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Group proposing shelter next to Boulder Hill school looking at other locations after strong opposition · Kendall County News - Shaw Local

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  Group proposing shelter next to Boulder Hill School, looking at other locations
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  after strong opposition. Written by Eric Shelkoff. This article
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  is being read by an automated voice brought to you by Everlett.
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  In the face of opposition to a proposal to put an overnight
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  warming shelter in the neighborhood Church of the Brethren in Boulder Hill
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  Subdivision, the group proposing the idea now plans to look at other
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  potential locations. Ultimately, winter's coming, Oswegoland Community House
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  states in a post on its Facebook page on Thursday. Our neighbors
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  still need shelter, families still need food, and people in vulnerable situations
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  still need our community's support. The need has not changed, and we
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  cannot allow disagreement over the solution to prevent us from finding one.
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  The group said it intends to meet with community leaders, organizations, churches,
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  service providers, and other stakeholders to explore different models, potential additional locations,
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  available resources, and partnerships that could help us meet this need responsibly.
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  We hope to find another supportive entities like the Church of the
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  Brethren willing to donate space. Boulder Hill Subdivision residents packed
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  the Neighborhood Church of the Brethren on September 24th to speak out
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  against putting an overnight warming shelter in the church, which would serve
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  the unhoused. A food pantry and clothes closet are also proposed as
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  part of the project. Residents concerns, were centered on the church's location
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  next to Oswego School District, 308th's Boulder Hill Elementary School. We're
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  listening to the community to find alternate models that meet our criteria,
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  fill the needs, and address all safety concerns the group post-states. We
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  will continue to communicate with the Osbegolen community as we find a
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  way forward to help our neighbors in need before the temperatures begin
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  to drop. Before the meeting Lisa Cook, who heads up the Facebook
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  group Boulder Hill Voices, was in front of the church gathering signatures
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  on a petition against the proposed shelter. It is a safety concern
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  having it next to a school, said Cook, who has two children
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  who attend Boulder Hill Elementary School. Cook said she has lived in
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  Boulder Hill subdivision for 22 years. Boulder Hill, which is in Oswego
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  Township, is the largest unincorporated subdivision in the state. As of July
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  2021, more than 8,000 people live in the 1.45-square-mile subdivision.
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  When it is thirty two degrees or less, we will take folks
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  who do not have a place to sleep, said the Reverend Pat
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  Fish, pastor at Becoming Os We Go Church, in talking about the
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  need for
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  the overnight shelter. Realistically we're looking at maybe twenty people. We we
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  would pick them up and take them back so that there's no
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  loitering. Fish is on the board of Oswegoland Community House, as proposed.
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  Guests would be required to depart the property each morning, likely at
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  six thirty AM before students begin arriving for school. To ensure security,
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  plans called for the installation of security cameras around the church, along
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  with having a trained security watch team on duty. In addition, no
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  drugs, alcohol, or weapons would be allowed, and registered sex offenders would
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  not be admitted to the shelter. In talking about the need for
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  the shelter, proponents said an estimated three hundred and forty three people
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  experience homelessness on any given night across the combined region of Kendall,
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  Will and Grundy counties, according to the Will County Continuum of Care.
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  The discussion turned heated, with some in the crowd yelling such phrases
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  as this is our home during Oswegoland Community House's presentation. Nobody in
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  here is against helping, said Boulder Hill resident Martin Ramirez, who also
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  voiced his opposition to the project. I have a nine year old
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  son and an eleven year old daughter, so I am very passionate
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  about what is happening here. It's not what you're doing, it's where
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  you're doing it.