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New director keeps PADS on course
Linda Edwards helps Betsy Boesch lay out clean bed linens for about 50 homeless PADS clients Nov. 29 at First United Methodist Church. Betsy Boesch is the new shelter director of West Suburban PADS. | Jon Langham~for Sun-Times Media
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Updated: January 7, 2013 6:24AM
Betsy Boesch, the new shelter director at West Suburban PADS, oversees about 1,000 volunteers who help operate 10 overnight shelters in churches in the suburbs of western Cook County. Last year, West Suburban PADS gave 480 people a place to sleep. She started her job Oct. 2. She recently answered questions posed to her by Pioneer Press.
Q: Where are you from originally?
A: Indianapolis. I go every single year to the Indy 500. It’s a family tradition.
Q: You earned a master’s degree in psychology with an emphasis in trauma treatment from Lesley University in Cambridge, Mass. Why focus on trauma?
A: When I first started undergrad, I was interested in art therapy. For my master’s, I was interviewed by the chair of the trauma program. He told me about all the great work they had done around 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina.
Q: What type of trauma?
A: Disaster relief, physical and sexual abuse, addictions, substance abuse.
Q: What did you do after earning a master degree?
A: I worked with adolescents with moderate to severe mental illness in Boston. Some depression, some anxiety, adjustment disorder, a lot of kids dealing with traumatic issues of the past, physical abuse, sexual abuse, some autism.
Q: What next?
A: I had a fire in my apartment. The Red Cross came out to meet with me. I became a volunteer. I responded to local fires, mostly. I met with families involved and provided food, clothing and shelter based on an assessment of damage. A couple years later, I began working with them in the disaster department.
Q: When was that?
A: Late August 2011. Less that 48 hours after I started my job with the Red Cross, Hurricane Irene took place. I spent my first four to five nights on the job at the job. I organized volunteers who responded to disasters.
Q: Other disasters?
A: Many local fires, local building evacuations. Wildfires in Colorado for a couple weeks.
Q: How was that?
A: It was a neat experience being in Colorado. When a hurricane comes in, its takes out entire cities and towns and you respond in the aftermath. Wildfires occur while you are there supporting the victims.
Q: Why did you move back to the Midwest and take a job with West Suburban PADS?
A: I really wanted to get back to my family in Indianapolis. (Also), it is fairly similar to what I did with the Red Cross.
Q: What does a shelter coordinator do?
A: Manage and coordinate a team or volunteers and organize volunteer shifts. Help to set up shelters every night and coordinate logistics. Oversee supplies, meals.
Q: Has the number of people using shelters changes in recent years?
A: We’ve seen a 35 percent increase this year alone. I suspect that through Chicagoland other organizations are experiencing the same thing.
