PADS of Elgin is facing a $500,000 budget gap that threatens the services it provides to the homeless, its executive director says.
The homeless shelter, located at 1730 Berkley St., has an annual budget of $1.7 million, almost half which had been coming from federal American Rescue Plan Act funds meant to provide support during the COVID-19 pandemic.
That funding has now ended, PADS Executive Director Katie Shaw Thompson said, and the nonprofit is trying to find new revenue sources to make up the shortfall in its 2025-26 budget, which started July 1. The funding the agency receives from the state, Elgin and Hanover Park townships and several foundations is not enough to cover the gap, Shaw Thompson said.
“We have a diverse level of support, but we really need to grow the support of the public to pivot away from federal funding and we need to do it in an urgent way,” she said.
PADS accepts donations through its website and is holding several fundraising events in the next few months, she said. The Hops for Homes-OktobrFest is set for Sept. 18 at the Plank Road Tap Room in Elgin and another event is being put together for November.
PADS was launched in 1989 as an overnight emergency shelter by a group of area clergymen. It later morphed into a 30-bed shelter and began offering shelter and housing programs to help people find longer-term solutions for their housing needs. The shelter is almost always near capacity and the average stay is between 90 and 120 days, Shaw Thompson said.
Guests receive services such as case management, and its open access lobby allows people to come in for a meal or to pick up hygiene products and to get out of inclement weather, she said. PADS also offers small grants to help families stay in their homes, she said.
PADS is different than an emergency shelter, she said.
“We are able to serve people in a crisis. But they do not stay one night at a time. This is a program that helps them move through a season of homelessness,” Shaw Thompson said. “It becomes a home.”
The goal is that guests go on to find permanent housing, she said.
PADS had been run mostly by volunteers prior to the pandemic, but because volunteers weren’t allowed at the shelter during COVID, they lost many of the people they’d relied upon and were forced to hire staff to run programs, she said.
They currently employ 18 staff members, about half of whom work part time, and they rely on volunteers to do things like prepare meals, she said.
“We are really in a much different world (post-COVID),” she said. “We need to cover this gap but also make a more sustainable plan for the future.”
While the budget gap seems insurmountable, their guests serve as inspiration for Shaw Thompson and her staff, she said.
“What makes me hopeful is seeing the effects of the work we are able to do here,” Shaw Thompson said. “It’s really incredible every time we have a guest who moves out. Those stories move me and keep me motivated to do this work and try to overcome the challenges we face.”
PADS needs “to right the ship and make sure we have the structural pieces in play,” Shaw Thompson said. Until then, they need help from the community, she said.
Shaw Thompson took the role of executive director earlier this year, having previously served as pastor of Highland Avenue Church of the Brethren.
“It’s really incredible to live in a community like this, and it gives you hope and faith,” she said. “There are obviously a lot of problems in the world and harms we cause each other, but there is also a lot of good.”
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.