2023 has been another incredible year of remarkable outcomes and continued housing successes for clients of DuPagePads. Thank you for you kindness, help, and generous support that has saved and made lives better for so many this year. Your commitment has changed so many lives in such a short time! 2023 marked the first full year of services at both the Interim Housing Center and Empowerment Center, as well as the successful expansion of our Supportive Housing Program providing more home opportunities for families surviving domestic violence...and those are just to name a few of the accomplishments you have helped make possible. These achievements, and so many others, have happened because of your dedicated support and the many more heroes across our community who know and believe that together we can end homelessness!

One of our most powerful beliefs at DuPagePads continues to be that "when someone believes in you, everything can change!" This is a core value in our work, and as we reflect on the gifts and challenges the year 2023 shared with us, we are filled with gratitude for what it has meant to our guests to have safe shelter, warm food, and the kindness of others to rely upon during one of the most difficult periods of their lives.

Your continued belief in our clients abilities to succeed, in spite of all the odds, the challenges, and the difficulties homelessness can create, is what made a place to call home possible for clients E and M this year. For over 15 years their journey to long term stable housing was full of ups and downs that would cause even the strongest to lose hope. For years, E & M moved between friends, affordable motels, and failed attempts to find a safe apartment they could afford on their own. Even when sleeping apart in congregate based overnight shelters or staying together safely in a room at the IHC, E & M did not lose hope and their case managers never gave up on helping them to find their place to call home.

Because you choose to believe with us, E & M officially moved out of the IHC this year into a Permanent Supportive Housing apartment where they will continue to receive case management support ensuring their stability and long term housing success. You helped us end a 15 year journey of experiencing homelessness for two wonderful people this year, and from all of us, and the many others like E & M you have helped at DuPagePads, we are so incredibly grateful!

Thank you for believing in us, for believing in what our clients can achieve with your help, and for believing in the incredible ways we will accomplish our mission to end homelessness together in 2024! From all of us at DuPagePads we wish you many blessings, warmth, and joy in the coming New Year!