General Info

The Midwest Shelter for Homeless Veterans is a not-for-profit transitional living facility that provides assistance to U.S. veterans of any era for the opportunity to return to useful and productive lives by providing them with the skills for independent living. The MSHV was founded and incorporated in 2000 by Robert M. Adams of Winfield, Illinois. Mr. Adams is a US Navy combat veteran of the Vietnam era, and a licensed clinical social worker ( LCSW ) in private practice. Over the past years, Mr. Adams, through his private practice, has been providing individual, group, and family therapy especially for veterans. Mr. Adams has specialized training in the treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder ( PTSD ) of which many veterans in his practice are afflicted. In 2004, Dirk Enger of Winfield, a USMC combat veteran of Operation Desert Storm and a Union Iron Worker joined Mr. Adams in working with government agencies, veteran service organizations, trade unions, and other entities in exploring the possibility of opening a transitional housing program for veterans of all eras in DuPage County, Illinois. In 2005, a very active Board of Directors was developed, and they are all very involved in the further development of this organization ( see Exhibit A ). In the fall of 2005, MSHV entered into an agreement to lease ( with an option to purchase ) a single family home at 119 N. West St. in Wheaton, Illinois to serve as our inaugural shelter. In November 2005, the Wheaton City Council granted MSHV a special use permit, and a zoning change to use the property as a transitional housing program. In January 2006, the City of Wheaton Group Care Home Commission issued a license to MSHV to operate a group care facility upon purchase of the property. In February 2006, the DuPage County Community Development Office awarded the MSHV a $300, 000 grant through the Federal Community Development Block Grant program to use for a capital expenditure for the property. The property was purchased in June 2006. In the fall of 2006, the U.S. Department of Veteran's Affairs awarded MSHV a capital grant to aid in the purchase of the home, as well as a van for outreach and shelter transportation purposes. A full-time Case Manager, and full time House Manager Staff was hired and trained, and we opened our doors to veterans on January 08, 2007. A grand opening was held on January 20, 2007 with 250 people in attendance. The Board of Directors officially named the shelter the LCpl Nicholas Larson Home for Veterans, in memory of a Wheaton native who was killed in action in Iraq in 2004. We currently are at full capacity, with a small waiting list. Since the Shelter opened in 2007, twenty-nine veterans have gone through the program. The MSHV program has a 71% success rate ( meaning that veterans are housed, employed and substance free ) upon completion of the program, with 66 percent of the vets remaining housed, employed and substance free after one year. The average length of stay for a veteran is 9 months. MSHV is the only veteran specific transitional housing program in DuPage County. The MSHV program has been cited as the model program for a transitional housing facility in Illinois by the VA Medical Center at Hines Hospital and by the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs.