Pandemic pushes Kendall County PADS to keep temporary homeless shelters shuttered

 

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By Tom Siebert

Assistant Director for Community Relations

Public Action to Deliver Shelter (PADS) of Kendall County

 

The continuing COVID-19 health threat has forced Kendall County PADS to not provide emergency meals and overnight stays to the homeless community during the coming colder six months.

 

“The highest priority of the PADS organization is to protect the health and safety of the many volunteers and homeless people who would be at the shelter sites this fall and winter,” said Anne Engelhardt, executive director of the nonprofit support group.

 

She went on to explain how the organization’s board of directors engaged in “thoughtful dialogue” to make the difficult call, citing public health considerations such as:

 

•    The PADS temporary overnight shelter program takes place indoors and would quickly exceed the recommended number of people in a designated space.

 

•   Social distancing would have been nearly impossible for guests who typically dine together and sleep in common areas.

 

•   There would have been a need for hard-to-obtain personal protective equipment (PPE) including masks and disposable gloves for volunteers and guests.

 

•   Both guests and volunteers would have had to undergo temperature checks and fill out extensive daily questionnaires, in addition to being quarantined if a COVID-19 case was identified.

 

•   There were challenges of sanitization before, during, and after each of the seven shelter sites were occupied, as well as reconfiguring the areas available for serving food, eating, and sleeping.

 

•   A significant number of PADS leadership staff and volunteers are at high risk for contracting the coronavirus.

 

•   Officials at three of the sites were unable to commit to providing safe shelter for the overnight program at this time.

 

•   Though many volunteers expressed their desire to participate in this shelter season, which was scheduled to open on Oct. 21, they also were concerned about potential exposure to the virus.

 

Ms. Engelhardt said that anyone needing food and shelter in Kendall County should call the Daybreak Center in Joliet at (815) 722-4633 or visit their website at https://catholiccharitiesjoliet.org/daybreak-center/.

 

“Because we are deeply concerned about the well-being of the homeless men, women, and children who will be seeking shelter and meals, we wanted to make sure we would have a place for referral,” she stated. “We are grateful for the partnership with Daybreak.”

 

Since 2010, Kendall County PADS has been providing nutritious meals and safe, temporary housing at seven makeshift shelters from mid-October through mid-April. And since 2015, social work interns from Aurora University have conducted case management to assist guests with finding employment, overcoming personal issues, and securing permanent housing.

 

The shelter sites, housed at six area churches and a Christian academy, were shut down last March 15 due to the rapidly spreading coronavirus, also known as COVID-19. Social workers met with homeless guests to help them find alternative temporary housing and stayed in touch with them for the next four weeks via texts and phone calls.

 

At the time there were approximately 400 deaths caused by the viral outbreak in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Since then the CDC has recorded more than 192,000 confirmed casualties in the U.S. The latest local figures are 1,847 cases resulting in 26 deaths, according to the Kendall County Health Department.

 

Before the sites were prematurely closed, Kendall County PADS was on pace to serve a near-record number of guests, Ms. Engelhardt noted. During the 2019–2020 shelter season, the total number was 54 men, women, and children. Overall, there were 1,391 overnight stays and 4,173 meals served.

 

During the entire ten shelter seasons, there were 528 guests, 12,397 overnight stays, and 37,498 meals served.

 

Each year the homeless support group needed more than 500 volunteers, some of whom served only once or twice per month, to staff the seven shelter sites, working four-hour shifts.

“We thank the selfless giving of our volunteers during the past ten years,” said Ms. Engelhardt.  “We hope that many of our furloughed volunteers as well as many new volunteers will come forward to serve the homeless in PADS when we reopen.”

That reopening will not likely occur, however, until a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine has been widely administered to the public, she asserted.  “We will reach out to past volunteers and to the wider community for volunteers to assist Kendall County PADS when the program continues its mission.”

 

Sandy Lindblom, chairperson of the PADS board of directors, said shelter site coordinators will be asking volunteers if they would be willing to help provide meals at the Daybreak Center.

