Our Ninth Annual Women's Luncheon is next month on Wednesday, April 26th! Today is also International Women's Day, a day that celebrates all women, and brings awareness to issues related to women, like gender equality, domestic violence, reproductive topics, and women's contributions to society, politics, and culture. 

This month, I was able to have a conversation with Katie Barrett Ford, JOURNEYS' Woman of the Year 2023. Katie is a true example of what it means to be a woman who is also a professional powerhouse and community advocate. She currently serves on JOURNEYS' Advisory Board, but has been involved with JOURNEYS since 2015. 



​
We talked about her history with JOURNEYS, how homelessness affects our shared community, and the importance of our Women's Luncheon as an opportunity to bring attention to the experiences of women and children experiencing homelessness or at risk of becoming homeless.

Congratulations, Katie, on being awarded Woman of the Year, and thank you for your continued support and advocacy for our neighbors in need!

"My mom was involved with JOURNEYS before it was even called JOURNEYS | The Road Home. She set a strong example for what it means to give back to her community. I learned a lot about giving back from watching her help with PADS at various churches in the area for over twenty-five years.  
I was born in Arlington Heights, but I ended up living downtown and then all over the world. Eventually I returned to Arlington Heights and have lived here now for quite some time. I had a successful career, an amazing family, and I was looking for a way to give back. So, when Beth reached out to me about getting involved with JOURNEYS, I truly believed that it was divine intervention. 

I've been in the media marketing profession for 29 years. When Beth brought me on, she had a specific remit in thinking about how we can drive JOURNEYS marketing capabilities. I secured free media for our biggest fundraising event of the year, Bid for HOPE, including billboards and bus shelter ads to boost awareness. I’ve since been able be a point of contact for JOURNEYS when it comes to expanding and developing its marketing and messaging, and I’ve always been happy to parlay my expertise.    

I think it’s everyone’s responsibility to give back however they can. Many people don’t think there’s homelessness in the northwest suburbs. But poverty is right in our backyard. And as a community, that’s where our obligation is – and exactly where JOURNEYS lives and works.  

We were finally able to build a beautiful new facility where there's so many services to help people get back on their feet. JOURNEYS has never had this kind of state-of-the-art facility before. What’s truly incredible is that it’s a community initiative created by neighbors for neighbors. 

JOURNEYS helps people no matter who they are. Poverty isn't specific to a gender or an age group; it’s prevalent across all ages, genders, and races. 

JOURNEYS’ Women’s Luncheon highlights how our demographics transcend many of the stereotypes of homelessness and how our clientele has evolved over the years. Homelessness is often represented by a struggling adult male, but our data show that 43% of our clients identify as women and 25% are children. JOURNEYS serves not only individuals, but also families, something that’s important to highlight as an agency serving a large suburban area. 

As an agency, JOURNEYS is sustained by a lot of female leadership. Beth, our Executive Director, is an amazing leader. I admire her passion and persistence. Her dogged tenacity is what brought JOURNEYS to where it is today. That’s why it’s an honor to be recognized by her and JOURNEYS as Woman of the Year. It’s a role I envision as one of advocacy. I want to help make connections and drive awareness. It’s the natural inclination of people to want to do good. It’s human nature to want to help. I want to make it as easy as possible for people to get involved and give back, whether that’s financially or with their time. 
​
That’s what JOURNEYS is all about: giving back. Making connections. Advocating a “never-take-no" attitude for our clients on their journeys home and for the wider community as we support our neighbors. It takes a village." 

Transcribed and arranged by Roxanne Gentry, Marketing Associate

I was excited to have the the opportunity to sit down with our newest board member, Amy Williams, to talk about why JOURNEYS' mission is so important in our suburban community. Take a look at what she had to say, and why she believes JOURNEYS | Lives Here is just as much about acknowledging the visibility of homelessness in suburban spaces as it about addressing homelessness as a community. 






"I’ve called Schaumburg home for 30 years. It’s really important to me to find an opportunity to give back in a positive way to the community, especially given the disruption from the pandemic. The work JOURNEYS does has a profound impact on so many people, and its work is something I really value. 

