PADS of Elgin is close to reaching its emergency goal of raising $500,000 to remain open, but officials say they do not have the time or money to hold its annual Stars Dance for PADS fundraiser next month.
PADS, a 30-bed nonprofit homeless shelter at 1730 Berkley St., put out an plea for donations in September when it realized it would be $500,000 short of the $1.7 million it needs to operate annually.
It’s raised $438,000 so far and anticipates it will collect enough to complete its fiscal year on June 30 in a good financial position, Executive Director Katie Shaw Thompson said.
“The public has shown up in incredible ways,” she said. “There is more fundraising to do to finish out this fiscal year strong, but we are in a better financial position due to the community. It’s been an incredible response.”
They’ve been successful in reaching out to residents, maintaining the foundation and company relationships they’ve built since 1989 and forging new ones, Shaw Thompson said. But there was not enough money or time available to put together its annual fundraiser, forcing the PADS Board of Directors to make the difficult decision to cancel it, she said.
While Stars Dance for PADS typically generates about $80,000, the organization did not have the $5,000 needed to secure a location while going through a financial crisis, Shaw Thompson said. They’d also need another $15,000 to stage it.
The event has been a tradition for about 18 years ago, inspired by the television show “Dancing with the Stars.”
“Our goal was to provide a professional dance instructor with community leaders who provided a dance team,” Dan Fox, a former PADS board member and Stars Dance for PADS chairman, said in a video message. “As a fundraiser, they would go out and get pledges in advance. And the night of the event, when they performed, the audience could vote (for their favorite) with one dollar per vote.”
One standout team was organized by former Elgin Community College President David Sam, who worked with ECC staff on dances representing their cultural music, Fox said. At the end, Sam put on silver socks and a silver glove to moonwalk to Michael Jackson music.
“It brought the house down,” Fox said.
People started asking Shaw Thompson in the fall if the event would return, she said, but they couldn’t justify the expense.
“It was a big financial outlay,” she said. “We had a choice to make, putting on this event, which cost a lot of time and money, or making the appeal directly to the community. It was a hard decision for staff. It’s too bad really that we can’t do it.”
Putting their focus on fundraising paid off — spending $1,500 on a mail campaign at the end of the year brought in about $100,000, Shaw Thompson said.
“I think this community, which includes Elgin and extends to northern Kane County, is really a community that cares,” she said. “They understand what we do and how we walk with families experiencing a season of homelessness. They want to help.”
In addition to providing emergency overnight accommodations for 30, it’s also open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily so that people can get a meal and have access to hygiene kits in addition to receiving assistance to help address their situations.
“It’s a warm place so people can get out of the cold,” Shaw Thompson said.
Financial problems began after COVID funding through the American Rescue Plan Act ended and changes in available federal funding began, Shaw Thompson said. Money typically provided through the Federal Emergency Management Agency has been frozen and there’s been no funding coming from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, she said.
State and local funds, some from local township mental health boards, have helped but PADS continues to grapple with how it’s going to solve the problems beyond this fiscal year, Shaw Thompson said.
“No matter what happens with any government system, it’s wiser in the long run to have a diversity of funding streams,” she said. “We need to make plans for the future. We need to (create) a new funding model.”
They want to build a new strategic plan and are reevaluating the organization’s name, among other things, she said.
“One of the big things we are doing is asking ourselves if this is the right name for the organization we are today,” Shaw Thompson said. “We are not the old PADS model.”
A public brainstorming session is scheduled for 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 29, at First Congregational Church of Dundee at 900 Eighth St. in West Dundee.
Anyone who would like to attend should register at secure.qgiv.com/for/padsofelgin/event/rebranding so they know how many people they should expect. Ideas can also be submitted through the Google form at docs.google.com/…/1FAIpQLScJnO2ZvI26ZG…/viewform.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
