In 2018, Michiel Burnett’s husband Shon had a heart attack while the couple was without a home and living in an extended-stay hotel in Tinley Park.
“He had a mild heart attack. Living in the hotel. It was crazy,” Burnett said. “Sometimes you just never know what people go through.”
Now, the couple runs DBC Gifts of Love, a nonprofit extension of their coworking business that aims to help other families experiencing homelessness. On Oct. 10, they will be holding their fourth annual community 5K walk to raise funds for their mission.
The year has been busy enough that they were initially unsure if they would be holding the 5K this year, Burnett said, but a call from an Oak Forest school requesting help changed that.
“It’s so much going on. Volunteers going through, staff going through things with the storms. We just didn’t know,” Burnett said. “When they said, ‘Well, we have 35 people ready,’ we were like, ‘Okay, we’ll do it.'”
Proceeds from the 5K at Vollmer Trails Forest Preserve in Matteson will go towards providing hotel assistance, fresh food, household staples, toiletries and other resources to families experiencing homelessness, DBC Gifts of Love said in a news release.
During the couple’s time in the hotel, Burnett said, they met many more homeless neighbors than they would have thought.
“Sometimes you go through things and you think you’re the only one,” Burnett said. “We went to the hotel and realized, oops, we’re not the only one. And there were just so many people that were there, and kids.”
They were ‘hidden homeless,’ she said — people who lack stable permanent housing but don’t live visibly outdoors or in standard homeless shelters.
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“It’s hidden. People don’t know,” Burnett said. “That’s why we work with the schools.”
They started their charity work by providing school supplies and backpacks to homeless students at a small scale, Burnett said, but the scope grew quickly. At one point, a donation took them from providing 32 backpacks stuffed with supplies to giving out over 800, she said.
“A lot of the time we never actually talk to the people. ‘Cause if we talked to the people and we took pictures, we could probably get more grant funding,” Burnett said. “But we want to keep that private, ’cause if you’re going through homelessness, that’s already a lot.”
There is a lot of shame associated with homelessness, Burnett said, which the couple experienced firsthand.
“We didn’t even tell our family at first,” Burnett said.
They have seen increased need this year, she said, especially following the series of devastating storms that swept through the south suburbs over the summer, damaging homes and displacing residents. The American Red Cross opened a shelter in Steger to provide aid following the July 27 storm that saw three tornadoes cut through the region.
“We took the supplies that we got and we reached out to other nonprofits and we gave to Robbins, Hazel Crest, University Park, Gary, Indiana,” Burnett said. “We collected more and reached out and gave more.”
Recently tightened SNAP work requirements have also made things more precarious for many families, Burnett said.
“We do have people coming to ask us, can they work with us because of SNAP,” Burnett said. “Eighty hours a month, that’s no joke.”
The new rules require most people between ages 18-64 without dependents under 14 now to work or volunteer for at least 80 hours a month in order to maintain their benefits, according to Cook County. Most noncitizens who were previously able to receive benefits, including refugees and asylum seekers, are no longer eligible, the county said.
The compounding impact of SNAP cuts, lingering storm aftermath and increases in the cost of living have been felt across the south suburbs. The Rich Township pantry has been struggling to meet increased demand, Supervisor Calvin Jordan said earlier this month.
It’s exciting to see the impact of their work continue to expand, the Burnetts said.
“We’re not done yet,” Shon Burnett said. “We’re just excited about what the future holds.”
At the same time, Michiel Burnett said, that growth is necessary to keep pace with the growing need in the region. The organization is still looking for more volunteers and more donations, she said.
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“We know the need is going to be great,” Burnett said. “We need to prepare ourselves for the greater need that’s coming.”
If you go…
When: Saturday, Oct. 10, check-in at 8 a.m., walk begins at 9 a.m.
Where: Vollmer Trails, Cook County Forest Preserves
More Info: https://dbcgiftsoflove.org/