Following the collapse last year of the nonprofit volunteer organization called The LeaderShop, the LaGrange Park District is preparing to demolish the organization’s former building, marking a final step in the ending of a youth program that once served generations of Lyons Township residents. 

On Dec. 8, Village Board trustees were scheduled to vote on an agreement allowing local firefighters to use the former LeaderShop facility for live fire training before its demolition. According to a village memo, “Use of the facility poses a rare and valuable opportunity to conduct realistic fire suppression and rescue drills in a controlled environment.” The building, located at 4903 Willow Springs Road in Denning Park, has sat empty since The LeaderShop suspended operations in December 2024.

In response to Patch’s earlier reporting, Park District Executive Director Jenny Bechtold said the Nov. 2024 referendum, which included funds for removing the aging structure, made demolition the most responsible option. 

“Rather than investing significant funds into an aging facility, the Board chose to allocate resources toward improvements that will better serve the community in the long term,” Bechtold stated to the Patch. 

Yet the unraveling of The LeaderShop began long before the building issue. In the summer of 2024, the Lyons Township Mental Health Commission (LTMHC) revoked its grant to the nonprofit–grant funding that made up 40% of The LeaderShop’s budget. That decision followed allegations that Executive Director Alan Morales allegedly sexually harassed female township officials at the Commission’s Dec. 2023 holiday party. Morales later reached an agreement to step down by September 2024, though he never publicly addressed the allegations. 

“As President of the Lyons Township Mental Health Commission (LTMHC), I serve in a leadership role that involves oversight, funding decisions, and collaboration with community partners,” President of Lyons Township Mental Health Commission Elyse Hoffenberg said. “The LTMHC is statutorily charged with planning, funding, and monitoring community-based services for township residents who need mental-health, substance-use, or developmental-disability support.”

Hoffenberg first became aware of serious concerns in 2022, citing early signs of financial instability and reports from former employees about near-total staff turnover on more than one occasion.

“Given the importance of staff continuity, especially when working with youth, these reports raised red flags,” Hoffenberg said. 

The situation escalated after the holiday party incident involving Morales.

“At that point, our counsel became involved, and a formal report was submitted to the President of LeaderShop’s Board outlining the incident,” Hoffenberg said. 

Before withdrawing support, the commission made multiple attempts to give The LeaderShop time to respond appropriately, Hoffenberg said. LTMHC notified LeaderShop Board President Linn Meyer shortly after the incident and expected corrective action. 

“This window, from about Dec. 2023 to May 2024, represented several months in which the Board had the opportunity to address the issues,” Hoffenberg said.

During that same period, a group of LeaderShop alumni launched an effort urging board leadership to take stronger action regarding Morales. Even so, Hoffenberg said the organization’s responses did not fully address concerns. Ultimately, the commission voted in May 2024 to revoke funding for the 2025 fiscal year. 

“The decision was not made quickly or lightly; several factors ultimately influenced the Board’s decision. The most serious were the documented concerns about the conduct of the organization’s executive director and the way those concerns were handled internally,” Hoffenberg said. “When issues involving inappropriate behavior arise in a youth-serving agency, the expectation is that its board will take prompt, transparent, and meaningful corrective action. Despite months of communication and opportunities to address the situation, the necessary safeguards and assurances were not fully put in place.”

Hoffenberg emphasized that the commission weighed the potential impact on families carefully but ultimately had to prioritize safety. She stated that supporting an agency where serious concerns remained unaddressed would have posed its own risks to the very young people we are obligated to protect.”

By July 2024, The LeaderShop publicly acknowledged disciplinary action against Morales, who was earning $171,000 annually. He was moved into the role of “Executive Director Emeritus” before separating from the organization entirely. Following this, on Nov. 30, The LeaderShop announced it would suspend all programming effective Dec. 12. With the building now set for demolition, the future of youth programming once provided by The LeaderShop remains unclear.

“In the end, the balance required us to hold both truths at once: that youth and families deserved uninterrupted support, and that they also deserved to be served by an organization operating with integrity, professionalism, and a safe environment,” Hoffenberg said. “Our decisions were guided by the responsibility to safeguard all of those interests, even when doing so required difficult choices.”