BEDS Plus transforming Chicago motel into into transitional housing shelter for the homeless
From temporary shelter to a place to call home; that's the goal of a LaGrange-based nonprofit, which received $15 million in funding to continue creating a path forward for those experiencing homelessness.
By December of this year, The Aloha Motel, on the 8500 block of South Cicero Avenue in the Scottsdale neighborhood on Chicago's Southwest Side, will not only provide shelter for each person living there, but give them the a sense of dignity too.
"It feels like an apartment, it feels like home, and we can help them start to rebuild their lives and move on to their own homes," said Tina Rounds, CEO of the nonprofit BEDS Plus, which is transforming the motel into a 55-room transitional housing shelter. Each of the rooms will have its own private bathroom.
Rounds said the facility, which will be known as the Cicero Avenue Transitional Shelter, will be the first of its kind for those experiencing homelessness.
"It gives people a sense of normalcy. It gives people a space that they can control. They can keep their space how they would like. They can keep their identity and their household content, meaning the people in their household together," she said.
The goal is to create real pathways forward for those experiencing homelessness.
Beds Plus will offer on-site support, including access to healthcare, job placement, financial education and a path to permanent housing.
Tyneshia Giles lived at the motel for four months last year when BEDS Plus was leasing the space to house those in their program. Through the resources she was offered, she said her life was transformed.
"I do have my apartment, and I am succeeding at making sure that my rent gets paid on time every single month," she said.
BEDS Plus helped those in need at the motel for three years. Now, with $15 million given to the nonprofit from private and public funding, they're purchasing the property and renovating it.
"We're really excited about the opportunity. It was presented to us and we feel it's really important as a neighborhood bank to give back to our community," said Christie Cox, first vice president director of neighborhood initiative at Marquette Bank, which donated $80,000 to the project.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the motel served as an emergency shelter. Now, through the work of BEDS Plus and the funding they've received, the temporary shelter will be a place to call home, while those without housing create a pathway to permanent stability.