 

Ms. Lindblom, who has served for several years as site coordinator at Yorkville United Congregational Church of Christ, said further that the health department was working with Kendall Area Transit to provide transportation to those seeking food and shelter at the Daybreak Center.

 

And she was optimistic that PADS would reopen its doors to the homeless next October. “Hopefully, this year will get us rejuvenated and ready with a fresh start for the following season.”

 

Kendall County PADS is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) group funded by donations received from grants, gifts, individuals, organizations, and businesses. Those interested in helping the local homeless community may call (630) 334-8180 or visit kendallcountypads.org.

 

Both PADS and the health department, which partner with the DuPage and Kendall Housing Authority in placing people in affordable housing, have long expressed the need for a permanent solution to homelessness in the area.

 

“The coronavirus has exposed disparities in our social system and the necessity to address the needs of the most-struggling people in our communities,” Ms. Engelhardt said. “More people are losing their jobs and living on the edge. With increasing unemployment, more people will likely become homeless.

 

“Offering overnight shelter is only one part of the complexity of homelessness."

Local baseball fans put Pete Rose 'on trial' in Aurora and Naperville

By Tom Siebert

 

During the months-long coronavirus pandemic, sports-starved area residents were among the  millions of Americans who satisfied their cravings by tuning into “The Last Dance,” the ten-part ESPN documentary on the Chicago Bulls’ run to their sixth NBA championship during the 1997-98 season. 

 

But even now with COVID-19-delayed professional basketball and hockey playoffs underway, and a truncated baseball season in full swing, some local legal minds recently tackled one of the most controversial debates in sports history. 

 

Several community leaders, who also happen to be passionate major-league baseball fans, staged a mock trial to determine if MLB’s all-time hits leader, Pete Rose, should be inducted into the Hall of Fame, despite his lifetime ban from the game for gambling as manager of the Cincinnati Reds. 

 

The three-act play was held in July at the historic Naper Settlement and a film of the proceedings was premiered last night at the Aurora Tap House.

 

Many of the local stars in “The Trial of Pete Rose” were on hand at the mostly social-distanced tavern, including former Naperville City Council member David Wentz, a lawyer in real life who opened  the “trial” with one of the longest sentences since the first paragraph of Charles Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities.” 

 

“Ladies and gentleman of the jury, I represent every baseball fan across the nation to express the frustration that for the past thirty years, one of the greatest players to ever play the game has thus far been denied the opportunity to redeem himself and take his place back in the game as one of the greatest ambassadors of our national pastime.” 

 

Current council member Kevin Coyne, also an attorney and representing major league baseball,  hit back: “Mr. Wentz paints a unique picture in order to revise history. I stand before you today to defend the memory and legacy and future of our nation’s pastime.” 

 

Presiding over the proceedings was DuPage County Judge James F. McCluskey, while former county board chairperson Janice Anderson was the forewoman of the six-member jury. 

 

She explained that the verdict had to be unanimous and that was why the baseball great, who led the Reds to two winning World Series in 1975 and 1976, and also won one MLB championship with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1980, was a loser in this local court of public opinion.

 

“We all believed in redemption but we also felt that there should be consequences for people’s actions,” she said. “We had to ask what would it mean for future generations if we said that cheating was okay.” 

 

The hits king was portrayed by Naperville City Council member John Krummen, while Dave Sinker, an alumnus of Chicago’s famed Second City comedy troupe and owner of Aurora’s Comedy Shrine, played the late baseball commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti, who died eight days after banishing Rose from the game on Aug. 24, 1989. 

 

Mr. Rose, also known as “Charlie Hustle” and admired during his 24-year career by fans, fellow players and the press, holds the lifetime record for most hits, 4,265, in addition to several other MLB records. 

 

For fifteen years, he denied gambling from 1985-86, and specifically on his Reds in 1987. But the legend of the baseball diamond publicly admitted to most of the wagering allegations in 2004. 

 

The local event was produced by Vizo Arts of Aurora and Fox River Country TV, and promoted awareness of the Salvation Army.

