From The Executive Director

...A Haven for Homeless Women and Children

HAVEN NEWS
From The Director's Chair

Fifteen Years of Caring Together

As we celebrate the 15th Anniversary of The Lake County Haven, we look back at all that has been accomplished and forward to all we have yet to do.

When Mike Gretz and Peg Bradley joined a committee at the First Presbyterian Church of Lake Forest to help fight homelessness in Lake County back in 1992, they had no idea what lay in store for them or the legacy they would create. Peg and Mike were shocked to discover homelessness was a problem in Lake County. After all, our communities are not big cities, where you see homeless people on the streets and sleeping on park benches. Here, homelessness is often a sad and quiet secret. People who have jobs but no place to sleep at night aren’t announcing that fact to their co-workers. With the other burdens of homelessness comes great shame. Many people don’t know where to go or who to reach out to for assistance. Fortunately, there is an association called “Continuum of Care” in Lake County, Illinois which links all of the social service agencies. This organization works in conjunction with all of the agencies to refer homeless men, women and children to the resources best suited to their needs.

Peg and Mike and the other early volunteers probably could not have imagined the future of The Haven back in 1992. They might not have dreamed we would help more than 650 women and children by giving them shelter, counseling, training and case management to empower them to live independently for the rest of their lives. That The Haven would own a shelter building as well as three condominiums, and rent eight other apartments and condominiums in Libertyville to house our clients. That we would be paying off a mortgage on our office building, which is a duplex with a client living on one side and our offices on the other. They might not have believed we would employ three full time case managers, two overnight supervisors, one support staff person, our Volunteer/ Resource Manager and Office Manager. How we have grown!

Our former Executive Director, Denise Brown, resigned in December to take a job closer to her home in Chicago. I have taken over the position in her absence. Anyone who has ever volunteered their time at The Haven can tell you that there is nothing as satisfying as helping out at this particular organization. Getting to know the women as they rebuild their lives, learn and grow, get better jobs because of the computer and job skills training they receive is as rewarding an experience as anyone could ask for. I feel fortunate to be able to interact on a daily basis with all the staff and clients of The Haven. Simply put, everyone involved with this organization is “fighting the good fight.” We hope to continue that endeavor until homelessness is eradicated in Lake County, Illinois. With your continued support, we know that dream will someday become a reality.

Through all of the changes over these past 15 years, we have always had the stable support of generous, caring individuals, civic organizations, churches and government programs in our city and surrounding community. We thank each and every one of you for that support.

Sincerely, Cindy Harger, Executive Director

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