Daily Herald opinion: Funding for DuPagePads will help ‘save lives,’ shelter county’s homeless

The cold weather over the last few weeks has been a reminder of how difficult winters can be in the Chicago area. It also highlights the reason DuPage County supports a charitable organization that provides emergency winter shelter to people in need.

Several years ago, DuPagePads — a Wheaton-based nonprofit working to end homelessness — acquired and converted a former hotel into an interim housing center.

While that facility offers a safe place to stay for approximately 300 people a night, it is often at capacity. So DuPagePads is renting hotel rooms for individuals waiting for interim housing.

Last month, DuPagePads got a boost when the DuPage County Board voted to provide roughly $342,000 to help fund the emergency winter shelter program. As a result, DuPagePads can provide hotel-based shelter, food and support services “when it's really the most dangerous time of year to be unsheltered,” DuPagePads President and CEO April Redzic recently told a reporter.

The funding also allows the nonprofit to extend hours at the group’s access center in Wheaton. Folks can sit in the lobby and stay warm overnight — rather than in an emergency room or a police station lobby — while waiting for access to shelter.

“Everyone deserves a safe, warm place to sleep, particularly during the harsh winter months,” DuPage County Board Chair Deborah Conroy said in a statement. “These funds will help save lives. We are grateful to work with DuPagePads, who shares our commitment to caring for every member of our community, especially in times of crisis.”

Of course, this is not the first time that the county government in DuPage has supported DuPagePads and its mission. During the pandemic, the county provided financial assistance to the nonprofit when it started renting hotel rooms to protect clients from COVID-19. And when DuPagePads pitched an idea in 2021 to buy a hotel to create the interim housing center, county board members awarded $5 million to help the group acquire that property.

Last winter, the county and the DuPage Foundation provided funding to help DuPagePads rent hotel rooms for emergency shelter. As a result of that support, a total of 155 people were saved during the winter months, according to Redzic.

Experts have pointed to the lack of affordable housing as a reason why so many are experiencing homelessness. The best long-term solution would be to construct additional housing to meet the demand.

Homelessness is a complex problem that will take a great deal of time and effort to address. Still, no one should be left out in the cold in the suburbs. DuPage County officials deserve kudos for partnering with DuPagePads to ensure there’s a safe place to sleep for those who need it this winter.