Women's Shelter Among Many Agencies Facing Closure

By Soyoung Kwak in Miscellaneous on May 15, 2010 6:30PM

Leslie's Place, a Chicago women's shelter on the West Side, is one of the most successful shelters in the area. Opening in 1994, Leslie's Place was founded by Leslie Brown, who spent seven years in prison after conspiring to commit murder of her abusive husband. Reflecting upon her own experiences during and after her time in prison, Brown felt the need to help other women who are in similar situations needing support and a home. Despite the help Leslie's Place offers to women in need of a home and skills needed to reintegrate into society, the shelter might have to close its doors in a month if the state fails to pay Brown around $50,000 it owes her. Brown states that the state has not given her a check for about seven months, and that she has been using her own savings to support the continuing operation of her homeless shelter. But now, her own private funds are running low.

Around 220,000 vouchers on behalf of support agencies like Leslie's Place have been neglected because of a state payment backlog of around $4.6 billion. Although it is unclear how many of those vouchers are for women's or homeless shelters, it would be devastating for many to see these centers to disappear.