JOURNEYS is a collaborative effort between the HOPE Center and PADS shelter sites focusing on intervention and prevention for those in need. The clinical staff at the HOPE Center provide a wide array of psychological services, including mental health counseling, vocational rehabilitation, and housing assistance, all geared to helping our constituents achieve independence. Along the way, 19 faith-based emergency shelter sites provide dinners and a safe, warm place to sleep from October through April.
The face of homelessness has changed. Financial instability now affects a wider segment of our population, extending into the middle class and even beyond. Our goal is to not only serve the needs of these people, but the community as a whole as our efforts provide services for free, and in turn, offset costs typically absorbed by hospitals, municipalities, and legal systems.
A Bit of History
From the desire to continue to complement emergency services with professional coordination of the therapeutic continuum of care, HOPE NOW, Inc. (created in 1992) and Northwest Suburban PADS, Inc. (created in 1989) decided to explore a merger. Merging these two agencies made perfect sense administratively and programmatically as both agencies served the same population— homeless and those at risk of becoming homeless. In 1998, HOPE NOW and Northwest Suburban PADS, Inc. made the decision to move their administrative offices and the Hope Center to a shared location. These two agencies operated in donated or rented space until 1999 when Northwest Suburban PADS and HOPE NOW received word that they had been awarded a large federal grant through Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to allow both agencies a permanent location at 1140 E. Northwest Highway in Palatine, Illinois. This location provided adequate space for the HOPE Center, and the grant provided an opportunity to rehabilitate the facility and expand the current services.
In October of 2001, HOPE NOW and Northwest Suburban PADS legally merged—forming the new agency known as Journeys from PADS to HOPE, a multi-funded, comprehensive service agency. The newly merged agency now houses two professionally run programs, the PADS program and the HOPE Center program.
| 2000 | JOURNEYS purchases 1140 East Northwest Highway in Palatine, offering a permanent location to house the administrative offices and the HOPE Center Program | |
| 2002 | JOURNEYS’ HOPE Center Program adds Mental Health Services, Vocational Services and Transportation Services | |
| 2003 | JOURNEYS adds a Development Department to focus on fundraising initiatives | |
| 2006 | JOURNEYS’ Vocational Department creates a client-run Lawn Service Business | |
| 2007 | JOURNEYS’ HOPE Center begins addressing housing stability by offering a Housing Readiness Program (Pathways) and partners with an affordable housing agency. |
Mission Statement
The mission of JOURNEYS | The Road Home is to individually assess and serve the homeless and near homeless, while broadening community awareness and involvement with the homeless.
Vision Statement
JOURNEYS | The Road Home is the nationally recognized agency for leading its local communities in providing effective, comprehensive services to the homeless and near homeless.
Board of Directors
Officers
President | Robert Arnold | Retired Consultant with Towers Watson
Vice President | Earl Goldman | Senior Vice President, Village Bank & Trust
Treasurer | Mark Walker | Former State Legislator, Retired Financial Consultant, Retired Citigroup Vice President
Secretary | Norene Rolenitus
Directors
Kara Kane Coleman | Marketing & Events Manager
Nancy Dorsey | Retired Educator, PADS Site Director
Lisa Eckert | Principal, Lisa Eckert Design
Ronald Freeman | Retired School Administrator
Steve Griffin | Senior Vice President, Eugene L. Griffin & Associates
Kurt Knuth | Owner, Knuth Construction
Burt Jensen | Retired FBI
Beth Nabors | Executive Director, Journeys from PADS to HOPE
John O’Connor | Attorney at Law and Partner, Drost, Kivlahan, McMahon & O’Connor
Allen Schmelter | Retired Controller, Illinois Insurance Guaranty Fund
Alan Stoeckel | Deputy Chief of Field Operations, Palatine Police Department
Jim Wagner | Inspector General, Illinois State Toll Highway Authority
Mark Walker | Former State Legislator, Retired Financial Consultant, Retired Citigroup Vice President