As a board member, I am excited to be able to leverage the knowledge I’ve acquired throughout my career to help contribute to JOURNEYS’ mission. I’ve been in communications and PR for 25 years, serving primarily healthcare and wellness. Regardless of the kind of work I’ve done, whether I'm trying to get people to buy something or to do something, storytelling is so critical. It’s all about getting people to believe in something.  

I believe that JOURNEYS’ mission is absolutely critical.  

I think all too often people hear of homelessness, and we think, “Oh, that's an inner-city problem. It's not in my community. We don't have that here.” For me, JOURNEYS | Lives Here is a reminder that homelessness can happen to anyone, and people at risk of being homeless can live anywhere. It’s a reminder that homelessness is an issue that touches every community. If for no other reason than that, it's up to the community to help address it, and everybody has an opportunity to play a role."
​
Transcribed and arranged by Roxanne Gentry, Marketing Associate​

As we begin the new year, we're reviving our blog features! First up is our Board President, Tony Butler, who took his new position back in September. I had the opportunity to talk to Tony about his connections to the community, his plans as Board President, and what JOURNEYS | Lives Here means to him.









​"Much earlier in my career I was working as a firefighter paramedic in Hoffman Estates, and I went to a medical call in a motel. When we went inside there was a family of four and two dogs living in this small motel room. The two kids were at the little table doing their homework, and they had all their personal belongings stacked up to the ceiling, and a little cooktop apparatus on the counter to cook their food. I just thought, 'We've got to do better with this. I know we can do better than this and help people in these situations.' 

So, when Beth, our Executive Director, asked me to be on the Board in 2019, remembering that experience years ago, I didn’t hesitate. For the last two years we've had to be focused on COVID and the construction of the new building and raising the necessary funds. As Board President, I really want the Board to start thinking more strategically and taking a longer view of things now that the new building is up and that we're back to normal operations since the interruptions at start of the pandemic.

I’m going to start thinking about how we structure our board by forming smaller committees focused on specific issues. This will allow the Board to focus hard on these key areas, and move our mission forward! 

As we look toward the next three to five years, we want to make sure we’re maximizing our operations, using our facility to its full benefit and maximizing its impact. Our service area stretches from Streamwood all the way to Lake Michigan. That’s a lot of people within a large area where JOURNEYS makes a footprint.

​When I think of where JOURNEYS lives, it really lives everywhere. We have the opportunity before us to improve a lot of lives. "

Transcribed and arranged by Roxanne Gentry, Marketing Associate

Last week I had the privilege of representing JOURNEYS at the Housing Matters Conference in Bloomington. This conference was held by Housing Action Illinois—a state-wide coalition of over 160 nonprofit, government, and corporate organizations dedicated to ending homelessness and expanding quality affordable housing throughout the state.

This conference brought together over 200 individuals from the social services, financial, and government realms to learn from and share experiences. There was an array of diverse programming connecting various issues in housing instability with state-wide and community-focused solutions.

Rates of chronic homelessness have increased across the state, and Continuums of Care (CoC) face challenges meeting the needs of their communities while themselves being supported. Homelessness is not a unique experience, and rural, suburban, and urban homelessness look different. To combat this, Governor Pritzker signed the Executive Order to Fight Homelessness in Illinois, which created the Illinois Interagency Task Force on Homelessness and The Community Advisory Council on Homelessness. The technical language boils down to “Home Illinois: Illinois’s Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness,” a 2-year collaborative plan focused on building affordable, supportive housing; bolstering the safety net; securing financial stability; and closing the mortality gap. While this plan cannot ensure that homelessness will never happen in Illinois, it can ensure that an individual’s housing insecurity will be “brief and one-time.”

Another fascinating conversation centered on medical respite care—acute and post-acute care for people experiencing homelessness who are not ill enough to remain in a hospital but are also too ill to recover on the streets. Often, the unhoused are unable to access healthcare and face shorter lifespans and higher rates of illnesses compared to their housed peers. Housing is healthcare.

