Lester: Where will suburban homeless go after Journeys cuts?
Many homeless people in the suburbs have places to spend the night, thanks to shelters like PADS. But there's also a question of where they spend their days - and how they can use those hours to get back on their feet.
Journeys in Palatine operates Hope Center, where roughly 60 people a day go to get help applying for jobs, do their laundry, take a shower, get a meal and clothing, pick up their mail and receive medical care.
That could end as the federal government shifts funds from Journeys to spend more money on housing, the agency's development director tells me. “We feel strongly that supportive services is key to maintaining housing,” Suzanne Plogher said. “Those needs don't stop when a roof is over somebody's head.”
<h3 class="leadin">Not alone
Other programs offering transitional services also didn't get their grants renewed. They include Catholic Charities' Cookes Manor at the Hines Veterans Affairs campus and the Community and Economic Development Association of Cook County's West suburban Supportive Housing Program.
Ploger says if services are discontinued the suburbs will see more emergency room visits, “crimes of survival” like shoplifting and people seeking daytime shelter at train stations and libraries.
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How much?
Buried deep on page 486 of the College of DuPage's 532-page May 19 board packet was a proposal to spend $25,000 a year on a professional parliamentarian to help solve frequent disputes among board members over rules and procedures. But the board later pared that back to a training session on Robert's Rules of Order of Parliamentary Procedure.
<h3 class="leadin">Groundbreaking decision
“Catholic social teaching in action” is what the Catholic Labor Network called the Archdiocese of Chicago's decision last week to offer 12 weeks of paid leave to new mothers and fathers, on top of three months of unpaid leave they also can take.
The move, a priority of Archbishop Blase Cupich since shortly after he was named to the post in 2014, makes the archdiocese, which covers Cook and Lake counties, one of only a few in the country that offer the benefit.
That means that if two parents work for the Archdiocese of Chicago and each takes three months paid and three months unpaid leave, a parent can be home for a child's full first year.
<h3 class="leadin">Honoring Schroeder
GOP state Rep. David Harris of Arlington Heights is authoring a resolution honoring longtime Wheeling Township Supervisor Michael Schroeder, who died of cancer earlier this month. Schroeder, a prominent local Republican who was acting mayor of Arlington Heights in the 1990s,
“dedicated his life to his faith and his community,” the resolution reads, offering the General Assembly's condolences to Schroeder's wife and children. Democratic Rep. Elaine Nekritz of Northbrook and Republican Rep. Tom Morrison of Palatine are co-sponsors.
<h3 class="leadin">Ronfest
Legendary ABC 7 anchor and reporter Ron Magers is set to retire Wednesday after a five decades-long broadcast career, with the last 34 spent at the station, our news partner. ABC 7 says it's celebrating Magers by showcasing his work in a series of pieces reported by Paul Meincke. Meincke (who many of you know as a longtime Des Plaines resident and scoutmaster) will report at 10 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, and at 5 and 10 p.m. on Wednesday, Magers' final day.