'Walk a Mile in My Shoes' benefits Elgin's Wayside Center

If you try walking in their shoes, you'll stumble in their footsteps.

Yet roughly 180 people from all across the region did they best they could to identify with the homeless in the "Walk a Mile in My Shoes" fundraiser, which benefits the Wayside Center in Elgin.

"People are important, and people are forgetting a lot," said Elgin resident Brian Cook, a member of the homeless ministry at Judson University. "I think this will raise awareness that they're in this area."

That the inaugural Elgin walk was held in winter was deliberate, because the cold weather serves as a reminder that many people live outside and deal with the elements on a daily basis, said Phil Wood, the center's director.

"We're glad it's snowing today," Wood said.

The Elgin center focuses on counseling area homeless people and giving them the skills they need for job training and independence.

The 1.4-mile walk began at the Evangelical Covenant Church and ended at the Wayside Center's offices at 1732 Berkley Street.

The center shares a building with a PADS nighttime shelter and, after the walk concluded, participants were invited to tour the shelter and meet some of its residents.

A busload of folks from Christ Community Church in St. Charles, which partners with the Wayside Cross Ministries that run the shelter in Elgin and Aurora, came to show their support, as well.

"It's very important to the church in helping the community be aware and the participants aware of how they can help," said Jim Clemmons, a church volunteer.

Wayside Cross Ministries organized the winter walk in Elgin and held its third-annual walk at the same time in Aurora.

Initial counts showed that the Elgin walk raised more than $2,000, said Josh Bray, the center's operations manager, adding, "We're stoked about that."