Respite centers like The Boulevard, RISE Center of Cook County, and Sojourner House offer apartment-style quarters with private kitchens and bathrooms. These are not medical facilities, and they provide secure, dignified living arrangements so individuals can focus on healing and strengthening their physical and mental health for successful independent living. Because these individuals are often unhoused or at-risk of losing their homes, housing case managers and social workers coordinate with agencies to secure affordable housing and keep those at-risk in their homes; these providers also arrange clinical care, transportation, and other services for their clients. Overall, respite centers have proven to be cost-effective and tremendously beneficial; they truly are the future for providing quality services and eliminating health disparities for the unhoused.

My experience at the Housing Matters Conference has left me with new knowledge and a renewed desire to connect JOURNEYS with a wider community of advocates.

Through partnerships with other organizations in the coalition, JOURNEYS continues to grow, learn, and serve the unhoused and at-risk.

Written by Amanda Stocchetti, Grant Associate

After 33 years of experience in serving the unhoused and at-risk of homelessness, JOURNEYS is well-versed in what homelessness is and looks like. However, not everyone agrees on how to define homelessness. 

According to the Oxford Encyclopedia of Social Work, homelessness is defined as “the situation where someone lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence." This definition, unfortunately, is not specific enough for all tracking agencies to record homelessness in the same way, causing disparities in accounting for homelessness to arise. 

For instance, Chicago’s homelessness count for 2020 was interpreted in two drastically different ways: the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless counted doubled-up households, which are two or more households sharing a single residence, in their count and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) didn’t. While HUD only excluded one population, the contrast between the two organization’s final numbers is shocking. HUD totaled 5,390 people experiencing homelessness, but the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless reported 65,611. 

After adding the doubled-up households’ population to the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless’ final estimate, their count included significantly more people than HUD’s, creating a very different picture of what homelessness looked like in January of 2020. Without the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless’ report, doubled-up households would not be considered as a population that needs support from government and homelessness agencies. This discrepancy is concerning since doubled-up households were the largest subpopulation recorded in 2020’s homelessness count for Chicago. 

Recording homelessness is thus variable due to its loose definition, which causes misinformation to spread on the state of homelessness. Since HUD’s definition of homelessness excludes doubled-up households, people are left to believe that there are only 5,390 people needing homelessness support in Chicago, but this is not the full picture according to the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. 

This lack of congruity ultimately creates a problem for those tasked with eradicating homelessness since help cannot be administrated to all housing insecure people if some populations are being excluded. The question of whether or not doubled-up households should be included in the definition of homelessness is currently being debated, meaning there could be room for them in Oxford’s definition. If included, doubled-up households would also be eligible to receive homelessness support from the government and homelessness agencies focused on serving the unhoused in their area, just like any other homeless population.  

Understanding which categories should make up the homelessness population is crucial in order to possess the right tools to fight homelessness. JOURNEYS ǀ The Road Home understands this importance, giving all of its potential clients the opportunity to receive the services they need, no matter how they are experiencing homelessness. Our case managers communicate with our clients in order to alert JOURNEYS about their current needs  as trends regarding homelessness support are always changing. 

JOURNEYS ǀ The Road Home promises to serve people enduring housing insecurities within its service area of 37 north and northwest suburban Cook County, and JOURNEYS will continue to work with its clients inclusively so they may receive the help they need. 

To get involved or donate to JOURNEYS’ mission, visit our website: journeystheroadhome.org and follow us on Facebook.

Written by Baily Kearney, Grant Associate, edited by Roxanne Gentry, Marketing Associate

Meet our newest Board Member, Kevin Mathew, a former case manager at JOURNEYS who now works for the State of Illinois. We're so excited to bring Kevin on "Board"! Read below for more on Kevin's history and future with JOURNEYS!









"Social work is a field where you help others empower themselves. It’s such a diverse field. One social worker can help a person with resume-building assistance, while another could be working at a hospital. 

I am currently working as a caseworker at the State of Illinois Department of Human Services. I help individuals who apply for state benefit programs such as SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), Medical Assistance, and TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families). An interview must be done in order to see if a person is eligible for these benefits. I go through the customer’s application with them to review their information and see if there are any discrepancies. 

It really is an honor to be partnering with JOURNEYS again. I worked at JOURNEYS back in 2017 as a vocational case manager, and I really enjoyed my time here. It was always such a great feeling to hear from a client that they obtained a job opportunity.  

