Articles

Financial woes hit Glen Ellyn store that helps needy

Declining sales are threatening a Glen Ellyn store that uses proceeds to benefit the less fortunate. "This summer has been a nightmare," says Chana Bernstein, president of the SARET Charitable Fund, which provides financial assistance to residents in need.

Read the complete article at http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20110808/news/708089922/

Please share this letter with a few friends and help make this winter warmer for homeless children in DuPage county

Thanks to Glen Ellyn boy for helping a homeless family

By: Chana Shur Bernstein, president, SARET Charitable Fund

Dear Editor,

Early on Friday afternoon, October 15, SARET Charitable Fund (“SARET”) received a desperate call from a PADS homeless family needing help with a two night stay in a motel. The mother had been expelled from a Naperville church PADS shelter site for the next two nights due to a verbal argument with a PADS volunteer. As a result, without any money, no means of transportation and nowhere to go they’d have to live on the street. The children and the father, who were allowed to remain at PADS, did not want to abandon the mother alone on the streets.

Unfortunately, we had just mailed out all the monthly donations to SARET clients selected for aid, which totally exhausted the funds on hand. How were we to find help for this family, and most importantly the two children?

Just like our clients, SARET battles each day to survive financially, while helping others to survive. SARET is a local, grass roots charity dedicated to supporting hundreds of homeless and near homeless or disabled clients in and around DuPage County. With no governmental support or grants, SARET assists deserving individuals and families with economic aid covering housing, utilities, transportation assistance, and job training through our store.

Literally one hour after we received this call and made preparations to find them a low priced motel, but without knowing how SARET would pay the motel bill, a 12-year-old Glen Ellyn boy came in with his mother and handed us $150 in proceeds from his garage sale. We marveled at both the timing of this donation and also the wonderful coincidence that a child’s labor of love was going to keep two homeless children safe over the weekend.

This event happened exactly one day after the 33 Chilean miners rescue was concluded, and we were still marveling at that event. The miner’s plight and their remarkable rescue captivated the world for 70 days and was a testament to the impact people have when they work together in a concerted meeting of the minds and hearts to change the world. Those rescuers accomplished a remarkable miracle, as did this Glen Ellyn boy who probably doesn’t realize the impact and relief he brought into the lives of a homeless family which has endured numerous obstacles during their past two years of homelessness.

Could we also learn and apply life-changing lessons from the Chilean rescue mission and find ways to transform more effectively other rescue missions, whether they be weather or chemical disasters, or the problems with America's economy today. How do we turn terrible situations around and resolve them?

What if more miracles could be worked for other homeless children? And, how fitting it would be if some of the thousands of more economically secure children in our area could put their hearts and minds into helping the hundreds of homeless DuPage County children. How can we turn terrible situations around and resolve them right here in our own backyard ?

The current realities for both DuPage homeless singles and families without a car are bleak and are even more grueling during the cold winter months. An average of about 180 homeless people are served by the PADS multi-site church shelters in DuPage County. The homeless have to find means to get to those scattered shelters, with luggage and with children, on foot. They need to spend hours each day to get on 1-3 buses each way to reach the next evening's PADS site. That transportation can take hours of their time, and is very expensive: Each bus ticket costs $1.75. When they arrive at the PADS site, they never know for certain whether there will be a place for them that night or if they will be “lotteried out” as happens both in the winter when poor weather makes shelter sleeping more attractive, and also in the summer when only one PADS site is operational. Spending hours trying to commute obviously hampers those homeless who want to work but have no way to secure reliable transportation. There are also other challenges for homeless children in these sites pertaining to the presence of chronic drug abusers who make very negative impacts on these children.

It takes $1000 to keep a homeless family sheltered for one month in a low cost motel. A more stable living situation near a bus line makes it easier to find work, and to get to work reliably. Children who have a more stable living condition will be more likely to succeed in school, and can walk or take a bus to school, saving the school districts tens of thousands dollars in cab fare rides that currently must be paid for children staying in PADS sites.

SARET would like to start an Adopt a Homeless Family Project with the help of school staff, children and their parents, networking towards the goal of housing homeless children in our county.

So far, DuPage County has miserably failed to accomplish this goal. DuPage has one tiny shelter that houses about 6 families at any given time. Kane County has three large permanent site shelters serving hundreds of clients. The PADS program is a hindrance to homeless families who don’t have reliable transportation. It is more useful for those who have means of transportation. The transitional housing programs out of Catholic Charities and Bridge Communities have long waiting lists. There are too many families needing help right now that can’t wait. We at SARET will make ourselves available to spearhead this project that will focus on families who are truly dedicated to securing employment.

If 1000 people were to donate $150 each, whether from their pockets, or from their garage sales, SARET could house over 15 homeless families for one year.

Will you join us in accomplishing this goal and infuse hope in the lives of homeless children?

Saret Treasures of HopeA Rainbow of Possibilities

Saret Treasures of Hope
A Rainbow of Possibilities