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Need for Family Shelters
CHAMPAIGN-- By all accounts, One Winter Night was a success last Friday. Nearly 75 people slept outside Friday night in cardboard boxes to experience just for one night what life is like for area homeless. The fundraiser brought in over $40,000 that will be used to assist those in need.
Melany Jackson is the Executive Director for C-U At Home, and says, "That money is going to be used to take care of the folks we want to get off the street. It's going to pay rent, utilities, get household supplies, any medications they need. It's going to take care of the people we're housing. So these funds are going to allow us to keep going this year."
For all the success, there is still a pressing need for housing in one specific area: children and families. Kim Irwin is the Assistant Director of Housing and Support Services for Restoration Urban Ministries in Champaign, and says, "Typically shelters separate dads or any children over the age of 13, just for the safety. They don't have separate rooms to separate families out like we do." Restoration houses about 100 people, 25 of which are children, and makes a concerted effort to keep families together.
Irwin says, "Young adults, 18 and over, young men with children, which is something you don't find a lot of shelters will take. We have single women with children, we have married couples with entire families, so we really accept every configuration of a family unit."
But housing families like this is rare, and Restoration usually has a waiting list for rooms. Local volunteers continue to do the best they can to accommodate everyone with needs, but so far it has been difficult keeping up with demand. Says Jackson, "Right now, for an intact family, a mother a child, a father a child, or a mother father and child, the resources are very limited."
Adam Rife reporting
Need for Family Shelters
CHAMPAIGN-- By all accounts, One Winter Night was a success last Friday. Nearly 75 people slept outside Friday night in cardboard boxes to experience just for one night what life is like for area homeless. The fundraiser brought in over $40,000 that will be used to assist those in need.
Melany Jackson is the Executive Director for C-U At Home, and says, "That money is going to be used to take care of the folks we want to get off the street. It's going to pay rent, utilities, get household supplies, any medications they need. It's going to take care of the people we're housing. So these funds are going to allow us to keep going this year."
For all the success, there is still a pressing need for housing in one specific area: children and families. Kim Irwin is the Assistant Director of Housing and Support Services for Restoration Urban Ministries in Champaign, and says, "Typically shelters separate dads or any children over the age of 13, just for the safety. They don't have separate rooms to separate families out like we do." Restoration houses about 100 people, 25 of which are children, and makes a concerted effort to keep families together.
Irwin says, "Young adults, 18 and over, young men with children, which is something you don't find a lot of shelters will take. We have single women with children, we have married couples with entire families, so we really accept every configuration of a family unit."
But housing families like this is rare, and Restoration usually has a waiting list for rooms. Local volunteers continue to do the best they can to accommodate everyone with needs, but so far it has been difficult keeping up with demand. Says Jackson, "Right now, for an intact family, a mother a child, a father a child, or a mother father and child, the resources are very limited."
Adam Rife reporting
