Groups working to help find shelter, resources for those in need

By: Doug Oleson
Posted 6/21/17

This is the fourth in a series about housing shortages in the Rochelle area.

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Groups working to help find shelter, resources for those in need

Posted

This is the fourth in a series about housing shortages in the Rochelle area.

ROCHELLE — They may be the six harshest words anyone will ever hear: “There’s no room for you here.”
According to the Gospel of St. Luke, Mary and Joseph heard those words when they were looking for a place to stay in Bethlehem one very starry night over two thousand years ago.
Today, many more are hearing those same words. Like the Holy Couple that night, they are homeless with few places to turn for help.
Renee Barnhart, an outreach specialist for the Tri-County Opportunities Council office in Rochelle, doesn’t know how many homeless people there are in this area, but said “they do exist.”
That’s especially true at the Flagg-Rochelle Public Library where library director Sarah Flanagan says her staff sees homeless people all the time, especially during winter – to warm up – and summer – to cool off.
“I never thought about it until I started here 15 years ago,” she said. “They come here to look for a job on the internet, or they’ll stay during the day. We’re the only place they can go downtown after five o’clock and not have to buy anything.”
Although they may have a problem once in a while, Flanagan said most keep to themselves and are very well behaved.
Flanagan added that one particular person passes through this area about the same time every year, who she has gotten to know by sight, even if she doesn’t know his name.
Connie Dougherty, executive director of the Hub City Senior Center, says homeless people come into the center throughout the year. Mainly, they come to use the internet – which they can do for free – to search for jobs or to connect with family and friends. They also have coffee with the seniors sometimes.
Again, like at the library, Dougherty said most are well-behaved, but occasionally there are “exceptions.” She is quick to point out that there is a code of conduct for everyone and if it isn’t met, they can be banned from the center.

Most of them, she said, just need a little help. One time a young couple asked if they could have a blanket so they could stay in one of the parks. Calling around to different agencies in town, Dougherty was surprised to find that no one could help them. “I couldn’t believe it,” she said.
Taking up a collection, Dougherty took the couple to a local hotel room for the night, so they could have a roof over their heads at least for one night while they figured out what they were going to do.
Although many people told her she was crazy to get involved, Dougherty pointed to the Bible, which says you should help those who need it.
“We can’t do that every day,” she said, adding that the center is not equipped to help the homeless. “But when you’re face to face, you feel a sense of responsibility.”
As of right now, that responsibility must rest with someone else as there are no homeless shelters in Rochelle, or anywhere in Ogle County.
For nearly 30 years, Pete and Gloria Pascua ran a homeless shelter of their own on Cherry Avenue, but had to close down recently because it didn’t meet city codes. Today, the old shelter has been turned into an educational center.
To replace it, a group of concerned citizens is hoping to convert an old insurance office at 805 Lincoln Avenue into a new homeless shelter.
Michelle Glenn, the President of the Rochelle Homeless Shelter, said they were hoping to open the facility earlier this year, but in renovating the building the group has run into some unexpected snags, which has delayed it. “We are going at a snail’s pace,” she said, “but we have to get everything done right.”
When it’s completed, the group is planning to open a 24-hour facility for 15 to 20 residents – for men and women both - who can stay on a temporary basis, providing them with food, shelter and a safe place to sleep. “This will not be a long-term stay,” Glenn said, “only a week or a month, so long as they are trying to get back on their feet. In hospital vernacular, we are going to be an E.R. and some place like the Rockford Rescue Mission is the hospital.”
A lot of what they plan to do is modeled on what the Pascua’s did, such as requiring residents to look for work during the day, which limites the hours they can be in the shelter.
“Pete is such a solid role model,” Glenn said. “He has such a Christian ethic. We always thought there is a league of angels looking over that place.”
Like the Pascua’s shelter, they will ask the Rochelle Police Dept. to check the background of anyone requesting to stay at the new shelter. Until they are approved, they will be put up in a local hotel room. “We want to make sure everyone is safe,” Glenn said.
Already, local residents have been volunteering to help. Anyone interested in volunteering, can contact: them at Rochellerescuemiussion@gmail.com and on Facebook.
Until the new shelter opens, there are a few places homeless people can go in this area, DeKalb just isn’t one of them.
Jennifer Swanson, Housing First Coordinator at Safe Haven in DeKalb, said they receive requests from Rochelle people all the time. They have housed three Rochelle people in the past couple months, all of them transfers from Kishwaukee Hospital.  Mainly, they take care of those who can prove they have lived in DeKalb County for at least a year.
“It’s tough to turn them away, but we are limited, and have a lot of private donors (who prefer DeKalb County residents only),” she said, adding that the facility is always full with a long waiting list.
In Rockford, the Bridge Emergency Youth Shelter has two shelters, one for boys and another for girls. According to a company spokesperson, they will take children from Winnebago, Boone, Ogle and Stephenson counties, as well “as runaway kids on I-90.”
“We have taken kids from Rochelle,” the spokesperson said.
Carpenter’s Place in Rockford will also take in anyone, regardless of where they come from. Executive director Kay Larrick said their daytime shelter handles an average of 85 clients a day, mainly people looking to get out of inclement weather. They also have housing, not shelters, located throughout Rockford.
“How long they stay varies from case to case, depending on their situation,” she said. “Some have been homeless for many, many years and others have just become homeless. It’s easy not to be aware of their plight.”
Probably the biggest shelter is the Rockford Rescue Mission, which serves about 2,600 people a year in their 15,000-square foot facility, including 15 or so from Ogle County. Operating on a budget of $6 million, all from private donations, Executive Director Sherry Pitney says the mission has been operating for 53 years and takes people from as far south as Peoria and Springfield, as far north as Milwaukee and as far west as Des Moines, Iowa.
Pitney said clients are divided into “guests,” who only stay a night or so, and “residents”, who live there.
In Lee County, there are two shelters that help the homeless, including PADS and the Salvation Army.
Like all the shelters in neighboring counties, Pitney said you have to go to them. “We can’t come and get you,” she said.