JOURNEYS was also a great place for me to build my skills as a social worker, and I really felt like I was making positive changes in my local community. So now that I am on the board, it feels like a continuation of the work I put in back in 2017, but now I get to bring a new perspective to the table. 

I am glad that JOURNEYS for this opportunity, and it is truly an honor. As a new member, I am trying to soak in all the knowledge I can get from my fellow board members and how we as a team can empower those in our community even further. I think I bring a unique perspective to the board since I had previously worked at JOURNEYS, and I continue to work as a caseworker now. It allows me to share my experiences on the ground level of helping individuals in our local community. I am excited to attend my first board meeting and for the future of JOURNEYS!"

Transcribed and arranged by Roxanne Gentry, Marketing Associate
 

I talked with our Events Coordinator, Tara, about her life before JOURNEYS and how her experience in the theater industry has helped her to become a top-notch non-profit events coordinator.

​Take a look at her amazing story and what she had to say!

​

"You just have to tailor what comes next in your life. I used to work in live theater. I was a professional stage manager for 20 years. I've worked all over regionally, from Brunswick, Maine; West Virginia; Florida; Pennsylvania; Upstate New York; Rhode Island; and Little Rock, Arkansas. I’ve worked on West Side Story, Beauty and the Beast, Steel Magnolias. If you’ve seen a musical, I’ve probably worked on it! 

Being a stage manager is being the person in charge backstage. You cue when the lights go, when the set moves – you're the puppet master. I don’t create what’s on stage, but I make it all happen. I keep the show consistent and running on time. 

I actually ended up in Chicagoland because I was on tour. It was called Cruel Intentions: The ‘90s Musical. It was a lot of fun. We rehearsed in New York, then we went Upstate, then to Rhode Island for one night, and then we got on a plane and came to Chicago for two weeks. That was the first time I'd ever been to Chicago. I saw a little bit of Chicago and ended up coming back after the tour to see a friend, and thought “this has everything I love about New York without any of the things I don’t.” I fell in love with the place. 

After working in Chicago theaters for a while, I ultimately left theater because I wanted a different pace. Working six, sometimes seven days a week is hard, and when you’re on tour you’re sleeping in buses or hotels, and it can be difficult to get time off. I ended up making a list of all the things I knew how to do, and then I typed those things into the computer and it suggested event coordinator as a career, since it’s practically the same thing as stage managing, which is pretty true. When I was in New York I also did a lot of charity fundraisers, like Broadway Backwards for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, as well as a World AIDS Day fundraiser event when I was in the New Paltz Players. 

Being the events coordinator at JOURNEYS is interesting because you have to keep all the event balls in the air all the time. With the Superhero 5K, Women’s Luncheon, and Leap Into Hope. Then there’s the Annual Meeting and Golf Outing coming up. I feed them all a little bit every day. 
​
This week I am researching party favors, projectors, and photo booth apps for Bid. Then I need to follow up with some donations for Bid as well and reach out to other donors. Sometimes there might be a site visit for a new venue, sometimes it's researching something that we need to buy for either the agency or for the event, sometimes it's securing sponsorships or donations. And then of course running the events! That’s when I really feel like I’m in my element. It’s like I’m backstage again." 

Transcribed and arranged by Roxanne Gentry, Marketing Associate​

JOURNEYS is dedicated to assisting all people in our service area experiencing homelessness or at risk of becoming homeless. This means that sometimes we work with children and their families who are facing hardship, instability, and housing insecurity. 

All too often, homelessness and discrimination go hand-in-hand. One of the unique problems that unhoused or at-risk youths face is the sudden instability not only of shelter and basic needs, but also of their education. When youths and/or their families become unhoused, they often seek refuge outside their immediate community. This movement can exacerbate transportation issues or become at odds with a school district’s residential boundaries. Students may even lack the necessary documentation to become registered at a school due to unstable housing or frequent moves.

Luckily, the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act helps to ensure that students can maintain access to their education regardless of their housing status. Passed in 1987, the Act is federal, bipartisan legislation that helped to crystallize homelessness as a "national problem requiring a national response" (National Coalition for the Homeless). 

