City officials last week ordered an Elgin, Ill., man to stop using his home to host “slumber parties” for the homeless. But this week, the city wants Greg Schiller’s help to find new ways to fill gaps in services for the homeless.
Though his suburban Chicago home remains off-limits as a temporary shelter, Schiller said the city’s new attitude about how to house people on cold nights is “like an answered prayer,” according to WMAQ-TV in Chicago.
Schiller had defended welcoming the homeless into his home as a compassionate outreach: “I would stay up all night with them and give them coffee and stuff and feed them.” He insisted he never allowed drugs or alcohol inside his residence on the freezing nights he invited the homeless in. His kindness included a cot in the warm, dorm-style basement, plus hot drinks and movies.
And Schiller came to the work with experience. He previously co-founded Matthew 25:40 Ministry, a homeless shelter outreach program at Elgin First United Methodist Church. After his resignation in 2016, Schiller began to minister to the homeless, first in his garage, and this year in his better-equipped basement.
But city officials in Elgin said Schiller’s basement didn’t meet its “sleeping regulations” code. When police officers inspected and shut down the basement “party” space last week, they cited the ceiling height as too low and the…
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