 

The talented team is planning to stage a production based on the so-called Black Sox Scandal, when eight members of the Chicago White Sox were banned from baseball for allegedly accepting gambling money prior to playing in the 1919 World Series, which the team lost, ironically, to Cincinnati. 

 

The scandal prompted then-baseball commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis to implement Rule 21, stating, “Any player, umpire, or club, or league official, or employee, who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has a duty to perform shall be declared permanently ineligible.” 

 

The players who put on “The Trial of Pete Rose” are betting their next at-bat will be another hit.

Judson University in Elgin planning to begin in-person classes on Aug. 24

By Tom Siebert

Judson University announced today that school officials are planning to begin the fall semester with Welcome Weekend on Aug. 21 and in-person classes on Aug. 24.

"We will continue to comply with all federal and state guidelines, as well as our own high standards, for the health and safety of our entire community––students, faculty, staff, and guests," said Mary Dulabaum, Judson's director of communications and marketing.

The university will start with a progressive return of Judson staff throughout the summer and will include opening the campus to visitors and events as the Illinois stay-at-home order is lifted, she added.

The state is currently under a shelter-in-place directive from Gov. J.B. Pritzker until May 30, due to the coronavirus health crisis.

According to the Illinois Dept. of Health, the state has recorded 79,007 coronavirus cases and 3,459 deaths as of noon today.

For the fall semester, Judson will follow appropriate health testing, screening, and tracing; cleaning and sanitizing; and social distancing as necessary in classrooms, residence halls, the cafeteria, athletic events, and other student activities and events, according to Ms. Dulabaum.

University leaders are also developing at least three contingency plans for adjusting its strategies, based on continuing developments and changes to governmental guidelines.

Current students, prospective students, faculty, and staff were informed of the university's plans yesterday.

Judson is a Christian institution representing the church at work in higher education. Nestled along the Fox River in Elgin, the university is home to more than 1,250 students from 36 states and 30 countries.

The school offers degrees in more than 65 different majors and minors for traditional, graduate, and adult students, ranking consistently among the Best Regional Universities in the Midwest by U.S. News & World Report.

Judson has also been recognized as a "Christian College of Distinction."

Coronavirus forces Kendall County PADS to close its shelters but not its hearts to homeless community

 

   Jillian Liff served as Kendall County PADS volunteer this past shelter season at St. Luke’s 

   Lutheran Church in Boulder Hill. (Photo by Dale Liff)

 By Tom Siebert

Assistant Director for Community Relations

Public Action to Deliver Shelter (PADS) of Kendall County, IL

The rapidly spreading coronavirus pandemic forced Kendall County PADS to abruptly cut short its tenth shelter season by about one month, but not until volunteers sought help for their homeless guests in securing alternative temporary housing.

Earlier this month, the PADS board of directors decided to defer to school closings and local health officials before deciding whether to close its seven shelters, located at six area churches and a Christian academy. The sites had been scheduled to remain operating until April 18.

“Although the board agreed to the guidelines for closing, we were able to stay open for three more nights so we would have a couple of days to make some quick decisions for some quick solutions,” said Anne Engelhardt, executive director of the homeless support group.

Three social work interns from Aurora University, which partners with PADS, visited the shelter sites on the last three overnights they were open, meeting with their homeless clients and committing to stay connected with them via phone calls and texts.

“They will continue this support for four more weeks,” said Ms. Engelhardt. “Most of our guests were able to find a place for shelter immediately or in the near future.”

PADS provided transportation to four of those guests who were placed at the Daybreak Center in Joliet, which offers emergency housing and supportive services to individuals and families in crisis.

Volunteers responded to the shutdown with a mix of emotions ranging from disappointment, to gratitude for the service opportunity, to concern for the homeless, coupled with a commitment to help out during the next shelter season, which runs from Oct. 18 through April 17, 2021.

"I am so sorry to hear about PADS closing even though I understand the rationale,” said Cathe Gusler, who served at the Parkview Christian Academy shelter on Wednesday evenings. “Thank you for giving me the honor to assist this program. Please keep me in mind for next year and let me know if there is anything I can do to help during the off season."

