation.

"Our detectives will be contacting the three suspects who made comments," he said. "Whether we can tie the tire falling off the vehicle to an act of vandalism, I don't know, but that's going to be part of the investigation."