Grundy Area PADS helped record number of clients

Grundy Area PADS helped a record number of clients get sustainable housing over the last year, aiding 54 people and helping 38 graduate to self-sufficiency since February 2024.

Phil Wardlow, Grundy Area PADS board vice president, said helping 54 people in one year eclipses the previous high of 20, and the 38 who have graduated to self-sufficiency means they’re paying their rent, utilities and food gas.

“I think it makes a big impact for our community, knowing that people went from a homeless situation and now they’re safely housed and able to function like anybody else in our community,” he said.

The rehousing program started in July 2018, and PADS has helped 125 people get into their apartments. In that time, PADS has been able to expand its staff with grant resources along with help from the community.

PADS aids the unhoused by working with local landlords to provide apartments temporarily while helping its clients reach a point where they can sustain themselves.

Wardlow said other organizations in the community have been helpful because while PADS doesn’t have expertise in everything, its employees can point those seeking help in the right direction.

Many different challenges

People end up homeless for many reasons, many of which aren’t within their control.

“There’s no cookie-cutter approach to this,” Wardlow said. “You have to meet the client where they are.”

Wardlow said PADS number one concern right now is what the organization is going to do for shelter next fall.

Last year, PADS was able to work with the United Way of Grundy County to obtain an emergency food and shelter program grant that allowed it to rent hotel rooms to provide shelter. That grant is no longer available.

“What we really could use help in is finding a method of providing emergency shelter to those who find themselves in a homeless situation in Grundy County,” Wardlow said. “Otherwise, we’re going to have to refer them to places like Daybreak or MorningStar.”

Daybreak and MorningStar Mission in Joliet provide emergency shelter and support. PADS would like to keep their clients in the community for better access, though.

Wardlow said PADS would also like more landlords to work with. It has 24 apartments that it rents for clients, and he said another 24 would be wonderful.

Finding that much additional housing is a challenge, though.

“Everywhere in the nation right now, there’s a dearth of available housing,” Wardlow said.

“However, I really want the community to know we have a few landlords who work with us very closely, and they’re wonderful. They’re providing apartments for our clients and getting them so they’re not exposed in the environment for that period of time,” he said.

Funding uncertainty

Another challenge PADS faces is the potential for President Donald Trump’s federal funding freeze, which is being challenged in court by the state of Illinois. Wardlow said there were three days where PADS didn’t have access to their grant dollars.

“We do have some money that we can redistribute, that we’ve gotten for donations,” Wardlow said. “That is unrestricted, and that could have floated us for a month ... but we could not have survived a two month freeze while somebody reviewed whether we still qualified for the grants.”

Wardlow said the initial review process is already a large hurdle that takes around a year to process. Grundy Area PADS already had to prove why it needed the grant and has been approved for it. Wardlow said it couldn’t have survived the two or three months it would’ve taken for an additional review.

“What we’re trying to do is find a means to bankroll some funds so we could survive a three month freeze, and eventually we’d like to get to be able to float for six months without having access to grant money,” Wardlow said. “We are nowhere near that right now.”

It puts a strain on the organization, he said, because it has staff with specialized training and skills that have to be paid. If they can’t be paid, they can’t be retained, and then PADS would have to go through the process of screening more applicants and then training a new employee to do the same work.

As far as the board goes, Wardlow said the Grundy Area PADS Board is entirely volunteer, to the point that nothing is spent on the board. All funding goes directly to Grundy Area PADS.

To support the nonprofit’s mission, donations can be mailed by check to Grundy Area PADS at 1409 N. Division St., Morris, IL 60450. The office can be reached at 815-942-3245 or visit grundypads.org.