West Chicago, Illinois: October 4, 2013 – The West Chicago PADS homeless shelter, located at the First United Methodist Church, 643 East Washington Street, opened its doors on Thursday to provide the first night of shelter for those in need.
PADS, which stands for Public Action to Deliver Shelter, is a Wheaton-based non-profit organization. The First United Methodist Church is one of a network of 28 overnight housing sites throughout DuPage that operates such a shelter. It is one of the Church’s many volunteer ministries with a mission of serving others. It operates at the West Chicago location on Thursday evenings during the months of October through May, and provides people with a warm meal, safe place to sleep, breakfast and a bag lunch.
Volunteers are always needed to assist in various capacities, and the Church recently hosted an orientation meeting to outline some of the responsibilities of this rewarding ministry. According to Brian Hendricks, a volunteer coordinator at the Church, the best thing volunteers can offer to guests of the shelter is their time and their encouragement. He also added that an aging volunteer population is making it more challenging to meet these needs with each passing year.
Anyone interested in helping to make a difference through PADS is encouraged to contact Hendricks at 630-333-0640 or hendricks@fnal.gov.
