Hesed House Unveils Newly Remodeled Homeless Shelter

AURORA, IL — Hesed House opened a new homeless shelter opened Sunday in Aurora, nearly doubling the original's capacity.

The newly renovated 680 Adult Shelter, located at 680 S. River St., across the street from Hesed House, repurposed a shuttered manufacturing facility to become the primary overnight shelter for both men and women. The new space is intended to increase efficiency for housing, food service and comprehensive care since all guests are under the same roof, according to Chief Communications and Equity Officer Clayton Muhammad.

680 Adult Shelter has room for almost two times as many unhoused people to be served each day, from about 145 guests before COVID-19 to 280 nowadays, Muhammad wrote in a news release. Hesed House is the second-largest homeless shelter in Illinois, following Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago.

"Hesed House isn't simply a homeless shelter; Hesed House is a safe haven that gives hope to people in hopeless situations," Mayor Irvin said at Sunday's ribbon-cutting ceremony. "Everyone deserves dignity. It's not just a tagline; that's the truth.

"To be able to now, as mayor, support the Hesed House and make sure, [Hesed House Executive Director Joe Jackson], that you never have to look in another human being's face and tell them you cannot help them, you cannot give them hope. Well, as long as I'm here as mayor, I will continue to support so you never have to say that again."

Some of 680 Adult Shelter's features include:

• Separate sleeping quarters for men and women, both with hundreds of new beds set up permanently in semi-non-congregate areas
• A common eating area that can hold hundreds of people
• A new state-of-the-art industrial kitchen
• Self-service laundry rooms in both areas, each with multiple washers and dryers
• Spacious, accessible shower stalls in both areas
• Personal lockers
• A store in the center of the facility where guests can retrieve supplies, such as towels and personal hygiene products

"This new shelter, it features a semi-non-congregate sleeping space and isolation space that not only better helps prevent the spread of communicable disease, but it also provides more comfort, more privacy and better dignity to our guests," Jackson said. "At the same time, it allows our staff to better monitor our guests for medical emergencies, safety emergencies, those types of things.

The space is also connected to Hesed House's Comprehensive Homeless Resource Center, which gives people support services and helps them with legal issues, abuse, and mental and physical health.

"The fact that this is connected to that building removes barriers of our guests engaging with our case management staff ... and all the connected services that are underneath the roof of this 680 building," Jackson said. "It makes ending homelessness easier on us and, most importantly, on our guests."