Oak Lawn Trustees Pass Homeless Shelter Ordinance

OAK LAWN, IL -- Oak Lawn trustees approved the first-ever ordinance that will regulate the village’s homeless shelters, but with the changes and amendments recommended by pastors, whose churches currently serve as overnight shelters for homeless guests. Before trustees took a vote, village attorney Kevin Casey, of Peterson Johnson Murray, gave an accounting of the changes and new language to be incorporated into the ordinance, in line with some of thechanges suggested by the pastors.

The deadline by which to renew the annual license to operate a shelter was corrected to read October 1. Another change would require shelters would be to keep records of homeless guests’ names and their dates of stay for seven years. Shelter managers may extend hours of operation in the event of inclement weather or to accommodate evenings on which religious services are held. Overnight shelters must also maintain a policy of making reasonable efforts to accommodate homeless guests who previously resided in Oak Lawn. While shelter managers and volunteers are prohibited from providing medical care, flu shots administered by a medical professional are permitted.

“There has been a lot of dialogue with residents, pastors and in-person meetings,” Casey said. “There have been some proposed amendments presented to the board this evening relative to the ordinance.”

Jennifer Rickenberg, who said she is homeless, told the board she never thought she’d find herself in this position.

“My name never used to be homeless, it steals your dignity. You don’t know who you are anymore,” she said. “When you’re homeless and don’t have very good health and you’re not very sure what you’d be able to do in the course of a day, you want a safe place to stay.”

A volunteer at the Pilgrim Faith United Church of Christ shelter questioned the motives behind the ordinance. Grant Suhs said restrictions prohibiting future shelters from being located 500 feet from schools and preschools treated the homeless like registered sex offenders.

“I think the ordinance is still rooted in fear,” said Grant Suhs. “The second misconception is about the homeless themselves. We think these people are lazy, dishonest and criminal is just not true. These people are veterans, domestic violence survivors or mentally iill and disabled or people who’ve had incredible bad luck … this entire thing needs to be re-conceptualized.”

Oak Lawn-resident Mary McNamara praised the work Oak Lawn churches are doing to address the homeless issue.

“I’m simply a resident of Oak Lawn,” McNamara said. “I just want to thank the [village] board in balancing the health and safety concerns of all the residents, because of that not everyone is going to be happy ... I would be in support of it. I think it’s fair and balances the needs of all parties.”

Tr. Terry Vorderer (Dist. 4), who’s been involved with the PADS program since its inception in 1997, said that while not a perfect document, the changes have made it a better document.

“I support the whole concept of the program but as an elected representative, I have fielded many concerns from my constituents about different issues that the program causes,” Vorderer said. “We all accept it but we need to keep an open mind to make amendments as we move forward.”

Tr. Bob Streit (Dist. 3) asked that the ordinance be tabled to make continued refinements. He also mentioned a phone call the village manager received on Monday from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development regional office requesting a meeting about the ordinance. Streit cautioned that could affect the $275,000 the village receives in HUD community block grants.

“I’ve heard from countless residents and volunteers. They would like more time to work out the details of the ordinance,” Streit said. “I think that’s reasonable enough to table the ordinance until [the HUD meeting] takes place.”

No one seconded Streit’s motion. Oak Lawn trustees voted 5 to 1 to approve the ordinance. Streit was the dissenting vote.

After the meeting, Rev. Peggy McClanahan, who has been at the forefront of negotiating changes to the ordinance, said it still makes it more challenging for the churches that serve as shelters “but I think we’ve got something that’s workable.”

Photo: Oak Lawn village attorney Kevin Casey addresses changes to be made to the proposed ordinance at Tuesday's village board meeting. | Patch Editor Lorraine Swanson