PORTAGE PARK — City officials are set to consider a plan Friday to transform the vacant convent at St. Pascal into a home for new mothers struggling to get on their feet.
The city's Zoning Board of Appeals is scheduled to weigh Aid for Women's request for a special-use permit to turn the convent at 3954-58 N. Meade Ave. into a home for 14 people and two staff members.
Aid For Women, a Catholic social services organization that encourages women not to have abortions, wants to house about a half-dozen women at the convent who are working or going to school full time in an effort to find a permanent home and long-term employment while caring for their babies.
The plan — which was criticized by some residents at a packed community meeting in August and on social media — has the support of Ald. Tim Cullerton (38th) and St. Pascal's pastor, the Rev. Paul Seaman, who said the concerns are overblown and motivated by fear.
Aid For Women Executive Director Susan Barrett said the women would be carefully screened before being allowed to move into the former convent at St. Pascal. No one with a criminal record, a history of substance abuse or "unhealthy" relationships would be allowed in the facility, she said.
The convent at St. Pascal has been essentially vacant since the Franciscan Sisters of Joliet left more than 30 years ago, Seaman said.
St. Pascal School is one of four Far Northwest Side Catholic schools that are set to be consolidated starting in the fall of 2016. It is unknown whether the consolidated school's students will attend class at St. Pascal, 6143 W. Irving Park Road, which is around the corner from the vacant convent.
The city's Zoning Board of Appeals is scheduled to meet at 9 a.m. Friday in Room 200 at 121 N. LaSalle St.. The board often, but not always, follows the recommendation of the area's alderman.
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