Veterans home wants to expand

A homeless shelter named after one of Wheaton's fallen war heroes wants to expand, but a desire for a sales tax may be an impassable blockade.

The Lance Cpl. Nicholas Larson Home for Veterans opened in January with an immediate demand for its services. The home, also known as the Midwest Shelter for Homeless Veterans, helps former military personnel struggling with substance abuse or post-traumatic stress disorder.

"We're often having to turn away people or put them on a waiting list when the house is full," said Bob Adams, co-director of the shelter.

There are five residents at the shelter. Seven staff members address training, clinical and business needs.

Adams said the best way to use all the manpower is to grow to meet the demand.

To do that, the shelter wants to put an addition on its building at 119 W. West St. to house up to 25 homeless veterans.

Wheaton laws allow a group home to have a maximum of only 15 occupants. Even that requires a special-use permit and a public hearing.

City council members told the shelter this week that they have no interest in changing local laws to allow the expansion.

There are two reasons.

First, the shelter is located in a downtown area, where the city wants commercial growth. The council views a shelter expansion as encouraging residential growth.

Second, city officials said allowing an exception for the shelter may spark expansion at other group homes in the community.

The DuPage County Health Department operates its Clustered Apartment Program on Taft Avenue. Koinonia, a Christian prison ministry, operates a group home with a maximum of four residents on Indiana Avenue.

Both are in residential areas, where neighbors frown upon large group homes. Koinonia said it has no plans to expand in Wheaton. The health department did not respond to an interview request.

Adams said his shelter will seek the special permit for 15 residents but won't abandon dreams of further expansion. Adams said the addition wouldn't take up any more commercial space than the shelter already owns. More shelter residents means more volunteers and people with money and job skills to contribute to the local economy, he said.

Moving forward, Adams will have one ally on the council. Councilman Tom Mouhelis is a veteran and sits on the shelter's advisory board.

"I think what they do is beyond belief," Mouhelis said. "They're giving an opportunity to men that have served our country under honorable terms and have fallen on hard times.

"If the shelter was in a residential area, I would have reservations," Mouhelis said. "But they're in a commercial area, and I'm looking at that block, and I really can't see it ever developed commercially."