Hope for homeless women in Lake County

For the last decade, Frances Forys has spent endless hours and countless dollars trying to help homeless women and children in Lake County.

Sometimes there are success stories, like the woman who purchased a home through the Habitat For Humanity program.

Often there are disappointments.

But regardless of the path her clients at Maristella in Libertyville choose, Forys' passion never fades. Perhaps because she knows how hard life can be without a home.

"When I was 10 years old I was homeless," Forys said. "My mom took her four kids and left my dad. I know what it is to be the person with nowhere to go. I know the game of switching schools every few months. And I know what it feels like as a child to be pulled around with mom."

Forys' nonprofit organization has been so successful that it now needs to relocate for the third time in 10 years. She is hoping her next move will be into the abandoned convent owned by St. Maria Del Popolo Church in Mundelein sometime this summer.

Officials from both organizations are now in negotiations. The convent would not only mean a larger office but also provide temporary housing for the women the group serves.

Maristella has served 3,000 clients, and it has about 70 active families. Women are given a voucher for a two-week stay at a local motel, during which they are challenged to find a job.

If they are successful, Maristella provides a $500 security deposit for an apartment. The group is also working to obtain federal funding for rent subsidies.

Maristella works with other community groups and relies on volunteers and donations.

Emergency food, clothing, counseling and parent meetings are also offered.

Forys knows how important such a lifeline can be.

Her life changed when she was 15 and joined the Sisters of St. Casimir in Chicago. Through the organization she was educated and became a teacher, a profession she stayed in for 46 years.

As retirement neared more than 10 years ago, Forys, of Libertyville, began talking with two friends about how they could help others.

The women considered reaching out to people with HIV/AIDS, prostitutes and at-risk youths, but Forys kept coming back to the homeless.

For the next three years, she researched the services available to Chicago-area homeless and decided to focus her efforts on homeless women.

"There is a lot of help out there for intact families, but not so much for women, or women with children," Forys said.

In October 1998, Forys opened Maristella, a ministry of service to homeless women and children, out of an office at Marytown. She operated the nonprofit group from that location for more than eight years. Two years ago, Forys moved Maristella to an office on Milwaukee Avenue in Libertyville.

In 2006, 92 percent of clients served had consistent monthly income but were unable to pay their rent. That same year, 98 percent of clients assisted with rental subsidies were in the lowest poverty level.

Tricia Neely, assistant administrator for Maristella, calls Forys a mother for every woman who has ever had a tough time in life.

"Fran is the most dedicated and empowered woman I know," Neely said. "She gets paid nothing for her work. She lets her clients know that they are not alone and she follows through with them until they prove to be stabilized."