Orland Park nonprofit helps homeless residents throughout Chicago. | Adobe Stock
Orland Park nonprofit helps homeless residents throughout Chicago. | Adobe Stock
Southwest Chicago nonprofit Orland Park provides crucial aid to Chicago's homeless population during the winter months when the weather is a matter of life and death for many.
The organization was founded by Doreen DeBoer more than eight years ago, who has helped thousands of homeless people throughout the Windy City. Those hires include someone she previously helped, such as Bob McMahon, a homeless veteran for three years, Fox 32 Chicago reported.
"I'd been a homeless veteran for about three years," McMahon told Fox 32 Chicago. "She supplied me with a tent to live along the Chicago River, before the VA acknowledged that I was a homeless veteran."
DeBoer reportedly provided much-needed support to the homeless, including drug addicts, children, veterans, practically anyone who is down on their luck, Fox 32 Chicago reported. Once a month, DeBoer's group "caravans" to Chicago.
After passing a previously homeless woman named Melinda, who DeBoer had worked with extensively, she decided to create Melinda's House in honor of Melinda, which provides a safe space for women.
"We had one lady that we actually got to put through real estate school, and she passed the exam recently, and we're excited for her," DeBoer told Fox 32 Chicago.
Besides providing refuge to women and on-the-ground aid to the homeless, DeBoer's organization also offers dental and medical services free as all funds are earned through donations.
"All the people in her organization, everybody that volunteers with her, they're saints. They're all God's people," McMahon said.
Without organizations like DeBoer's, Chicago's homeless population would have an even more difficult time during Illinois' harsh winters, making DeBoer a true lifesaver and provider to the less fortunate.
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