Hesed House Relocation ‘Stopped Coronavirus Dead In Its Tracks’

AURORA, IL — Two weeks after the state of Illinois moved Hesed House residents out of the Aurora shelter and into a local hotel, shelter director Ryan Dowd shared “phenomenally good news” that no additional residents or staff members had tested positive in the most recent round of testing.

Hesed House, the second-largest homeless shelter in the state, relocated to a nearby hotel April 13 to allow residents to remain safe and socially distanced after several people tested positive for the new coronavirus. The Illinois Department of Public Health had told shelter officials they "should assume that every single person at Hesed House would get COVID" if they did not find a new space where residents could maintain proper social distance.

Aurora's Hesed House Relocates to Local Hotel

If Hesed House had remained at its River Street location, the coronavirus “could’ve ripped through” the shelter’s population living in communal areas, Dowd told Patch Monday. But with about 200 residents and staff members quarantined in separate units, the outbreak at the "Hesed Hotel" was limited to just six cases, Dowd said. State workers tested all residents, employees and Illinois National Guard members — who have been assisting with the shelter's operations at the hotel — on April 24.

“It looks like moving in the hotel completely stopped that outbreak dead in its tracks,” Dowd said in a video update. “It did exactly what it was supposed to do and saved lives.”

“It’s fantastic. This is exactly what we hoped for,” he added.

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With the outbreak seemingly under control and the hotel stay proving “brutally expensive,” Hesed House is preparing to move back to the Aurora shelter next week, Dowd said.

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Residents and staff members will be under a “quarantine lockdown” when they return to the shelter May 11, with no one allowed to enter or leave until Illinois’ stay-at-home order is lifted, Dowd said.

“We always knew this was a temporary solution,” Dowd said.