"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not." — Dr. Seuss
PADS Lake County is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing shelter, permanent supportive housing and comprehensive resources to families with children and individuals experiencing homelessness in Lake County.
Housing no less than 160 people per night, our Emergency Shelter Program operates between October and April.
Additional PADS programs include:
Assessment Center – providing advocacy, referral and follow-up services to mainstream benefits;
The Family Center – for emergency shelter, meals, tutoring, and self-help groups for families;
Safe Haven – housing for fifteen adults who are chronically homeless and have a serious mental illness.
Veterans House – is home to ten formerly homeless veterans.
PADS serves those experiencing temporary or recurrent homelessness throughout Lake County regardless of the reason by providing emergency and transitional shelter. We are the only shelter in Lake County that will not turn clients away; and therefore, often the only hope for someone facing a long night in the cold.
We partner with houses of worship in locations throughout the county, so that distance will not prevent someone from having a warm, safe environment to sleep. Our Family Center, Safe Haven and Veterans House provide year-round, transitional housing for those facing recurrent homelessness, and we have the only street outreach program in Lake County that actively seeks those in need of shelter and assistance. Our partnerships with Lake County government, businesses, and social service agencies enable us to provide services and draw upon resources that get our clients back to self-sufficiency. Through the contributions of our 2,500 volunteers and the charity of individual donors and foundations, PADS provides shelter for nearly 1,800 people per year and distributes more than 370,000 meals and snacks to homeless members of our community.
While taking care of our clients’ basic needs is of great importance to PADS, we also strive to help our clients break the cycle of homelessness by providing resources and services that stabilize, teach and empower. We are the only organization to hire formerly homeless individuals as Empathy Advocates who use their own life experiences to help pull others out of poverty. Through each of our programs and community partnerships, PADS has the ability to make the greatest impact on homelessness in Lake County.
