The Proposal: DuPagePads proposes to expand its capabilities by purchasing a hotel located at 1113 Butterfield Road in Downers Grove and repurposing it into a 130-unit Interim Housing Center. Utilizing the existing hotel model of interim housing provides improved health and safety features for client families, and it enables DuPagePads to offer enhanced services to help individuals transition to a permanent housing solution based on their unique situation.

A Proven Solution To End Homelessness, Improved Outcomes For All: Covid-19 forced DuPagePads to meet its mission differently and rethink how to best provide interim housing solutions to individuals and families. Using its experience providing a hotel model of temporary respite accommodation, DuPagePads used existing hotel rooms in DuPage to provide temporary housing for over 430 individuals, including 130 children, since the pandemic. Providing clients privacy in a secure space to temporarily house themselves or their family has resulted in an 80% reduction in mental health incidents and a 75% reduction in health incidents such as flu, respiratory illness, or other physical health issues.

An Interim Housing Center Tailored To The Needs of Families & Children: At any given time, approximately 33% of DuPage County’s homeless population are children. Parents are often reluctant to utilize congregant sheltering or other environments because they lack privacy, security, and space for families to call their own. Re-imagining a hotel property into the DuPagePads interim housing center will help prevent children from living in their cars with their families and other dangerous living situations. DuPagePads will prioritize rooms at the interim housing center to families with children, individuals with mobility issues, and those fleeing domestic violence.

A Center That Ends Homelessness: The interim housing center does not serve as an intake point, and clients will complete screenings with staff prior to checking into the facility after consultations with DuPagePads at other locations across the county. After checking in at the center, clients are no longer without shelter and can focus on stability using other resources and support to obtain economic and housing independence again. Clients and their families will have a secure room 24/7 until a more appropriate stable housing solution can be found. At the property, DuPagePads and other community partners will offer centralized support services that are provided at numerous sites across the county. DuPagePads has observed a 500% increase in the utilization of case support services from clients utilizing the hotel model of interim housing.

A Response To Covid-19: Using a hotel model of shelter has demonstrated proven health, wellness, and security benefits. Providing clients with a private room and washroom reduces the risk of infectious illnesses spreading to families, volunteers, caseworkers, and health care providers. Investing in this interim housing center will provide DuPage County with an asset to help end homelessness, improve the community and residents’ health and safety overall, and support individuals on their journey to regain housing independence.

The DuPage County Way: The DuPage County Board has instilled the importance of improving service levels through innovation and cooperation. DuPagePads’ proposed interim housing center is consistent with the Board’s legacy and vision of innovation. The housing center will facilitate better outcomes for clients at lower overall social and economic costs, and improve the quality of life for families and individuals in need of a helping hand.