by Kristin Reinger
I have worked with the PADS program, “Public Action to Deliver Shelter,” for more than 15 years and am on the PADS leadership team at my church, Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church in Arlington Heights. PADS is a traveling homeless shelter.
During the cold months, various churches and faith-based organizations open their doors from 6 p.m. to early the next morning to clients of “Journeys: The Road Home”. The guests arrive at the church and are welcomed with a home-cooked meal from October through April. They are also provided gently-used clothing, coats, shoes, boots, new underwear and socks, toiletries, a “pad”/mattress to sleep on, blankets, pillow, a shower, laundry services, etc. – for the evening.
There is usually a television, good conversation, games, books and other activities should they wish – but many of the homeless are tired and retire early in the evening after being out in the elements all day.
In the morning, a hot breakfast is provided, in addition to a sack lunch before the guests pack their belongings and head off for their next journey. The next evening, another church will open its doors to the homeless guests.
From May through September PADS also coordinates a program called “Summer Suppers for the Homeless” and others in need. The goal is to bring guests in from out of the summer heat for only a couple hours, offering showers, a hot meal, clean clothes, toiletries and non-perishable food items – but not an overnight stay. With coordination of other volunteers and faith-based groups, we are now feeding our friends in need 21 to 28 nights of each summer month.
But the pandemic changed everything! We were all on lock-down, but what about our guests? They would be in dire straits if left to the streets and the winter elements.
So, we started a modified PADS program in March 2020, when the stay-at-home order was enacted. Through a number of significant donations to Journey’s, our homeless guests were put up in local hotels.
However, we still needed to provide nourishment to our friends. Initially, each group kept their original volunteer nights – ours were Saturdays. Because we were on lockdown, we had to create a way to feed our guests as safely as possible. As the monthly coordinator, I went shopping for non-perishable food items for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. I was given free reign of an area in church — where I would not be in contact with anyone — to organize everything. Then I had a volunteer park their car by a church door and I would fill their car with the items for delivery. I did this for breakfast, lunch and dinner. All socially distant, of course.
We moved to a drive-thru/walk up system during the summer since we were feeding both the homeless and those in need. We had to limit the number of volunteers, due to the virus, and when possible, we had families work together.
In the fall, we changed course. This time, we set up meals at church with our limited number of volunteers putting together to-go meals. We had a volunteer then take all the meals to the hotels where our guests were staying. This worked well until the virus numbers got much worse. This is when we contracted with a local Popeye’s chicken restaurant to provide full meals to our guests, all delivered by a volunteer.
Despite the epic challenges presented by this health crisis, our pandemic meal program has been consistent since March 2020. We have seen our numbers increase from 75, one full day per week in the spring months; to nearly 200 homeless and others in need, once or twice per month in the summer; to 115, twice a month since October 2020.
This been such a rewarding experience. We had to make changes to accommodate everyone’s needs – including that of the virus! Not one person could do this alone. We are lucky to have so many fabulous volunteers and donations as well as the outstanding support of our church. The PADS program is one of its finest and most important ministries! We are so blessed to give back in any way we can – to offer hope, love and nourishment to the very susceptible homeless community.