A makeshift shelter at a Sycamore church has seen an increasing number of clients due to the voluntary evacuation of the Evergreen Village Mobile Home Park.

The shelter, set up by the DeKalb County chapter of the American Red Cross at the Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. John, 26555 Brickville Road, is seeing increasing numbers of flood victims, and the large number of occupants might call for opening another shelter, said Michelle Emmett, executive director of the DeKalb County chapter of the American Red Cross.

Evergreen Village closed around 4 p.m. Sunday due to safety concerns and rising water levels, said Dennis Miller, coordinator of the DeKalb County Emergency Services and Disaster Agency.

The electricity was shut off Sunday for approximately 120 mobile homes that occupy the park, Miller said.

The closure of the park was a voluntary evacuation, and some residents still remain in the park without electricity, said Sycamore Fire Chief Bill Riddle.

Sixty residents occupied the shelter on Sunday night, with the number increasing to 101 residents by Monday afternoon, a large amount of them being children, Emmett said. Tables and cots were set up in the church’s multipurpose room to accommodate the large number of occupants.

The Red Cross already established a respite center when word came the park was closing.

“When they turned off the electricity in the trailer park, that’s when we became a shelter operation,” Emmett said.

Thirty volunteers have helped with the shelter since its creation Sunday, and local businesses have donated food for the flood victims. The Sycamore School District also had buses pick up children at the shelter and take them to school Monday.

The church has a kitchen, bathrooms and showers that are being utilized by the shelter clients.

Additional shower units were also provided by the Sycamore Fire Department.

“We are trying to make sure that, even though it is a shelter, that it is a home away from home and that they know we care about them,” Emmett said.

Donations are still needed to provide for the flood victims.

Emmett said monetary or food donations are being accepted, however monetary donations will help most, no matter how small.

“We really depend on the generosity of the entire DeKalb County community and the NIU family – students, faculty and staff,” Emmett said.

The park was previously evacuated by flooding in August 2007, and park residents have been cooperative with the closing.

“They’re used to it and OK with it,” Miller said.

Emmett agreed.

“These folks have been very patient and appreciative to everything,” Emmett said.

Miller said he hopes that within the next couple of days, as the water goes down, residents of the park will be able to return to their homes.

“We thought the water would recede a little faster and it actually came up today,” Riddle said. “So we are probably looking at opening Evergreen toward the end of the week or the weekend.”

In order to reopen the park, each home must be inspected by the County Building Department and ComEd must assure it is safe to turn the electricity back on, Riddle said.

An estimation of damages could not yet be determined.