Home of the Sparrow is a non-profit 501(c) 3 organization that was established in 1986. Home of the Sparrow serves the community as a transitional shelter program providing housing and supportive services for homeless women and their children in McHenry County. Through the generous support of donors and friends, Home of the Sparrow is celebrating more than twenty years of service to McHenry County communities.

Each year, more than 100 homeless women and children reside in Home of the Sparrow’s shelters located in McHenry and Crystal Lake.  At any given time, up to 75% of residents are children. Although McHenry County is the agency’s focus, we also provide services to those from the entire Northern Illinois area. Since Home of the Sparrow’s program began in 1986, over 2,000 women have reached out to Home of the Sparrow, seeking help and hope and ultimately, lives of independence and self-sufficiency. Each year, we also provide women in crisis situations with information on additional advocacy services and prevention programs within our community.

The doors of Home of the Sparrow are always open. Utilizing all resources available, we strive to meet the needs of as many women and children as possible and keep our waiting list at a minimum.

December 15, 1986 . . . A gathering of faith

The vision for Home of the Sparrow began with Sister Moira (Nancy) Traeger, a Catholic nun, more than twenty years ago when she and many interfaith friends and colleagues recognized the reality of homelessness in McHenry County and set out to make a difference. After years of effort, disappointment and almost giving up, they finally stood at the doorway of a residence in McHenry, Illinois as the doors of the McHenry County Interfaith Shelter opened to a family – a mother and her children.  It was the first shelter for homeless women and children in McHenry County. The founders, led by Sister Mo, were from seven interfaith churches and included Joy Rogers Martin, who still serves on staff at the agency.  “Sister Mo” was the first director of the agency.

Also among those early organizers was Rev. Phyllis Mueller, a newly ordained Presbyterian minister, who realized that homelessness in McHenry County was a reality among women and children, and that these women and children had no place to go.  Rev. Mueller connected with the interfaith group, joined the board and, together, they worked to make their idea of a shelter become reality. As Chaplain, Rev. Mueller directed the agency through most of the first eleven years of the McHenry County Interfaith Shelter, later renamed Home of the Sparrow.

Committed to McHenry County and Northern Illinois:

• two shelters
• five transitional apartments
• aftercare
• four Sparrow's Nest Thrift Stores...
  • and more to come

Now in its second decade of service, Home of the Sparrow’s vision for the future remains the same - that disadvantaged women in Northern Illinois have the opportunity to live productive, independent lives that set an example of learning, life skills, job skills, and self-reliance for their children. Our goal is the elimination of homelessness.