Another volunteer, Jillian Liff, was both grateful and gratified after her first season of serving on Saturday nights at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Boulder Hill, unincorporated Kendall County near Montgomery.

“PADS brought me together with people from the community once a month to offer what we could––in my case a hot meal to people who are struggling,” Ms. Liff stated.  “Because each of us on the cooking team took one or two elements of the meal, we were able to provide some pretty tasty and nutritious home-cooked dinners. It felt good to be a part of PADS this season.”

Kendall County PADS has been providing nutritious meals, temporary housing, and compassionate care to the area’s homeless during the colder months of the calendar since 2010.

During this past shelter season, the support group hosted more than 50 guests, which translated into more than 1,300 overnight stays during 21 weeks.

In addition to Parkview and St. Luke’s, the makeshift shelters were at Yorkville Congregational United Church of Christ, Cross Lutheran Church in Yorkville, Harvest New Beginnings church in Oswego, Trinity United Methodist Church in Yorkville, and Church of the Good Shepherd in Oswego.

Kendall County PADS is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) group funded by donations received from grants, gifts, individuals, organizations, and businesses.

Those who wish to donate, volunteer, or learn more about helping the local homeless community may call (630) 334-8180 or visit kendallcountypads.org.

The potentially deadly coronavirus, designated as COVID-19 by the World Health Organization (WHO), spreads primarily through contact with an infected person when they cough or sneeze. It is also transmitted when a person touches a surface or object that has the virus on it, then touches their eyes, nose, or mouth.

As of 7 a.m. on March 23, there were 358,082 confirmed cases of coronavirus worldwide with 15,433 resulting in death; 39,371 cases and 467 deaths in the United States; 1,049 cases and 9 deaths in Illinois; and four cases and no deaths in Kendall County.

Those recorded numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths, which are expected to rise drastically, were obtained from the WHO, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Illinois Dept. of Public Health, and Kendall County Health Dept., respectively.

Following the closing of the temporary shelters, Ms. Engelhardt sent a letter of appreciation to all PADS volunteers, which read in part:

“You have demonstrated over and over your dedication to helping the people who live in homelessness.  You faithfully pass on kindness through your warm hospitality. Thank you for your selfless gift to others in need these past five months.”

Gen. David Petraeus to speak at Judson University’s World Leaders Forum

By Tom Siebert

Former CIA Director David H. Petraeus, a retired four-star general who commanded U.S. forces in both the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, will be the keynote speaker at Judson University's ninth World Leaders Forum next fall in Schaumburg.

"General Petraeus is the most respected and influential military leader in the post-9/11 world," said Judson University President Dr. Gene Crume. "He represented American values on the world's stage for many years. As conflicts grow around the world, General Petraeus will offer our community a measured, experienced perspective on global issues."

The decorated general has said that his foreign policy views are not in alignment with the Trump administration. But he praised the president's order last month to assassinate Iranian terrorist leader Qassim Suleimani.

"It is more significant than the killing of Osama bin Laden or even the death of [Islamic State leader Abu Bakr] al-Baghdadi," he said at the time.

A 37-year military veteran, Petraeus was appointed director of the Central Intelligence Agency by President Barack Obama in July 2011. He stepped down from that position in November 2012 after an extramarital affair and pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of mishandling classified material passed onto his mistress.

Petraeus currently serves as chairman of the Global Institute, an arm of the investment firm KKR. He is also an honorary professor at the University of Birmingham in Great Britain, as well as a board member for the Institute for the Study of War, the Atlantic Council, and more than a dozen veterans service organizations.

In addition, the retired military leader is the recipient of the Bronze Star Medal for Valor, the Combat Action Badge, the Ranger tab, and master parachutist wings. And he has been decorated by 13 foreign countries.

The goal of the World Leaders Forum is to present Judson students and the Chicagoland community with an opportunity to be inspired by significant thought leaders. Proceeds fund Judson Leadership Scholarships and innovative entrepreneurial activities, as well as support ongoing operations of the Forum.

