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Maybe you’ve driven past and seen the old Lincoln
College sign replaced with one for the CIVC. Have you seen this
building and wondered what it is going to be used for? The answer is
quite a lot, in fact.
Firstly, if you aren’t familiar with the CIVC and what do they do,
the organization offers services for veterans in Central Illinois to
help them eventually obtain permanent housing. You may be aware of
the tiny houses being built for veterans on Decatur Street.
In addition to housing, they also offer things such
as free dental care and mental health care for veterans. Joe Schaler
of the CIVC, shared a story of a Marine veteran they were able to
help recently who was passing through Lincoln. The veteran’s car
broke down while he was passing through town on Old Route 66. Unsure
of what to do, the veteran took to Facebook and found someone in
town who was also a veteran. After the stranded veteran reached out
to this individual, this person reached out to Schaler. Over the
course of the next few days, they were able to get the veteran a
place to stay, and his vehicle fixed.
Schaler and the CIVC have not only helped provide
housing and other services to the veterans in Lincoln but have
helped to create a community among the veterans in our area to
support one another.
The building on Fifth Street is the most recent project the CIVC has
undertaken to help expand their veteran services. Schaler stated he
is hoping to have at least 50 rooms for veterans once this project
is completed.
The timeline on the renovations of these rooms is a
bit uncertain. Schaler stated the rooms will be renovated as there
is need for them. Community members in need will also be able to
occupy these rooms, and this is where the larger purpose of this
building really begins to show. Rooms will be set aside for people
in the community who are experiencing homelessness or are at risk of
becoming homeless. While the CIVC was the first organization to show
interest in this property, they have since reached out to many other
organizations in the community to help the building reach its
fullest potential.
Some of these organizations include Carle Health,
Regional Housing and Supportive Services (RHSS), Southern Illinois
University (SIU) School of Medicine, Lincoln Memorial Hospital, and
the Salvation Army, among many others. Schaler and Kim Turner,
Director of Court Services in the Logan County Probation Office,
shared the vision they have for the building, wanting to make it
into a shelter that can offer many different services.
Schaler and Turner expanded on the hopes and plans they have with
the other organizations in our community, providing more detail on
what these partnerships could look like in practice. Schaler and
Turner shared they would hope the Salvation Army could eventually
open and operate a food pantry out of the Fifth Street building.
The building has a large kitchen meant to cook for
over 100 people. This would give the Salvation Army a space in
Lincoln in addition to their current Keest Center on Kickapoo
Street.
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Another organization they wanted to partner with is
Memorial Behavioral Health. The goal would be to design and operate
a living room. If you are not aware, a living room is a crisis
center that offers people in the community currently experiencing a
mental health crisis an alternative to being hospitalized. While
this living room would be available to veterans and those residing
in the building, it would be accessible by every member of the
community.
The pair is also hoping SIU could open a medical
clinic and possibly a dental clinic on site. With these
partnerships, the CIVC and other organizations could invest further
in our community.
This project is a very large undertaking. Schaler and the CIVC are
always looking for new ways to help push this project closer to
completion.
This Fifth Street project was accepted into a
learning collaborative program through the GAINS foundation. Turner
helped the CIVC apply for this, and they were one of five chosen
across the entire country. While this does not provide the project
with any monetary funding, it does provide them with technical
support.
Schaler also stated help is always wanted and needed
from the members of the community. If you have a desire to help the
CIVC with this project, Schaler shared two ways you could do so.
The first is through monetary donations. If you would
like to contribute to the project, the CIVC has a PayPal account for
online donations that you can contribute to
here.
If you would prefer to write a check, it can be
dropped off at either the CIVC office at 120 South McLean Street or
Heartland Bank and Trust, 508 Broadway Street in Lincoln.
Further details on how to donate in this way can be
found here under the
section titled “How to get involved.” The other way you can donate
is through your time. If you feel you have a skill that may be
helpful to the CIVC with this project and would like to donate that
skill and some time, you may call (217) 828-9366.
[Matt Booutcher]
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