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Group proposing shelter in Boulder Hill church revising plan to focus on helping women and children · Kendall County News - Shaw Local

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  Group proposing shelter in Boulder Hill Church revising plans to focus on
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  helping women and children.
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  Written by Eric Shelkopf. This article is being read by an automated
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  voice, brought to you by Everlet. A group that has been considering
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  putting an emergency overnight warming shelter in the neighborhood church of the
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  Brethren in Boulder Hill Subdivision is revising its plans to focus on
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  unhoused women and children. Over the past several weeks, we've had some
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  difficult but important conversations as about the proposed emergency overnight warming center
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  in Kendall County. Oswegel and Community House announced on its Facebook page,
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  we've heard concerns, met with community members, gathered more information, and taken
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  a closer look at that we can safely and responsibly provide. Whether
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  the shelter will open in the neighborhood Church of the Brethren remains
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  up in the air. Church of the Brethren, officials are currently surveying
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  parishioners to see how they feel about the proposal, said the Reverend
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  Pat Fish, pastor at Becoming Oswego Church, during a service on October
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  11th that was broadcast live on Becoming Oswego's Facebook page. Fish is
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  on the board of Oswegoland Community House. With strong opposition from residents
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  to a warming shelter in the neighborhood Church of the Brethren, the
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  group has said it is looking at other locations, available resources, and
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  partnerships that could help us meet this need responsibly. Boulder Hill Subdivision
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  residents packed the neighborhood Church of the Brethren on September 24th to
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  speak out against an overnight warming shelter in the church, which would
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  serve the unhoused. A food pantry and clothes closet are also proposed
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  as part of the project. Residents concerns were centered on the church's
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  location next to uh Oswego School District 308's Boulder Hill Elementary School.
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  Under the latest proposal, the shelter would serve individual, adult women and
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  families with dependent children. Adult men would only be eligible when they
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  are a parent or legal guardian within an eligible family household. Individual
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  adult men who are not accompanying dependent children as part of an
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  eligible family household would not be eligible for overnight accommodations. Safety procedures
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  would be in place at the shelter, including that no drugs, alcohol,
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  or weapons would be allowed, and registered sex offenders would not be
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  admitted to the shelter. In a statement, Oswego Township officials said the
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  township has no jurisdiction regarding the proposal at this time and that
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  the Kendall County Planning, Building, and Zoning Department and the Oswego Fire
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  Protection District are handling any matters regarding zoning or permits. Before the
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  September 24th meeting, Lisa Cook, who heads up the Facebook group Boulder
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  Hill Voices, was in front of the church gathering signatures on a
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  petition against the proposed shelter. It is a safety concern having it
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  next to a school, said Cook, who has two children who attend
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  Boulder Hill Elementary School. Cook said she has lived in Boulder Hill
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  subdivision for twenty-two years. Boulder Hill, which is in Oswego Township, is
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  the largest unincorporated subdivision in the state. As of July 2021, more
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  than 8,000 people live in the 1.45-square-mile subdivision. In
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  talking about the need for the shelter, proponents said an estimated 343
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  people experience homelessness on any given night, across the combined region of
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  Kendall, Will and Grundy counties according to the Will County Continuum of
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  Care. The discussion turned heated, with some in the crowd yelling such
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  phrases as this is our home during Oswigoland Community House's presentation. Nobody
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  in here is against helping, said Boulder Hill resident Martin Ramirez, who
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  also voiced his opposition to the project. I have a nine year
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  old son and an eleven year old daughter, so I am very
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  passionate about what is happening here. It's not what you're doing, it's
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  where you're doing it.