Previous keynote speakers at the annual event were former President George W. Bush; ex-Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice; former Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev; ex-British Prime Minister Tony Blair; former Mexican President Felipe Calderón; Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan; former U.S. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and ex-Vermont Gov. Howard Dean; and author, attorney, and diplomat Caroline Kennedy.

Located in Elgin since 1963, Judson affords students a Christian, liberal arts and sciences education through its Bachelor of Arts degrees in more than 60 majors, minors, and graduate programs. The university also offers online courses, in addition to certification and accelerated adult-degree programs. For more information, visit www.JudsonU.edu.

First World War film '1917' is a stunning cinematic masterpiece

By Tom Siebert

The brilliant new movie “1917” is seemingly and seamlessly filmed in one continuous shot, capturing the chaos of World War I in two harrowing hours, with no respite from reality and not even a moment to mourn the mounting dead.

All is anything but quiet on the Western Front in Northern France when too-young British lance corporals Will Schofield (George McKay) and Tom Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman) are tasked with the perilous mission of hand-delivering retreat orders to the 2nd Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment, lest 1,600 soldiers including Tom’s brother are massacred in a counterattack by the German army.

Thus begins director Sam Mendes’ shell-shocking drama that accompanies Will and Tom as they painstakingly traverse a hellscape of mortar, machine guns, barbed wire, bloody waters, and bloated bodies––testing them physically, psychically, and spiritually.

Based partially on the stories told to Mr. Mendes by his grandfather Alfred, who fought in the so-called Great War, “1917” is precisely choreographed with slow- and fast-moving cameras that immerse the viewer into the battlefield action as well as the ever-changing emotions of the main characters.

It is a cinematic feat that will be taught by film professors who were once wowed by Orson Welles’ opening tracking shot in 1958’s “Touch of Evil” and Alfred Hitchcock’s 1948 thriller “Rope,” with its smoothly rolling cameras that appeared to present the narrative in real time.

But “1917” is much more than digital trickery and technical gimmickry by famed cinematographer Roger Deakins. It is also a colossal engineering and architectural accomplishment.

The pre-production crew dug a mile of deep trenches through the Scottish plains and erected more than 150 3D models of war-ravaged sets.

During filming the characters’ movements and sparse dialogue had to be perfectly synchronized with each “scene.”

And everyone had to deal with the moods of the sun, since the film could be shot solely under the gray skies that prevailed during the actual day of the wartime event, April 6, 1917.

During their race-with-time rescue operation, wide-eyed Will tells his comrade Tom: “We need to keep moving!” And so does this relentless shark-like movie, which has been nominated for 10 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay.

In one particularly stunning sequence, lance corporals Schofield and Blake search for occupying German soldiers in the bombed-out rubble of a town that is literally lit up by the white glare of phosphorous flares.

This primitive technology is evidenced throughout “1917.” For instance, the airplane was not invented until 1903, but fourteen years later it had become a crude weapon of war, as depicted by a dizzying dogfight between British and German planes.

Moreover, the heartrending scene of a soldier bleeding to death was sadly typical in the First World War, long before the introduction of MASH units in the U.S-Korean conflict and medical helicopters during America’s decade-long military involvement in Vietnam.

And aside from the cynical banter of an animated bunch of British soldiers riding in the back of a transport truck, there is virtually no discussion in this otherwise ambitious film about what started the cataclysmic war, which took the lives of more than 20 million people.

For the historical record, on June 28, 1914, a Serbian nationalist assassinated the presumptive leader of Austria-Hungary, which then attacked Serbia.

Russia and its interlocking allies France, Italy, and Great Britain were then drawn into the war against Central Powers Austria-Hungary, Germany, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire.

Better communications between the countries may have prevented the First World War, just as improved field telephones would have negated the need for the miles-long foot mission of Messrs. Schofield and Blake to the front lines.

And when the stand-down message is finally conveyed to Colonel Mackenzie (Benedict Cumberbatch), the commanding officer laments, “I hoped today might be a good day. Hope is a dangerous thing.”

That may be true, but we must all hope and pray there will never be a World War III. Because with nine countries now possessing nuclear weapons, there would not likely be anyone left on earth to make a movie about it.