A proposed expansion at Kankakee’s Gift of God shelter has cleared an advisory planning vote, but the bigger hurdle is money. Organizers want to turn the second floor into 12-bed transitional housing while keeping emergency shelter operations under one roof.
The Kankakee Planning Board voted 7-0 on July 21 to approve an amendment allowing the transitional housing program, according to Shaw Local. The request will advance to the full Kankakee City Council, and no public objections were raised during the planning board meeting.
The Proposal Would Shift Shelter Space
The plan would convert the second floor into transitional housing with as many as 12 beds and move all overnight shelter care into a divided first-floor area. The city’s housing plan identifies limited shelter beds, affordable housing and the upfront costs of leaving homelessness as ongoing local barriers.
The transitional housing program would offer residents up to 12 months to find work, get back on their feet and secure stable housing. It would also be the only program of its kind in Kankakee County, but Pastor James Smith said the shelter would need at least one or two qualified full-time paid staff members before it could operate.
Funding remains uncertain, and Smith is hoping federal and state grant requests will provide the money needed to launch the program. The ministry currently relies on volunteers and does not have a grant writer, while the approval could expire as an active use if the program does not begin within 12 months and Smith does not return to the City Council for more time, Shaw Local reports.
A Shelter Built Through Repeated Funding Pushes
Gift of God’s current expansion request follows an earlier effort to make the building compliant with city and fire requirements. In 2023, the city approved $85,000 in American Rescue Plan funds to help pay for a required sprinkler system, after the ministry struggled to cover the work through donations, according to an earlier Shaw Local report.
We Stand for Christ Jesus Ministries, which operates Gift of God Street Ministries, took over the shelter effort after founder Pastor Ed Kannapel died in 2021. The latest vote opens the door for a more structured path out of homelessness, but until staffing and operating money are secured, the 12-bed program remains an approved plan rather than a functioning housing option.
