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The MSHV was founded and
incorporated in 2000 by
Robert M. Adams of Winfield,
Illinois. |
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The Midwest Shelter for
Homeless Veterans is a not-for-profit transitional living facility
that
provides assistance to U.S. veterans of any
era
for the opportunity to return to useful and productive lives by
providing them with the skills
for
independent living.
The
MSHV was founded and incorporated in 2000 by
Robert M. Adams of Winfield, Illinois. Mr. Adams
is a US Navy combat veteran of the Vietnam era,
and a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) in
private practice. Over the past years, Mr.
Adams, through his private practice, has been
providing individual, group, and family therapy
especially for veterans. Mr. Adams has
specialized training in the treatment of
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) of which
many veterans in his practice are afflicted.
In 2004, Dirk Enger of Winfield, a USMC combat
veteran of Operation Desert Storm and a Union
Iron Worker joined Mr. Adams in working with
government agencies, veteran service
organizations, trade unions, and other entities
in exploring the possibility of opening a
transitional housing program for veterans of all
eras in DuPage County, Illinois. In 2005, a very
active Board of Directors was developed, and
they are all very involved in the further
development of this organization (see Exhibit
A). In the fall of 2005, MSHV entered into an
agreement to lease (with an option to purchase)
a single family home at 119 N. West St. in
Wheaton, Illinois to serve as our inaugural
shelter.
In November 2005, the Wheaton City
Council granted MSHV a special use permit, and a
zoning change to use the property as a
transitional housing program. In January 2006,
the City of Wheaton Group Care Home Commission
issued a license to MSHV to operate a group care
facility upon purchase of the property. In
February 2006, the DuPage County Community
Development Office awarded the MSHV a $300,000
grant through the Federal Community Development
Block Grant program to use for a capital
expenditure for the property. The property was
purchased in June 2006. In the fall of 2006, the
U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs awarded
MSHV a capital grant to aid in the purchase of
the home, as well as a van for outreach and
shelter transportation purposes. A full-time
Case Manager, and full time House Manager Staff
was hired and trained, and we opened our doors
to veterans on January 08, 2007. A grand opening
was held on January 20, 2007 with 250 people in
attendance. The Board of Directors officially
named the shelter the LCpl Nicholas Larson Home
for Veterans, in memory of a Wheaton native who
was killed in action in Iraq in 2004.
We currently are at full capacity, with a small
waiting list. Since the Shelter opened in 2007,
twenty-nine veterans have gone through the
program. The MSHV program has a 71% success rate
(meaning that veterans are housed, employed and
substance free) upon completion of the program,
with 66 percent of the vets remaining housed,
employed and substance free after one year. The
average length of stay for a veteran is 9
months. MSHV is the only veteran specific
transitional housing program in DuPage County.
The MSHV program has been cited as the model
program for a transitional housing facility in
Illinois by the VA Medical Center at Hines
Hospital and by the Illinois Department of
Veterans Affairs. |
