Peoria-based Phoenix Community Development Services is making its annual push for more financial support as it works to address homelessness in Peoria, Tazewell, Woodford and Fulton counties.
“I think there's a lot of myths out there that need to be dispelled on homelessness, and this is a night to help the community learn how this happens,” said Jolene Whisler, Resource Development Manager for Phoenix CDS, referring to their “Gimme Shelter” fundraiser.
“It's not just somebody who's necessarily addicted to something or who necessarily – there's unfortunately a bad rap sometimes where people think, ‘Oh, if somebody would just go get a job,’ or if they would not drink anymore, those kinds of things. It's not that way. It's a very complex issue; there's a lot of pieces to the puzzle.”
Whisler said Phoenix CDS uses street outreach teams to connect with individuals coping with homelessness, then works to secure them shelter and connect them with services.
“Long story short, we help individuals get into permanent supportive housing. And what this is, is this is housing for them to live in for the rest of their life that they like,” Whisler said. “It is a government-subsidized program, so there is a certain percentage that they do pay to us for rent. They also have supportive services, so whether they have any issues with any addictions that they need help with, we're able to give them the help they need.
“Also, what sets us apart is that we are a licensed, accredited behavioral health provider, which is very rare for agencies such as ours. We basically have our very own social work team. We have our case managers, and we're able to provide (clients) in-house support. So if they do have any mental health issues, we are able to give them the counseling that they need right in-house.”
The annual “Gimme Shelter” program gives participants a chance to simulate the experience of homelessness by spending 12 overnight hours sleeping outside, either in a cardboard box or in their car.
“We do choose the coldest month of the year for this specifically, because there are people right now in our very own community who are sleeping in tents, abandoned buildings, vehicles,” Whisler said.
This year, Phoenix CDS has expanded “Gimme Shelter” to include a Pekin site beyond its traditional Peoria location.
“In the Pekin area, unfortunately, their numbers of individuals experiencing homelessness has increased. So there is a need for us to have this event over there,” Whisler said. “We used to go to Pekin just once a week or outreach team, but now they go through twice a week. So we are trying to do all we can in Tazewell County.”
Whisler said Gimme Shelter goes a long way toward their goal of helping people secure permanent supportive housing.
“We don't have 2023 numbers yet, but in 2022, we ended homelessness for 485 individuals within the four-county region, and in 2021, we ended homelessness for 520 people,” she said. “So you do the math on that: that's over 1000 people in the last two years that at one time were homeless, and no longer are. They have a home of their own to live in and to thrive in and rebuild. So we have a lot of amazing, exciting things going on with our organization. But it's through the community and donations such as you give me shelter that we are able to do what we do. So this is a very important event for us.”
Whisler said last year’s Peoria-only fundraiser had 50 participants and raised around $89,000.
“We want people into the community to come to ‘Gimme Shelter’ to hear the talks that we have, because we have people – we have another person coming from another agency to talk about individuals experiencing homelessness,” she said. “But what's really cool and what sets us apart is for this particular fundraiser as we do a panel discussion. So we have a discussion with people that are on our outreach team. But we also have consumers who had have lived experience.
“That's important for us to have consumers there, so they can talk about how they became homeless – what their situation was at the time, how they learned about us, what we did to help them, and how they're doing now.”
The Gimme Shelter fundraiser is scheduled for Feb. 16 at The Riverplex in Peoria and the Miller Center in Pekin.
