Life Hub Earns Charity in Action Award From Catholic Charities
Trending
The Life Hub Shelter was honored by Catholic Charities on Thursday with the organization's "Charity In Action" award. Catholic Charities lauded Life Hub's "dedication to helping the most vulnerable in the community," according to Catholic Charities Chief Mission Officer Katie Klug.
With a 40-bed capacity, the shelter provides somewhere warm to rest for unhoused individuals in the city during the cold winter.
Life Hub Interim Executive Director Melissa Adams explained they seek to reach a "full circle" moment for homeless individuals. This means individuals at the shelter are able to receive the resources and referrals to eventually transition from homeless to fully employed and housed.
Adams, who also serves as the City of Wheeling's Homeless Liaison, described receiving the recognition from Catholic Charities as "gratifying" after 2023 being "quite a struggle" for the shelter and the homeless population in Wheeling.
The city council passed an ordinance banning public camping in the city by a majority vote in November 2023. Since then, Adams described the Life Hub as trying to "get back on pace."
"Our mission is to help homeless individuals, so when you get hit with a blow like that it kind of sets things back" she noted. "We have been trying to remember what our mission is and our goal to help individuals."
The Life Hub serves as the initial step in this process of getting homeless individuals off of the streets. The organization then collaborates with local social service agencies, city officials and faith-based organizations to get them further treatment and help.
Klug noted the emergency shelter is "one of the most important resources" in connecting unhoused individuals to the services they need.
"The Life Hub helps people improve their circumstances because it eliminates the worries and dangers of living on the streets," described Klug. "When Melissa stepped into her position, she recognized an emergency shelter was an unmet need in the city, and she has been determined from day one to make that happen."
The determination and entrepreneurial spirit of Adams in assisting the homeless population of the city is admirable to Klug. She noted Adams was willing to set up a shelter for the homeless in any space available before the Life Hub found a permanent space at the former First English Lutheran Church.
Before the Life Hub obtained its permanent residence, the shelter operated out of the Catholic Charities ballroom.
"Melissa will think outside the box in ways that we can help people in ways that benefit both the community and those most in need," noted Klug. "She's the type to go, 'If we have to put them in the ballroom, we'll put them in the ballroom.'"
With the immediate need for shelter for the homeless fulfilled by the Life Hub, Klug explained the staff at the Catholic Charities Neighborhood Center can begin to connect them with resources and referrals to help them find housing and employment. The organization assists unhoused individuals in gaining the skills they need to further their careers or build their education.
"We provide comprehensive social services to meet anything from basic needs to more long-term use to help people become stable," described Klug.
The two organization's collaboration spans beyond assisting the homeless, as they join forces to help individuals pay utility bills or rent.
Catholic Charities Northern Regional Director Ashlie Kotson described having text conversations with Adams at 11 p.m. and later discussing different individuals the organizations were helping.
"We're constantly asking each other, "What can we do? How can we help? How can we work together to do it?" said Kotson. "The Life Hub has joined together to help us all day and night. They have the same passion we have to help people, and when you put those together, it's wonderful."
When Adams first took the position of Homeless Liaison for the City of Wheeling in 2021, Catholic Charities President and CEO Mark Phillips was the first person she met with regarding the city's homeless population. To receive the phone call from him informing her that the Life Hub had won the Charity in Action Award was a "full circle" moment for her.
"When I received that phone call, I didn't have any words," described Adams. "I'm used to getting phone calls from them as we support one another but to tell me something like that was unexpected. The good news was welcoming and refreshing."
Adams has had many more conversations with Phillips beyond those two phone calls. She noted he has served as her confidant from the "get-go," with both of them supporting the mission of the other's organization.
"Our partnership, it's not just us picking up the phone for each other," noted Adams. "I believe both of our agencies have become a family who work together and share the challenges we face on a daily basis. This work can be very lonely and isolating, so to have that support and ability to bounce ideas off of each other is vital in moving towards our goals."