Daily Herald opinion: A special obligation: DuPage group has a worthy plan to provide new housing for those who served

Every case of homelessness in the United States is a human tragedy.

It’s particularly sad when those who have served in our nation’s armed forces find themselves living on the streets.

Thankfully, the number of veterans experiencing homelessness has plummeted by 55% between 2009 and 2024, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

In the agency’s most recently available “point in time” count, there were 32,882 homeless veterans across the country in January 2024. But the number of veterans experiencing homelessness declined by 8% from the year before.

According to the report, the progress was the result of “targeted and sustained funding to reduce veteran homelessness.”

Here in the suburbs, one group that has been part of that effort is the Midwest Shelter for Homeless Veterans.

Through the years, the Wheaton-based nonprofit organization and its services — including transitional and affordable housing, counseling and job training — have helped numerous veterans of different eras escape homelessness and return to productive lives.

“We want our veterans to be out in the community, those who protected our homes to have a home,” said Rizik Mohammad, Midwest Shelter’s deputy executive director.

The nonprofit’s flagship home, named in honor of Marine Lance Cpl. Nicholas Larson, a Wheaton teen killed in Iraq, provides transitional housing for male veterans.

Since its 2007 opening, two other Wheaton homes have provided affordable housing for single male and female veterans, respectively.

Now the group is pursuing a major endeavor — a plan to build a new four-story apartment building in downtown Wheaton for veterans who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, as well as their families.

The Illinois Housing Development Authority has announced $10.1 million in state and federal funding for the project. That amounts to 90% of the total development cost.

If city leaders approve the project, the 20-unit apartment building will be built on a vacant corner by the Wheaton Meat Co. butcher shop.

So far, the response has been largely positive. Wheaton Mayor Phil Suess and several council members have voiced support for the plans. The council last week directed the city’s attorney to prepare an ordinance allowing the construction and use of the building on the site at Main Street and Willow Avenue.

“It's bringing housing to the downtown,” Suess said. “It's addressing a need in our community with respect to veterans.”

The Midwest Shelter for Homeless Veterans has a valuable mission, and we hope its proposed development becomes a reality.

While the number of homeless veterans has been declining nationally, the effort to help should not let up. Because, as a nation that takes pride in the service and sacrifice of its soldiers, we have an obligation to offer support to those veterans in their time of need.