Admissions & Housing
The Midwest Shelter’s Larson Home
The Marine LCpl. Nicholas Larson Home provides transitional housing and supportive services to U.S. Veterans of any era who meet the following criteria.
One day of active duty service is required
Greater than dishonorable military discharge
Admission is not contingent on having a period of abstention from drugs and/or alcohol prior to enrollment
No convictions for violent crimes within the last 5 years
No convictions for sex-related crimes
Length of stay at the Larson Home, which is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, varies depending on the model of programming a veteran is enrolled in.
Contact our Intake Coordinator at 630-871-8387 to complete an application.
The Midwest Shelter’s Affordable Housing
The Army SSgt. Robert J. Miller Home and Tammy's Trace provide affordable housing to low-income, single male and female veterans, respectively. The Miller Home includes one unit that is ADA accessible.
Veterans must meet income guidelines, have stable employment or income to pay rent and agree to maintain a sober lifestyle while a resident. Support services including counseling, case management, and employment services are available to assist veterans with improving their overall quality of life.
Wait-lists are currently open for both programs.
Please contact our Intake Coordinator at 630-871-8387 to complete an application.
Transitional Housing
The Midwest Shelter’s Marine LCpl Nicholas Larson Home provides qualified male homeless veterans of any era with transitional housing and supportive services, including case management, financial literacy classes, nutrition workshops, life skills education, employment services, and transportation assistance. To qualify, veterans must have one day of active duty service and a greater than dishonorable discharge. They must either have a permanent housing intervention in place or have a mental health/ substance use diagnosis. Veterans must pass a background check and have no convictions for sex-related crimes and no violent convictions for the past five years.
Affordable Housing
The Midwest Shelter’s Army SSgt. Robert Miller Home and Tammy’s Trace provide affordable housing to low-income, single male and female veterans, respectively. The Miller Home includes one unit that is ADA accessible. Veterans must meet income guidelines, have stable income needed to consistently pay rent, and agree to maintain a sober lifestyle while a resident. Available supportive services to assist veterans with improving their overall quality of life include case management, assistance with obtaining mainstream and veteran benefits, and referrals to veteran-specific and community resources.
Permanent Supportive Housing
Freedom Harbour and Enduring Hope are the Midwest Shelter for Homeless Veterans’ scattered-site Permanent Supportive Housing programs for chronically homeless veterans. Veterans are housed in one-bedroom apartments in the local community. To be eligible for this program, a veteran must be able to demonstrate that he/she has experienced four or more episodes of homelessness in the last three years or has been continuously homeless for a year or longer. Veterans must also demonstrate a disabling condition. MSHV staff travel to the client’s location and provide intensive case management services designed to help these veterans stabilize and maintain housing.
Supportive Services
The Midwest Shelter offers supportive services to the veterans we serve, including:
Referrals and Linkages - MSHV staff assists clients with accessing and obtaining the veteran and mainstream benefit services they need to achieve stability, including mental and physical health care, legal assistance, and connection to food pantries.
Case Management - Residents receive employment and life skills training, as well as the communication, social development, and financial-management skills needed to facilitate independent living.
Housing Search - MSHV staff assists residents in finding safe, affordable housing in the community of their choice. Residents receive an overview of landlord/tenant rights and responsibilities, as well as what to expect when interviewing with prospective landlords.
Support Services for Veteran Families
Supportive Services for Veteran Families is a homeless prevention and rapid re-housing program for low-income veterans and their families, who are homeless or who are at imminent risk of becoming homeless. Through SSVF, which is funded by the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs, the Midwest Shelter provides veterans and their families with intensive, short-term case management, housing stabilization services, linkages to VA and mainstream benefits, and temporary financial assistance, based on eligibility. MSHV offers SSVF across seven northern Illinois counties: DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, LaSalle, and Will.
Veterans Employment Program
The Midwest Shelter’s Veteran Employment Program assists unemployed and under-employed veterans with gaining meaningful, long-term employment. Services focus on providing veterans with the tools and resources they need to overcome employment barriers, including comprehensive individualized assessment, resume and job readiness development, vocational counseling, and job placement assistance.
Freedom Commissary
The Midwest Shelter’s Army Capt. Kevin C. Landeck Freedom Commissary is located in downtown Wheaton. Freedom Commissary is a program designed to meet the clothing, household, and basic needs of veterans and their families. The Freedom Commissary serves veterans of all eras and branches, and eligibility is based on need. Veterans are able to access the Commissary for items such as:
Basic and work-related clothing
Household goods
Hygiene products
Cleaning products
Paper goods
Furniture
Appliances
The Freedom Commissary program operates almost entirely through the generous contributions of our volunteers and donors.