Presidents Cup team presents giant check for Midwest Shelter for Homeless Veterans in Wheaton

Joshua Taylor went to work for the Midwest Shelter for Homeless Veterans because he’s seen what it can do.

“It helped save my life,” he said.

Taylor accessed a support system through the nonprofit’s home in Wheaton, bearing the name of Marine Lance Cpl. Nicholas Larson, a teen killed in Iraq.

“Through the program, I got connected to mental health services, which helped me start working through things I’d been carrying for years. Not overnight, not perfectly, but enough to start building some stability again,” Taylor said.

A four-story apartment development in downtown Wheaton will give his fellow veterans just that — stability.

At a kickoff celebration at the future site of the building, organizers of the Presidents Cup golf tournament on Tuesday announced a $150,000 donation in partnership with the George and Cindy Rusu Family Foundation to support the Midwest Shelter for Homeless Veterans.

Bob “Doc” Adams, a licensed clinical social worker, co-founded the shelter — “This is a place of miracles,” he’s keen to say — with Dirk Enger.

Both combat veterans of different eras — Adams, Vietnam; Enger, the Gulf War — had “looked upon their brothers and sisters in arms, sleeping on the streets and simply decided not to look away,” Casey Carpenter said.

“Twenty-five years later, as we sustain what they built, we are privileged to draw a broader community into that mission and to widen that gaze still further,” said the Air Force veteran, an MSHV board member.

The “Hero Homes” initiative calls for nonprofit New Directions Housing Corp. to develop the 20-unit apartment building at Main Street and Willow Avenue, near the Wheaton Meat Co. butcher shop.

Carpenter sees “Hero Homes” as not only a blueprint for the future but also “proof that a community, when called upon, can rise to honor its obligations and move beyond simply saying ‘thank you for your service’ toward performing acts that truly mean it.”

Case in point: George Rusu, a Medinah Country Club member who sits on the Presidents Cup host committee. Presidents Cup Executive Director Joie Chitwood III recently mentioned that the PGA Tour was making a donation to the shelter.

“Some people might have been taken aback that the usually mild-mannered George Rusu interrupted the call and said, ‘Wow, that sounds absolutely fantastic. My family foundation is going to match what the PGA Tour does.’ I wasn't surprised at all. That's who George Rusu is,” recalled Mike Scimo, chair of the host committee.

“This gift isn't just about a building. It's about giving veterans a real chance to move forward and stay there,” Taylor told the gathering.

He would seize the chance given to him.

“At first, it felt uncomfortable, but I quickly learned that accepting help isn’t giving up control. It’s actually you starting to get it back. And that was a turning point for me,” he said.

The shelter also connected Taylor to employment resources, which helped him get back to the workforce and eventually led him to advocating for other veterans. And that’s when he “really started to see the big picture.”

“Finding the affordable housing is one of the biggest challenges veterans face after leaving transitional programs like the Larson home,” said Taylor, manager of the supportive services for veteran families program. “Even when you’re working and you’re doing the right things, the cost of living and lack of available housing can make it feel like you’re constantly one step behind.

“And when you add the mental health aspect into there — stress, anxiety, depression, PTSD — it really starts beginning to weigh you down.”

The apartment development will allow DuPage County to reach “functional zero” veteran homelessness, said Rizik Mohammad, the MSHV deputy executive director. That means homelessness is rare, brief and nonrecurring, according to the state’s “Home Illinois” plan.

“Most of the times when we house veterans, it's with an external landlord or an external property,” Taylor said. “And now we have the opportunity to continuously check in on them and make sure that they're doing well and they're supported with whatever needs they have.”