More Extent Information
14 digital files (373 KB)
Arrangement
The collection is organized by record type, and then chronologically within each folder. The order of the materials was determined by the order in which they were received.
Administrative/Biographical History
The Midwest Shelter for Homeless Veterans was founded and incorporated in 2000 by Robert “Doc” M. Adams as a transitional housing program for all veterans. The facility provides food and shelter, aid in locating full time work and medical care, counseling services, and the skills necessary to live independently. Adams, a licensed clinical social worker and a US Navy combat veteran of the Vietnam era, conceived of the idea after seeing a similar program in Boston in 1997. In 2004, Dirk Enger of Winfield, a Marine combat veteran of Desert Storm, joined Adams in exploring the possibility of opening a shelter in DuPage County. In 2005, the Board of Directors was developed and that fall MSHV leased a single family home in Wheaton to become the first shelter.
In November 2005, the Wheaton City Council granted MSHV a special use permit, and a zoning change to use the property as a transitional housing program. In January 2006, the City of Wheaton Group Care Home Commission issued a license to MSHV to operate a group care facility upon purchase of the property. In February 2006, the DuPage County Community Development Office awarded the MSHV a $300,000 grant through the Federal Community Development Block Grant program to use for a capital expenditure for the property. The property was purchased in June 2006, and int the fall the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs awarded MSHV a capital grant to aid in the purchase of the home, as well as a van for outreach and shelter transportation purposes. A full-time Case Manager and House Manager were hired and trained, and doors were opened to veterans on January 08, 2007. A grand opening was held on January 20, 2007 with 250 people in attendance. The Board of Directors officially named the shelter the LCpl Nicholas Larson Home for Veterans, in memory of a Wheaton native who was killed in action in Iraq in 2004.
In 2010, MSHV broke ground on a second home. It was named after Army Special Forces Staff Sergeant Robert J. Miller, who was killed in the line of duty in Iraq in 2008. Miller was a Wheaton High School graduate and posthumously received the Medal of Honor.
