Kendall County homeless face toughest time finding housing in Illinois

By Tom Siebert
Assistant Director for Community Relations
PADS of Kendall County

The homeless face more financial challenges in securing permanent affordable housing in Kendall County than in any other metropolitan area in Illinois, according to a recent statewide study.

The average rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Illinois is $977, said Bob Palmer, policy director for Housing Action Illinois, which conducted the study.

“In order to afford this level of rent and utilities--without paying more than 30 percent of income on housing--a household must earn at least $39,067 annually,” Palmer asserted. “Assuming a 40-hour workweek, 52 hours per year, this level of income translates into a housing wage of $18.78.”

In Kendall County, however, that projected housing wage rises to $22.52 per hour, the highest of 15 metropolitan areas in the state, the study, entitled “Out of Reach,” found.

A Kendall worker making the state minimum wage of $8.25 per hour would have to work 93 hours in a week to afford a two-bedroom apartment in the county.

Kendall County Public Action to Deliver Shelter (PADS) is sensitive to the often out-of-reach housing costs in the community, said Anne Engelhardt, executive director of the nonprofit agency. That’s why Kendall County PADS is committed to another season of providing temporary, safe shelter and nourishing food to the men, women, and children within the county who are homeless or just in need, Engelhardt said.

Since 2010, Kendall County PADS has assisted more than 300 men, women, and children, she stated. That translates into 5,794 overnight stays and 17,369 meals served to the agency’s “guests.”

From Oct. 18, 2015, through April 16, 2016, Kendall County PADS will provide homeless shelters from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. And once again, seven churches have generously committed to hosting PADS guests at the following sites.

Sundays: Cross Lutheran Church, 8609 Route 47, Yorkville.
Mondays: Yorkville Congregational United Church of Christ, 409 Center Parkway, Yorkville.
Tuesdays: Harvest New Beginnings, 5315 Douglas Road, Oswego.
Wednesdays: United Methodist Church of Plano, 219 North Hale Street, Plano.
Thursdays: Trinity United Methodist Church, 2505 Boomer Lane, Yorkville.
Fridays: Church of the Good Shepherd, 5 West Washington Street, Oswego.
Saturdays: St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, 53 Fernwood Road, Boulder Hill.

Tax-deductible donations may be made online at www.kendallcares.org or by mail to Kendall County PADS at P.O. Box 1136, Yorkville, Ill. 60650. Caring volunteers are always needed, valued, and greatly appreciated.