Housing Action Illinois has been awarded $698,000 by HUD to channel resources to local organizations to help families and individuals with their housing needs and to prevent foreclosures. Housing Action will distribute the funds to the 26 housing counseling agencies listed below.
The housing counseling agencies will each receive between $19,000 and $35,000 to serve low- and moderate-income households in Illinois, Indiana, and Missouri. The organizations work with clients to improve their financial management and budgeting skills, gain home-buying skills, avoid predatory lenders, address mortgage delinquency and default, avert foreclosure, and prevent homelessness.
“We’re excited to more than double our network and our funds in this second year as an Intermediary,” says Sharon Legenza, Executive Director of Housing Action Illinois. “We’re thankful to HUD for this significant investment in Illinois, Indiana and Missouri communities. With this award, we’ll be able to help housing counseling agencies become more efficient, expand their capacity, and provide more resources for clients who want to improve their finances and provide secure homes for their families.”
For over a decade, Housing Action has provided crucial training and programmatic assistance to housing counseling agencies, particularly as the foreclosure crisis put tens of thousands of families in the region at risk. Becoming a HUD-Approved Intermediary last year was a natural extension of Housing Action’s mission and reflects the collaborative approach it takes to build the capacity of nonprofits serving local communities. During its first year as an Intermediary, Housing Action supported its inaugural network in counseling more than 4,000 households.
Acting Director of DuPage Homeownership Center Anne O’Dell explains that “with this grant, DuPage Homeownership Center is able to assist low-moderate income families obtain affordable housing in DuPage County through our program offerings, which include basic money management, financial literacy and homeownership education.”
“The award enables Housing Action to provide vital infrastructure support to affiliated agencies in the areas of managing funding, reporting, training, and identifying upcoming funding opportunities,” states David Young, Housing Action’s Director of Training and Technical Assistance. “This network brings much-needed resources to the region so families and communities can achieve their goals.”
Housing Action is partnering with the Indiana Association of Community Economic Development (IACED) to promote Housing Action’s Intermediary with their housing counseling agency members in Indiana. “One of IACED’s strategic goals is to secure additional resources for our members and state,” said Andy Fraizer, Executive Director of IACED. “We’re thrilled to be able to partner with Housing Action to leverage their housing counseling capacity-building expertise to strengthen families’ financial skills – and their communities.”
2016 Housing Action Affiliated Housing Counseling Agencies
Access Living, Chicago, IL
Bethel New Life, Chicago, IL
Brightpoint, Fort Wayne, IN
CDBG Operation Corp., East St. Louis, IL
Community & Economic Development Association of Cook County, Chicago, IL
CEFS Economic Opportunity Corporation, Effingham, IL
Center for Changing Lives, Chicago, IL
Community Service Council of N. Will County, Bolingbrook, IL
DuPage Homeownership Center, Wheaton, IL
Embarras River Basin Agency, Greenup, IL
Ford Heights Community Service Organization, Ford Heights, IL
Genesis Housing Development Center, Chicago, IL
HOPE of Evansville, Evansville, IN
Housing Opportunities, Valparaiso, IN
Housing Opportunity Development Corp., Techny, IL
Indiana Legal Services, Indianapolis, IN
Justine Petersen, Inc., St. Louis, MO
Kingdom Community, Chicago, IL
Menard County Housing Authority, Petersburg, IL
METEC, Peoria, IL
Northside Community Development Corporation, Chicago, IL
Oak Park Regional Housing Authority, Oak Park, IL
Respond Now, Chicago Heights, IL
Restoration America, Crystal Lake, IL
South Suburban Housing Center, Homewood, IL
Western Egyptian Economic Opportunity Council, Inc., Steeleville, IL
###
Housing Action Illinois is a statewide coalition that has been fighting to protect and expand the availability of quality, affordable housing for nearly three decades. Our members include housing counseling agencies, homeless service providers, developers of affordable housing and policymakers.