Old Firehouse Assistance Center managed by McHenry County Housing Authority

11/21/2019

Fifty-six guests came to our farewell gathering today, as well as many volunteers, service providers, and government officials. It was a bittersweet day filled with gratitude, reminiscing, and tears. We were open for nearly 4 years. We specialized in serving the chronically homeless population. During that time we served more than 820 people who are homeless, and more than 100 of those people were placed into permanent housing. In addition, we assisted our homeless guests with obtaining their vital records, applying for benefits, housing placement, security deposit and first month's rent assistance, furniture, clothing, personal care items, showers, meals, advocacy, and other types of assistance. The service providers who came to the OFAC offered medical care, psychiatric screenings, legal assistance, transportation services, haircuts, credit counseling, AA meetings, and many other services. We are grateful for all of the support that we received from our volunteers, service providers, City of Woodstock - City Hall, and the community. Thank you for helping us to be successful. We will miss you.

11/20/2019

We're celebrating Thanksgiving early at the Old Firehouse Assistance Center. A couple of our volunteers got together and cooked up an entire Thanksgiving dinner feast for our guests. We are so grateful for everything our volunteers have done for us over the last four years. We couldn't have done what we did without them. ♥️

11/18/2019

This is an excellent article that discusses the importance of quickly finding permanent housing for someone who is chronically homeless, and then providing them with supportive services to make sure that they remain permanently housed. We can verify that this works, because it is what we have always done at the Old Firehouse Assistance Center managed by McHenry County Housing Authority.

If you’ve never experienced homelessness, you cannot imagine it. I’m guessing, though, that all of us have had the dream where we are in

11/01/2019

Check out this great donation from the interfaith group of teen parishioners at Ridgefield-Crystal Lake Presbyterian Church. They arrived yesterday with gifts for our guests: bags packed with essentials such as, hand warmers, wet wipes, socks, lip balm, hand lotion, and protein drinks, along with an encouraging note. They also brought treat bags filled with Halloween candy, and for lunch they brought sausage bread, crackers, and a big pot of vegetable soup made with vegetables that were grown in the interfaith group's garden. Thank you! Our guests really enjoyed it!

10/16/2019

Full-time housing inspector position available at McHenry County Housing Authority.

Housing Quality Standards (HQS) Inspector for the Section 8 Rental Assistance Program: General knowledge of residential structures, rental market, HUD property standards and excellent people skills required. Physical ability to climb ladders, inspect crawl spaces and attics, test electrical circuits and inspect plumbing systems. Must be available to attend training, and will be required to pass the HQS examination at the completion of training. More info at www.mchenrycountyhousing.org.
This is a 37.5 hour per week (Monday-Friday) full-time position with salary commensurate with experience, and full benefits. General salary range will be $30,000 to $35,000 per year. Attached please find a job description and a job application form.
Please submit a resume and job application form to the attention of Karen Seager at the McHenry County Housing Authority office, 1108 N. Seminary, PO Box 1109, Woodstock, Illinois, 60098, no later than 4 P.M. on Friday, November 8, 2019. You may also submit your application documents via email at [email protected] or fax them to 815/338-1217

10/12/2019

It's only October 12th. Winter doesn't begin until December 21st, but we are already experiencing sub-freezing temperatures. Imagine what it is like to be homeless in this frigid weather.

10/07/2019

World Homeless Day is Thursday, October 10. To commemorate the day, there will be a free screening of the movie, "The Invisible Class" at the Woodstock Opera House, 121 W Van Buren St., Woodstock, IL, 60098. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the movie begins at 6:30 p.m. After the movie ends there will be a question and answer session with the filmmaker via Skype, and also with local service providers who assist those who are homeless. Please attend if you can!

Thank you to McHenry County's Department of Community Development for organizing this event.

09/04/2019

Thank you to the following Woodstock churches: Grace Lutheran, St Ann Episcopal, St John Lutheran, Zion Harvest, and Resurrection Catholic. Your donation of underwear, socks, sweatpants, paper goods, and laundromat gift cards, is greatly appreciated! Pictured is Father Steve Glab, who delivered the items.

08/22/2019

It was haircut day today at the Old Firehouse Assistance Center managed by McHenry County Housing Authority. Thank you to this licensed barber who volunteered his time to make our guests look great!

08/01/2019

Yum, Yum, YUM! Look at what our volunteers made for lunch for our guests! Oven-fried chicken, boiled potatoes, green beans, and homemade pumpkin pie. Delish!

07/27/2019

This interesting review of the Pulitzer prize-winning book "Evicted" by Matthew Desmond, discusses how people who live in poverty are adversely impacted by evictions, and how their poverty can be profitable for some landlords. At the Old Firehouse Assistance Center managed by McHenry County Housing Authority, we recognize that housing stability is an important factor in one's health and well-being, and it is why we continue to provide services for our guests after we have assisted them in ending their homelessness.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/apr/07/evicted-poverty-and-profit-in-the-american-city-matthew-desmond-review?fbclid=IwAR2R6UzXvkaFuV4cUNlr_eqfgk-kazc4EjA0MD2-DqF0EWKNvjZowcupc50

07/23/2019

Look at who came to visit us today! It's Samson, and he brought his human, Pastor Kurt Gamlin from FUMC Mchenry to visit us, too. Our guests love it when Samson and his human stop in for a visit!