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"I was riding the trains back and forth," Price said. "I couldn't hold down a job."

 

The fall wore on, and the weather started to get cold. Price got in touch with West Suburban PADS, looking for shelter.

The organization helped him get back on his feet. And not just that, it enlisted him in a new program that it's running, a short-term rental assistance program that can help subsidize housing for up to 18 months.

"If it wasn't for PADS, it would have been difficult," Price said.

The new Rapid Re-Housing program is thanks partly to a three-year grant PADS is receiving, federal stimulus money awarded through the village of Oak Park, PADS Executive Director Lynda Schueler said.

"We've received enough funding to house 26 households directly from our emergency shelter," Schueler said. "It's the same targeted population, but we have the opportunity to actually get them housed in apartments in the community."

So far, PADS has set up 13 households and has three more accepted into the program, Schueler said. To qualify, people must be without any housing. They can't be sharing living quarters with anyone.

There are two case managers to work with clients and a housing locator who helps find potential apartments and coordinates furnishings, Schueler said.

Rental subsidy equals the fair market cost of an apartment unit in town. So if the fair market cost of a one-bedroom unit is $650, Schueler said, that's how much PADS will supply a client.

"The folks that we serve, the majority of them have no income," Schueler said. "So we place them up in apartments and then work with them to try to secure an income."

This way, when the subsidy ends, the client can pay the rent, she said.

In Price's case, he had no job when he first came to PADS. But the organization helped him develop a resume and develop skills to help with job interviews. He's now working in a security job.

After he connected with the shelter program, Price said he started to feel better and better. And then he was notified that he'd been selected for the housing program.

"I was like, 'What a relief,' " he said.

Under the Rapid Re-Housing program, PADS' target is to help clients with six months of rent, and then renew that subsidy as needed, Schueler said. That can go on up to 18 months.

"They're expected to have motivation to be enrolled in the program and with the potential of being able to secure employment or an income," Schueler said.

In total, PADS is receiving about $784,000 over three years in federal stimulus money from Oak Park and an additional $117,000 from Cook County, Schueler said. The money is both for the rental subsidy program and homeless prevention services, to help people avoid losing their homes.

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