Rock Island County and five Illinois Quad Cities municipalities are partnering to offer a temporary winter emergency shelter in Moline for people experiencing homelessness.
The shelter will be located at 3906 25th Street in Moline, formerly known as Winnie's Place (owned by Churches United), and is expected to accommodate at least 30 men and women.
The nonprofit Humility Homes & Services will operate the 32-bed shelter, from Dec. 1, 2026 through March 15, 2027, pending final approvals and facility readiness.
“This temporary emergency shelter is a solid first step, as we work together toward a long-term, comprehensive approach to addressing homelessness and related issues impacting so many in our communities,” said Rock Island County Board Chairman Richard “Quijas” Brunk.
The announcement on Monday, Nov. 2 (at a press conference in the county office building) follows a regional planning effort that began in May 2026, bringing together local governments and community organizations to coordinate emergency shelter services and develop longer-term approaches to homelessness.
Participating governments include:
- Rock Island County
- City of Moline
- City of Rock Island
- City of East Moline
- City of Silvis
- Village of Milan
The proposed operating budget is approximately $240,000, with funding shared among participating governments.
Rock Island County will serve as the shelter administrator and fiscal agent, overseeing funding coordination, financial management and administrative responsibilities. Individual government contributions will be addressed through their respective Intergovernmental Agreements (IGAs) and approval processes.
“The exact amounts contributed by the local governments are still being worked out again through that IGA that I referenced,” Brunk said Monday, noting they won’t be split equally, but largely based on population to a great extent.
Humility Homes & Services will operate the shelter, providing staffing, case management, guest services and connections to community resources. The six-unit building is owned by Churches United. Humility already operates an 88-bed permanent shelter in Davenport, and Christian Care in Rock Island has a shelter with 62 beds (42 for men and 20 for women and children).
Humility CEO Ashley Velez-Hagler said that Humility and Christian Care have street outreach teams that will let unhoused people know of this new option, as well as Project NOW, The Third Place QC, hospitals, and local police departments will have information to give out.
She said the Moline building was chosen after looking at several locations in the Illinois QC.
“This one made the most sense because it already was zoned as a shelter, it has the setup for shelter, it has all of that in place,” Velez-Hagler said. “Those are things that they're looking at for locations for the ongoing shelter. That's why it's like there's a plan. The county will be leading the way, but we're just not there yet. The conversations are not stopping. And this is just the winter shelter's addressed. Now let's talk about the longer plan with all the same partners around the table.”
Churches United had operated the building as Winnie’s Place (a shelter for women and children) up until a few years ago, and then briefly used it for transitional housing, she said.
“The property has been sitting open for about a year, and so we were entering a partnership with Churches United already to have that,” Velez-Hagler said. “And then when this came up with winter shelter and needing a space, we brought it to the attention of the city of Moline to say, could this be an option, because it was a shelter before. So the intention is, we'll operate it as a winter shelter -- emergency shelter in those units.”
Location is top challenge
“The greatest challenge in all of this is location,” Brunk said. “This property is almost entirely turnkey. It was a shelter of sorts in the past. So turning away from this opportunity, we all felt would be a grave mistake. So again, while it only has 30-something person capacity. And as I mentioned, through collaboration, working with other locations, other shelters, collaborating with them, working with Salvation Army for families and ADA accessibility and so on, we feel confident that we're going to have people covered.
“But of course, we'll work with everybody and anybody that wants to be a part of this effort, helping to ensure that these people are taken care of,” he added.
Humility will work with social service agencies to get residents care that they may need, and assistance to find permanent housing, Velez-Hagler said.
“The goal of all shelters, is that we really do try to get people into housing,” she said. “So our intake and diversion person will be screening for all of that, for them to get on coordinated entry, for them to get in that. That is always the goal. We're also realistic though that some individuals who will come in need a higher level of care, and so that's where working with the health systems and working out how do we get them to the part that they need, and that's kind of still being worked out.”
With the help of key partners, Project NOW last winter served 302 unhoused people in a temporary shelter in Moline, and found year-round housing for 86 of them, a success rate quadruple that of another 12-week shelter it ran the prior year.
The shelter in a downtown Moline city-owned building had a capacity of 60, and Project NOW also provided shelter in local hotels serving about 25 a day, and this year was open Jan. 21 to April 15, 2026, seven days a week, served by a staff of 12, plus volunteers.
