History of Home of the Sparrow
Where Home of the Sparrow’s journey began…
1984
McHenry County began to recognize that homelessness was a reality in the community in 1984. St. Thomas Apostle Catholic Church in Crystal Lake and Calvary Assembly of God Church sent out a survey to every church in the County asking if increasing numbers of homeless were coming to their doors for help, in an effort to discover whether this was a local problem in the parish of St. Thomas or if it was, as feared, a new trend that needed to be addressed immediately before the numbers grew. At that time there were only about fifteen individuals/families in dire need. We wish that was the case today. The Survey reinforced the concern that indeed, homelessness was not just in Cook County but suffered by our neighbors and our own family members.
1985
Calvary Assembly of God Church hosted a breakfast meeting where Joy Martin, the Mission Outreach Chair of Ridgefield Crystal Lake Presbyterian Church broke bread and educated the attendees of the growing needs of McHenry County. Although attendees listened and believed the problem was existent, but not one person felt capable of taking any action to solve it. It was obvious that the “not next door to me” philosophy was going to be a hurdle to overcome. As the year went on, more and more people started acknowledging that this problem wasn’t going to solve itself. And so it was when another pancake breakfast was given in 1985 with 24 people in attendance, Joy Martin and six other community members from different churches stepped forward to do something about this growing need.
As the committee began searching for funds and housing for a temporary shelter, the committee ran into walls of objection in every direction they turned. Donations were being made to enable the committee/First Board of Directors to house some people in local motels, but a shelter seemed an impossible dream.
1986
It was when Reverend Phyllis Mueller, a Seminary Student sponsored by Faith Presbyterian Church, saw an article in the Northwest Herald titled “Shelter Dream Dies” and immediately contacted the Board. They met with her and she stated her interest and her actions while in Seminary that took her into the inner city without a penny in her pocket to see if the homeless living on the street wanted to live that way. What she found was that they never dreamed they would find themselves “on the street” and didn’t know how to overcome the crisis of homelessness. Rev. Mueller said that, as she saw it, we needed two things – homeless people—which we had—and a building to rent where we could move in residents; and then work with the county to help them out of this crisis.
We were able to rent a building just outside of the City of McHenry limits that seemed to be perfect for our needs. The building on Lincoln Avenue is still there today and has been a small church, a community center, a private home and a bar. It seemed to the Board that those walls had seen the highs and lows in the lives of many people and that they would help us overcome this adversity. We opened the doors to our first shelter on December 15, 1986 thinking we would keep the family unit intact as they moved through this difficulty. However, what we found was that in the vast number of cases, the men had left the picture. We started to serve the women and children “left behind so to speak” and are still doing that 30 years later.
1987
In February of 1987, Home of the Sparrow, Inc. became a private, non-profit organization. Since then, Home of the Sparrow has remained dynamic in assessing and responding to the needs of homeless women and children in our community.
Current programs and services
Home of the Sparrow’s Timeline
1985 – A task force is formed to address the increasing numbers of homeless women and children in McHenry County
1986 – The McHenry County Interfaith Shelter, later renamed Home of the Sparrow, applies for 501(c)3 status and opens its first rented shelter in McHenry, IL
1987 – 501(c)3 status is granted. Sixteen women and children are sheltered
1991 – Current McHenry Shelter site is purchased
1992 – The agency opens its first “Sparrow’s Nest” Thrift Store in McHenry, IL
1992 – Home of the Sparrow helps to open the Lake County Haven Shelter
1993 – Waukegan Road Apartments site is purchased
1994 – Opened Boy’s Shelter in Woodstock (Closed 1996)
1995 – Helped create and open Pennsylvania Home of the Sparrow (Which is NOT affiliated with us)
1997 – Opened Palatine Shelter
1997 – Crystal Lake Shelter site is purchased
1997 – McHenry Shelter is expanded to include 4 additional shelter units
1997 – Winner of Governors Home Town Award for volunteerism
1998 – Opened Cary Sparrow’s Nest
1998 – Opened Arlington Heights Sparrow’s Nest
1998 – Winner of Governors Home Town Award for volunteerism
1999 – Choate Ascent Center further expands McHenry Shelter with a 10-year program
2000 – Arlington Heights Sparrow’s Nest moves to Palatine
2007 – Palatine Shelter transferred to WINGS for program efficiency
2008 – Woodstock Sparrow’s Nest opens
2008 – Initial discussions occur related to the potential acquisition of agency-owned housing units
2012 – Home of the Sparrow acquires 13 units of housing from McHenry County and the Housing Opportunity Development Corp.
2012 – Algonquin Sparrow’s Nest opens
2013 – Awarded funding through the HUD-HOME program, ultimately acquiring 6 additional affordable housing units
2014 – The Outreach and Prevention Program is started
2014 – Mundelein Sparrow’s Nest opens
2015 – McHenry Shelter expansion for 5 additional units
2016 – Added 19th and 20th Affordable Housing unit
2016 – Education and Employment Program is piloted
2016 – Moved Headquarters Office to new location
2016 – Mundelein Sparrow’s Nest expansion
2016 – Cary Sparrow’s Nest furniture showroom renovation
2016 – Sold Crystal Lake Shelter
2016 – Awarded “Nonprofit of the Year” by Shaw Media
2016 – Expanded McHenry Shelter parking lot
2017 – Added 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 24th and 25th Affordable Housing units
2017 – – Third Lake Sparrow’s Nest opens
2017 – Welcomed Community Threads Thrift Store to our resale family
2018 – Added our 26th Affordable Housing Unit
2019 – Community Threads officially merged into Home of the Sparrow
2019 – Launched Sparrow’s Nest eBay Online Thrift Store & new Five Star Loyalty Program at all thrift stores
2019 – Sparrow’s Nest Thrift Store in McHenry voted One of the Best ReSale Shops in McHenry County by the NW Herald/Shaw Media
2020 – Launched Employment Program
2020 – Sparrow’s Nest Thrift Store – Algonquin Location permanently closed in October
2021 – Hosted first-ever virtual fundraising event, the Virtual Sip & Savor Hope Benefit in April 2021
2022 – 35th year anniversary & added 2 supportive housing units