For the second year in a row, the McHenry County Community Foundation is partnering with Pioneer Center for Human Services to offer a 2-to-1 match on all SleepOut for Shelter donations up to $100,000. SleepOut for Shelter is an annual fundraiser and awareness event for McHenry County PADS, the homeless program of Pioneer Center. Participant’s donations will now go three times as far because of the generous match!
“The Community Foundation is pleased to partner with Pioneer Center in support of the annual SleepOut for Shelter event – and ultimately create a solid base of financial support for another year of this critical program. The tremendous community support generated through this event – as well as the awareness it creates for the homelessness topic across our county – makes this partnership even more important, said Robin Doeden, Executive Director of the Foundation. “We are honored to be a small part of the solution.”
McHenry County PADS merged with Pioneer Center in 2005 and since then has offered emergency and transitional housing coupled with support services in order to help individuals who have become homeless work towards becoming self-sufficient. These support services enable individuals to receive case management, access to vocational programs, life skills training, and counseling, as well as day-to-day services including access to showers, laundry facilities, transportation, computers and an address at which to receive mail.
“Receiving the matching grant for the first time last year really challenged the community and event participants to see just how much of an impact they could make,” said Laurie Bivona, Director of Marketing for Pioneer Center. “Because of last year’s match, we had the highest participation numbers to-date and raised more than $80,000…securing the full $100,000 match for and contributing in total over $180,000 to McHenry County PADS.”
Despite a continuous battle with funding cuts, McHenry County PADS services remain in high demand. In 2015, nearly 300 men, women and children sought services with 188 people receiving services through the Day Center Program and 117 people, including 32 families with 26 children, staying in emergency sleeping beds or the transitional living facility.
“We are so grateful for the support of the McHenry County Community Foundation,” said Sam Tenuto, Interim President and CEO for Pioneer Center. “Their support of our community and the people in it is tremendous as displayed by this generous matching grant for SleepOut for Shelter. Programs like McHenry County PADS just wouldn’t be possible without their support.”
To learn more about SleepOut for Shelter or the 2-to-1 match made by the McHenry County Community Foundation, visit www.SleepOutforShelter.org.
