Solve homelessness one person at a time

Your editorial of June 10, "Rethinking help for the very poor," caught our attention and raises an important issue in our communities: homelessness. Funding of nonprofit agencies that help the homeless is a critical and ongoing need as homelessness is a local problem. Journeys - The Road Home serves more than 1,000 people annually from the North/Northwest suburbs, 40 percent of whom are homeless and 60 percent who are on the verge of losing their homes. Throughout the winter our PADS program, staffed by more than 2,000 dedicated volunteers - operates at 18 local faith-based organizations and provides overnight accommodations and meals for 352 registered guests.

Our HOPE Center, on Northwest Highway near Route 53 in Palatine, moves two households per week into stable housing, an average of 100 households per year. One household we recently helped was a single mother with six children. In fact, women and children constitute more than one half of our clients.

Three quarters of our clients are working hard to get out of their situation. Many have jobs but are unable to afford rent. If you were to stand at our door in the morning, you would often see people dressed for business coming into the HOPE Center for some kind of assistance before they leave for work. We are working to solve the problem of homelessness, one person at a time.

Lisa Eckert Aliprandi

President, board of directors

Beth Nabors

Executive director

Journeys - The Road Home

Palatine