La Grange Coronavirus: Homeless Shelter On Lockdown

LA GRANGE, IL — The governor's shelter-in-place order may work for those who have shelter to begin with. It's not so effective for those without.

In its 31-year history, La Grange's Beds Plus homeless shelter has taken in those who need a place to stay. But because of the coronavirus, the shelter has declined to accept any new people because of state regulations to stop the virus' spread.

"It's breaking our hearts," Erin Molek, Beds Plus' community engagement coordinator, said in an interview.

The shelter, 9601 E. Ogden Ave., serves those in La Grange, La Grange Park, Western Springs, Lyons and Brookfield, among other towns. It now houses 28 people and has another 30 in area hotels, Molek said. The hotel lodgers are "established clients" who are families and vulnerable healthwise, she said.

Additionally, the shelter serves another 100 people with a variety of other services, including providing food and ensuring they go to medical appointments, Molek said.

The shelter is on lockdown. Residents can leave to go on a walk or smoke, but they cannot visit family and come back, Molek said. As for meals, "we're in a very large room. People can eat at different tables. Only one person at a time can come up for food."

Because of the hotel costs, the shelter is in particular need for donations. And the community is coming through, Molek said.

Many residents have been defraying the shelter's costs by ordering meals at restaurants and having them go to shelter residents. In one case, a man made a $500 credit card payment to La Grange's Palmer Place Restaurant, knowing the business helps area charities. With that money, the restaurant is providing two meals for each shelter resident, Molek said.

In an email to the La Grange Business Association, Molek described instances in which people have helped the shelter recently. Vikram Singh of Kama Bistro, for instance, emailed to see how Beds Plus was doing.

"At this time when many small businesses and restaurants are themselves at risk, he reached out to us to see how they could help us — wow," Molek wrote. "As you can imagine, this touched my soul and the staff at BEDS. We are working with Kama to coordinate meals for our shelter clients, vulnerable housed clients and and individuals we have placed in hotels who are at risk."

Blueberry Hill Breakfast Cafe is another of the restaurants that have helped. It will donate staple items to those in the shelter, Molek said.

"This is a story about going above and beyond," Molek told Patch.

To help the shelter, email volunteer@beds-plus.org or visit its website. Check out the shelter's latest update on the shelter's coronavirus response.

Read more:

Illinois Coronavirus Update: 19 Deaths, Nearly 2,000 Cases

Don't miss updates in La Grange as they are announced. Sign up for Patch news alerts and newsletters.