Closed Decatur Corrections Facility To Become Homeless Shelter

A closed Illinois Department of Corrections facility in Decatur will become the new site of a homeless mission.

Mick McCammack is the executive director of Decatur Cares. He says the former work release facility will allow the organization to house about 200 people.

Decatur Cares already houses 17 men at one facility and 11 women at another. McCammack hopes to double that capacity by the end of the summer, thanks to the one-time state building that it acquired on Monday.

Renovations should take about a month.

The facility was one of several that were closed in January during state budget cuts.

The building's owners, who leased the property to the state, donated it Decatur Cares.