Last December, the city of Rock Island partnered with Project NOW to open an emergency overnight shelter at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, 630 9th St., Rock Island, operating from Dec. 12, 2025 to Dec. 15, 2025, including food and snacks.
The new shelter has five two-bedroom units (plus one unit used as offices), and there will be two people per bedroom and two in the living room, and a shared bathroom. There's a kitchen area, with microwave and refrigerator but no oven, Velez-Hagler said.
“By combining our resources, expertise and commitment, we are working toward providing a safe, warm place for individuals experiencing homelessness this winter. While we are proud of the progress made, our focus now is on completing the remaining facility punch-list items and operational preparations to open the shelter in December,” said Moline Community Development Manager K.J. Whitley.
“With colder weather on the way, it is our duty to take care of our vulnerable, unhoused residents,” said Rock Island Mayor Ashley Harris. “This partnership reflects the strength of our communities and our shared commitment to protecting the health, safety and dignity of every individual.”
Many community partners
Additional community partners include Christian Care, The Third Place QC, The Salvation Army, Quad Cities Housing Council, Community Health Care, Project NOW, Community Foundation, One Eighty and Continuum of Care (IL-518). These organizations will assist with meals, daytime services, healthcare coordination, temporary accommodations and other resources.
The Salvation Army may also provide limited accommodations for families and individuals with accessibility-related needs, subject to availability.
“We believe that providing a safe, welcoming place during the day is just as important as having a warm place to sleep at night,” said Cloey Miller, Co-Founder and Director of The Third Place QC, Rock Island. “Through our daytime services, we can offer our guests rest, connection, access to resources, and compassionate support while helping them navigate housing options, connect with case management, and take meaningful steps toward stability.”
The shelter will supplement existing emergency shelter services in the region. Capacity will remain limited, with referrals to other available services based on eligibility and availability.
The participating governments have developed a proposed IGA outlining funding and administrative responsibilities. The agreement is scheduled for consideration by East Moline on Nov. 2, Rock Island on Nov. 9, Moline on Nov. 10 and Rock Island County on Nov. 17. Milan and Silvis will follow their respective approval processes.
The official shelter opening date will be announced once operational plans and required approvals are finalized.
The six local governments and nonprofit agencies will continue working on a permanent shelter solution, Brunk said Monday.
“The intent of the local governments working with our agency partners is a long-term approach to addressing homelessness and other related issues that so many in our communities face,” he said. “The long-term vision involving a permanent year-round shelter and resource center, a vision that includes efforts to reduce the number of persons ultimately facing homelessness in the first place. We remain committed to this mission.
"Our work will continue on that front. With that said, this working group prioritized the establishment of an emergency winter shelter for the 2026-2027 winter season.”
With Rock Island County serving as the administrator and fiscal agent, an operating agreement with Humility Homes and Services will be going to the county board for consideration as well.
“We are glad to be able to answer both perspectives, that we are affirmatively working toward addressing this issue and not pretending that it will resolve on its own,” Moline Mayor Sangeetha Rayapati said Monday, thanking partners including police and EMS professionals.
“So we look forward to conversing further on this topic, as Chairman Brunk said, about a permanent solution, as well as engaging with the healthcare system more deeply about how we can close the gaps in care for folks in need,” she said.
QC homeless numbers increasing
“We know the need is even greater as the unhoused population in the Quad Cities, the numbers have gone up over the last point in time in January,” Velez-Hagler said. “So we appreciate the opportunity to be able to partner with the government. This is a collaborative effort. This is between the nonprofits helping us and also the government effort.
"And I'm especially grateful for Churches United for the use of their building that we'll be using to operate for individuals, as well as our partner in Salvation Army who will be helping with the families and then the individuals who are in need of an ADA accommodation," she said.
As they did last year during the winter shelter, Salvation Army will be placing some homeless families in local hotels.
After the temporary shelter closes, Humility Homes will transition the site to permanent supportive housing, with five rental units, Velez-Hagler said.
“It just depends on funding. They will be affordable rentals,” she said. “That's what we call our mission-focused housing. All of our rents, because we own and operate 152 units throughout the Quad Cities.”
For more information on Humility programs and services, click HERE.
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