This article was contributed by community members. The views expressed here are those of the author.
The night has fallen below freezing, and the frost is on the pumpkin. At the Community Empower Shower event held at Willow Crystal Lake, 100 S. Main Street from 10 am to 2 pm on Friday, November 5th, Compassion for Campers will add more warm clothing and cold weather equipment. The following distribution will be held there at the same time on Friday, November 19.
Compassion for Campers also provides equipment for the Warp Corps at 114 Benton Street, Woodstock for daily walking.
Community Empower Showers provide a wide range of services for the homeless and those facing housing crisis, and will be held on the first and third Fridays of each month.
Organizers provide more groups, institutions and services for the homeless. Empowerment Shower is a joint effort of many organizations and institutions, including Crystal Lake Food Bank, Consumer Credit Counseling, Family Health Cooperative Clinic, Sparrow House, Live 4 LALI, McHenry County Housing Authority, Pioneer Center, Prairie State Legal Service Center , Salvation Army, St. Vincent DePaul Society, Path of Hope for Veterans, Willow Crystal Lake, and Warp Corps.
Free services include:
Camping supplies, including tents, stoves, sleeping bags
Assist in obtaining ID cards, birth certificates, and social security cards
Assist SSI/SSDI (disability)
Assistance in medical insurance, SNAP, TANF
Medical access-doctor care, Covid-19 vaccine
Shelter and housing referral and contact
Tools and support to reduce substance use/hazards
Mental health, spiritual and social support referrals
Donations are urgently needed to support sympathy for campers to continue to purchase supplies for these two locations, send a check to the Tree of Life UU Congregation, 5603 Bull Valley Road, McHenry, IL 60050, and indicate on the memo line that they are camping The sympathy of the author. Donations are deposited in a dedicated fund and will not be used for any other purpose. Tree of Life also donated all administrative expenses of the program, so 100% of all donations are directly used for customer assistance.
For more information, please call 815 814-5645 or send an email to pmurfin@sbcglobal.net to contact Compassion for Campers coordinator Patrick Murfin.
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