Want to help support BEDS clients and local businesses at the same time? Consider supporting local restaurants that are taking part in our "shared spending" program. Visit participating restaurants, purchase a gift card or make a cash donation for meals and the restaurant in turn will provide BEDS clients with something delicious to eat! Restaurants participating in the program include Barrel House Social in La Grange, Black Oak in Oak Lawn, Irish Times in Brookfield, Kama Bistro in La Grange, Mary's Morning Mixup in Brookfield, Page's Restaurant in Hinsdale, Palmer Place Restaurant and Biergarten in La Grange, Salerno's Pizzeria & Sports Bar in Countryside, The Highland Queen Drive-In in La Grange and Tipsters Village Pub in North Riverside. We are so very grateful to have a supportive community behind us!

West Suburban Chamber of Commerce and Industry Oak Lawn Chamber of Commerce Brookfield IL Chamber of Commerce La Grange Business Association ... See more

#FeelGoodFriday! Amita Health employee Rashawn Thomas has a heart of gold! Rashawn recently stopped by to share food with our Ogden Avenue Supportive Housing facility clients. "No donation should be wasted when we are all in need," he said. Thank you, Rashawn. Your kindness is much appreciated!! ... See more

#ThankfulThursday! We extend a heartfelt thank you to Shake Shack in Oak Brook, which provides monthly meals - a real treat for our clients! We also want to say thank you to Olive Garden in North Riverside, which has been providing weekly food rescue to our clients for the past three years. These individual meals have been much needed as we support our clients in shelter, temporarily staying in motels and those who are housed and food insecure. Thank you to our community partners!! If you would like to help provide meals for our clients, click here to join our Meal Train: https://www.mealtrain.com/trains/rwww62. Want to help in other ways? Contact volunteer@beds-plus.org for more info. ... See more

#ThankfulThursday! We extend a heartfelt thank you to Shake Shack in Oak Brook, which provides monthly meals - a real treat for our clients! We also want to say thank you to Olive Garden in North Riverside, which has been providing weekly food rescue to our clients for the past three years. These individual meals have been much needed as we support our clients in shelter, temporarily staying in motels and those who are housed and food insecure. Thank you to our community partners!! If you would like to help provide meals for our clients, click here to join our Meal Train: https://www.mealtrain.com/trains/rwww62. Want to help in other ways? Contact volunteer@beds-plus.org for more info. ... See more

Street outreach is a critical component of getting those who are literally homeless into care and housing - and never more so than now, when the risk of COVID19 plagues those who are on the streets. "Jim" was picked up from the streets last week and provided temporary housing in a motel room. He is one of the 75-and-growing number of individuals and families at high risk who are sheltering in place in motel rooms financed by BEDS. $75 covers a day in a motel. Click here to give: https://bit.ly/2yM1KYD. We are grateful for the huge outpouring of support from our community. ... See more

April is National Volunteer Month! We are so very thankful for all of the wonderful volunteers who dedicate their time to BEDS. Today, we spotlight Bonnie Brown from Grace Lutheran Church of LaGrange, who made these lovely homemade face masks for use during the COVID-19 pandemic. If you would like to volunteer with BEDS, contact volunteer@beds-plus.org! ... See more

April is National Volunteer Month! We are so very thankful for all of the wonderful volunteers who dedicate their time to BEDS. Today, we spotlight Bonnie Brown from Grace Lutheran Church of LaGrange, who made these lovely homemade face masks for use during the COVID-19 pandemic. If you would like to volunteer with BEDS, contact volunteer@beds-plus.org! ... See more

BEDS Bulletin!
PBS News Hour reports on the challenge of protecting the homeless during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those experiencing homelessness are uniquely vulnerable to COVID-19, and preventing the virus' spread among people living outside is particularly difficult. Bobby Watts, CEO of the National Health Care for the Homeless Council, said the homeless are more vulnerable because they have weaker immune systems due to the chronic stress of not having a stable place to live or good nutrition and of having more underlying health conditions. At BEDS, we have housed our most vulnerable clients and families in motels while about 30 clients stay at our consolidated shelter location during the pandemic. To prevent the spread of COVID-19 among our clients and communities, we are working with Pillars Community Health to screen our current shelter clients, screen any new arrivals and monitor any symptomatic motel clients.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/the-challenge-of-protecting-homeless-populations-amid-covid-19 ... See more

In order to protect themselves and their communities from the novel coronavirus outbreak, Americans across the country are staying home. But what happens to those who don’t have one? Stephanie Sy reports on how people experiencing homelessness are uniquely vulnerable and what's being done in some ... ... See more

At BEDS Plus, life goes on. Read our latest eNewsletter here: https://conta.cc/3cLQevk