Woman Shares Story of Homelessness; Sleep Out Saturday is Today

Written by Scott Viau

Homelessness is something that can happen to anyone and that’s the message Naperville resident Jeannette Jelinek will be bringing Saturday to the 12th annual Sleep Out Saturday event that will be held throughout DuPage County.

Jelinek’s story of homelessness began with an abusive relationship. She was engaged to a man she had been with for 11 years and had a child with. They had bought a home together but they weren’t married and her name wasn’t on the house. Her fiance got another woman pregnant. When Jeanette confronted him about it, he kicked her down a flight of stairs in front of their son and kicked them both out of the house.

“I didn’t have anywhere to go,” she said. “Most of my family lives in Texas and I didn’t want to call any of my family out here. I was embarrassed, I was shameful.”

Jelinek and her son slept in a car for four days in December 2013.

“The hardest part about that is to hear your son say to you that they’re so cold and you can’t do one thing about it. I just had to hug and hold him tighter,” Jelinek said.

But that’s when Jelinek discovered the Bridge program, a Glen Ellyn-based transitional housing and mentorship program for DuPage County homeless families.

“It’s hard to reach out and humble yourself to get help and I want people to know that there is help there,” Jelinek said. “Sometimes when you’re so low you feel like there’s now way out.”

Right now, Jelinek is in transitional housing and is in the process of buying a house through Habitat for Humanity.

“I don’t have to worry about that anymore,” Jelinek said.

On Nov 7, an estimated 2,000 teens and young adults will participate in an outdoor, all-night fundraiser: the 12th annual “Sleep Out Saturday.”

Approximately 75 sleep-out sites will be scattered throughout DuPage County on church lawns, in school parking lots and in families’ backyards. There will be 50 total sites throughout the county, including a site at St. Mark’s Church, 393 N. Main St. in Glen Ellyn.

The participants will sleep in cardboard boxes, portable tents and cars – as homeless families are forced to do. From beneath sleeping bags and around campfires, they will create awareness of the growing need for shelter for at-risk families and raise money to support Bridge Communities’ programs, including housing, life-skills mentoring, financial counseling, employment training, tutoring and an auto program.

“Sleep Out Saturday” will kick off with an outdoor rally in downtown Glen Ellyn at 505 Crescent Blvd. from 6 - 8 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. It will feature live music from the School of Rock, emcee Judy Hsu of ABC7 Chicago and personal testimonials from current Bridge Communities families.

The need for this event is evidenced by recent statistics:

• In 2013, DuPage County had 64,737 people with incomes below the poverty level.
• The number of children in poverty is 9.8 percent of the population.
• The unemployment rate in DuPage County in October 2014 was 4.8 percent which left 25,808 persons unemployed.
• In 2014, 3,215 persons in 1,236 households received financial assistance for rent, security deposits, moving costs, or mortgage in order to prevent them becoming homeless.
• Families comprise more than 50 percent of the homeless population, which the majority of these families headed by single women.
• Families with children are one of the fastest-growing segments of the homeless population.
• In 2014, Bridge Communities received 2,458 calls requesting information about available housing.

Since the first “Sleep Out Saturday” in 2004, more than 11,000 people have slept out to help homeless families, raising more than one million dollars to date. Every $35 raised provides one night of housing for a homeless family.

Groups or individuals of all ages are invited to participate in “Sleep Out Saturday.” To register, make a donation or view stories of real families that have benefited from “Sleep Out Saturday,” visit sleepoutsaturday.org or call Chad Pedigo at 630-545-0610, ext.19.