One of the major affordances of the Act is that it allows students to attend their school of origin—the school they attended before they began experiencing homelessness—regardless of their current residence in that district. This measure is important because access to a familiar learning environment has benefits on a student’s social-emotional learning. Furthermore, the Act requires that schools provide transportation to all students—regardless of their residence in the school district they are attending—to make attendance possible, a significant measure since many unhoused and at-risk families lack reliable transportation.

JOURNEYS operates the School Advocacy Program in compliance with the McKinney-Vento  Act to ensure that each unhoused and at-risk youth has equal access to the same free, appropriate public education as their housed peers. JOURNEYS serves 29 local school districts.

The first goal of JOURNEYS’ School Assistance Program focuses on enrollment and attendance. It is critical to ensure that children experiencing housing insecurities do not fall behind academically. The first step to ensure their success is enrolling them in school. Through the School Advocacy Program we are able to waive school fees, secure transportation, and remove red tape to get each child learning as soon as possible.

The second goal is to maintain continuity for students. Due to financial hardships, families that are housing unstable may have to stay outside of the school district’s geographic area temporarily. The School Advocacy Program ensures district residency restrictions are lifted so that each child can stay in a familiar learning environment, avoiding the trauma of bouncing from school to school.

The third goal is maintaining open communication between the school and family. School officials and teachers are often unaware of the hardships that a student may be facing both inside and outside of school when a family is housing insecure. Challenges can often manifest as poor academic performance, social exclusion, chronic absenteeism, and behavioral troubles. Case managers work with the school to make sure that issues are addressed and resolved quickly.

The JOURNEYS community works to support children and keep them in school. We believe that every child is deserving of the same opportunities and resources regardless of circumstances beyond their control.

To get involved or donate to JOURNEYS' mission, visit our website: journeystheroadhome.org.

Written by Roxanne Gentry, Marketing Associate & Amanda Stocchetti, Grant Associate

I had the chance to sit down with Sue, one of our volunteers who works both at the front desk of the HOPE Center and with our PADS Program. In addition to her work with JOURNEYS, she also volunteers with several other organizations, including a dog rescue, a meal delivery service in Wheeling Township, an organization that prepares and sends care packages to veterans, and Feed Our Starving Children. 

We're so lucky to have Sue, whose charm, compassion, and sense of humor makes clients feel welcome and puts them at ease. Take a look at what she had to say!




​"I was born in England and we moved to America when I was five. I went to Palatine High School, then I got my first house in Rolling Meadows where I had my kids. I have three sons. I worked for IDOT for 43 years and I retired in February of 2021. I started here in March, so I was retired for only one day before I started here! 

JOURNEYS is definitely one of my favorite places to be. I love the clients, and I love getting to know them. The people here are so wonderful.  Everybody at JOURNEYS is very kind and so appreciative, including the clients. It’s just such a pleasant place. 

At the HOPE Center, I started in the clothing closet because I'm very shy. I know nobody believes me, but I am! It was fun to pick out outfits and items of clothing. But then I got kind of lonely because everybody was so nice, and I was by myself in the closet! Eventually I volunteered to work up at the front desk, because I realized that it would be so much more me, since I stopped being so shy around everyone, and there’s so much more interaction with clients. 

I’ve also worked with JOURNEYS’ PADS Program. I'm new to PADS, but I enjoy the heck out of it. There’s one client I know well from working at the front desk of the HOPE Center. It was my first day working with PADS, and it was just the two of us standing there together, which felt sort of weird! But then she said, 'Well, but we're here, together.'  I think it helped her that I was there, and it helped me that I knew she was a client that I knew well.  

One night at PADS, I brought cards. Two clients and I were sitting building card houses because nobody could remember the rules to any games. They were telling me about their pasts before they began experiencing homelessness. It was so interesting to hear their life stories.  

Eventually it was bedtime. There was a family, three men: two brothers and their nephew. I said that I was going to turn off the lights, so it’s time to get ready for bed. But all one of the men did was take off his socks and put on hospital socks and then said, 'I'm ready now. I’m gonna have a good night’s sleep tonight.' And I hoped he would." 

-Arranged by Roxanne Gentry, Marketing Associate​