Church Shelter Open Tuesday As Village Seeks To Shut It Down

ORLAND PARK, IL — Village officials in Orland Park have ordered the Tuesday overnight homeless shelter at the Hope Covenant Church on West Avenue shut down over numerous alleged code violations, but Hope Pastor Jon Fogel says the village is not acting "with good faith."

The village said it found at least 28 health and safety code violations during a recent inspection at the shelter, which became the first homeless shelter to open in Orland Park in more than 30 years last month. The village has requested the church immediately stop its shelter service until the issues are addressed and the building is brought into full compliance with village code, according to a news release.

Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau said a court appearance was scheduled for Friday morning. According to a Facebook post from Hope Covenant Church, the judge did not make a final decision on the matter but also did not enact the temporary restraining order the village had requested so the shelter will be open next Tuesday night.

RELATED: Orland Park Has Its First Homeless Shelter In 30 Years

The inspection found a number of violations related to using a building intended solely for religious services for an overnight shelter, according to the village. Among the violations were temporary sleeping rooms with insufficient fire and carbon monoxide protections, "all of which negatively impact the safety of individuals utilizing the overnight shelter," according to the village.

Proper zoning for holding an overnight facility also had not been secured by the church, the village said.

“First and foremost, we are charged with protecting and maintaining the health and safety of the community, its residents and visitors; the sleeping arrangements utilized by the church does not meet these basic standards,” Pekau said. “We cannot simply look the other way on such critical life safety protections.”

But Fogel says the village's action is merely political and "a publicity stunt to appease a nominal population of nay-sayers." An overwhelming majority of Orland Park residents have supported the shelter, he said.

Fogel says Hope had reached out to the village multiple times before opening the shelter in early October but the village refused to meet with them "and never raised any safety concerns until recently."

"It was not until after a news article was published that any city official even reached out to us to discuss the shelter," Fogel said. "Moreover, the context of those concerns was categorically different than the village's current alleged issues with the shelter."

The pastor said the "single road-block" for the shelter is "an administration that has functionally acted not in good faith and has not offered an alternative solution to housing those experiencing homelessness in Orland Park.

"The question for all is whether a building, fully up to code for the purposes it is primarily used for, including being fully protected with fire suppression systems, with dedicated and trained volunteers, is more or less safe for the homeless population and the community than sleeping on the street in the winter months.

"If the village cannot provide adequate resources for the victims of domestic violence, veterans, senior citizens, infants, disabled, and other people at risk in Orland Park, I suggest they stop attempting to shut down the only place in our community currently attempting to keep those individuals off the frigid streets."

Fogel says the church will adhere to any specific recommendations the village has for best practices for the shelter falling in line with village codes when they receive them, "but the village's attempt to immediately shut us down after they have allowed us to operate for several weeks after the code inspection, is seemingly hypocritical towards the forgotten members of our community that they are now claiming they want to protect."

Orland Park Village Manager George Koczwara said the church should hire professional architectural and/or engineering services to ensure they meet the standards required to operate an overnight facility.

Fogel said the village did not inform the church of the violations and their intent to have them shut down before a news release was issued to local media this week, although Pekau refutes that and said the village did ask the church to stop operating the overnight shelter weeks prior.

The pastor and mayor are also at odds on whether or not there is an actual homeless problem in Orland Park at all.

Fogel said "we don't have a high accessibility to the homeless population because Orland is not a walkable community, but they are here" in a Patch article reporting on the shelter's opening last month, adding that a number of homeless individuals had shown up to the church on a frequent basis even before the shelter opened.

"It's certainly a nationwide problem and a metro Chicago problem, but there's not a homeless problem in Orland Park that I know of," the mayor said. "I only know of one homeless individual who is often seen in Orland Park. I personally have not observed the problem here."