Homeless service providers throughout Illinois met critical needs with nearly half a million dollars in COVID-19 relief subgrants provided by Housing Action.

Housing Action subgranted $485,000 to 30 homeless service providers across Illinois, thanks to funding we received from the Illinois COVID-19 Response Fund and the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

Together, the subgrantees served 3,515 individuals—including more than 790 children, 830 individuals with healthcare needs, and 1,060 people experiencing wage loss—and provided a total of 78,000 nights of shelter, 130,000 meals, and 23,000 pieces of personal protective equipment. In addition, 300 households received short-term rent and mortgage assistance, and 160 received utility assistance.

Learn more about our subgrantees’ work »

We pivoted our trainings to focus on equipping housing counselors with the skills and knowledge needed to effectively serve clients while working remotely.

Our trainings, workshops, and webinars are designed to meet the unique needs of housing organizations and help housing counselors and other nonprofit housing professionals build their skills and knowledge.

When counselors began working from home during the pandemic, we offered A Primer on Virtual Housing Counseling. This overwhelmingly popular training reached its 150-person capacity within 90 minutes of registration opening, so we organized a second session to meet the demand. We also shifted our place-based Fundamentals of Rental Counseling training to a virtual format to help counselors respond to the large increase in renters seeking their services due the pandemic.

To help counselors keep up with continually changing rules and regulations regarding evictions and foreclosure as the COVID-19 pandemic developed—and to prepare counselors for evolving needs as the situation continues—we facilitated trainings with legal experts and veterans of the 2008 foreclosure crisis.

Meanwhile, our Online Study Group continues to help housing counselors prepare to pass the individual certification exam and become HUD certified. More than 1,000 counselors from across the nation have participated in the study group since its launch in 2018.

Our AmeriCorps members continued to shine.

AmeriCorps VISTA is a national service program designed to fight poverty.

In 2020, 24 full-year AmeriCorps members and 21 Summer AmeriCorps members served at organizations across the state through Housing Action Illinois’ national service program. While they all felt the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their terms of service—whether suddenly having to learn how to do a role remotely, pivoting work goals towards relief efforts, or getting to know their coworkers over Zoom—our AmeriCorps members rose to the occasion and made the most of it. They worked on projects ranging from creating virtual infrastructure for organizations to collecting data to illustrate statewide housing inaccessibility.

Altogether, our AmeriCorps Members helped bring in $507,000 in cash and in-kind donations and recruited or managed more than 2,100 volunteers.

The Just Housing Initiative took effect, and we began working to help people understand their new rights.

In 2019, after a campaign co-led by Housing Action, the Just Housing Amendment passed, creating protections against housing discrimination for people with arrest and conviction records in Cook County. In 2020, with the amendment in effect—giving more than one million people a fair chance at finding housing—we began working to help applicants understand their rights and to inform landlords about the new protections.

We kept affordable housing in the headlines—and we shared data and stories to build momentum for change.

We want people to care about and understand affordable housing. This means changing the way we talk about it—and making sure people are talking about it. The more people pay attention to housing issues, the more they understand and the more momentum we build for meaningful change.

In 2020, we focused on shaping media narratives, especially in response to the pandemic. Between talking with reporters and writing our own articles, Housing Action ended up securing more than 50 media placements. We also created messaging guidance for our member organizations on talking about housing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the beginning of the year, we co-published A Place to Call Home, a collection of stories by people who have experienced homelessness that grew out of our 2019 Storytelling for Change workshop series with the Supportive Housing Providers Association. In the spring, we co-released the National Low Income Housing Coalition report Out of Reach 2020 in Illinois. The report finds that in order to afford the average modest apartment in Illinois, a worker must earn $21.30 per hour—more than twice our state minimum wage. The report highlights the barriers many families face in complying with stay-at-home orders and advisories while dealing with the financial impacts of COVID-19.

Throughout 2020, we have continued to spotlight the work of our member organizations, projects, housing counselors, AmeriCorps members, and staff on our Latest Updates page.

1. Capital Budget

Securing a $200 million investment in affordable housing.

We worked to build support for investment in affordable housing—and successfully secured $200 million in the first capital budget in a decade. A capital budget provides funding for long-term infrastructure projects, spanning multiple years. In comparison, an annual operating budget provides day-to-day funding for state operations.

What’s the Impact?

The capital budget funding could help create an estimated 2,000 affordable rental homes and open opportunities to leverage other funding for affordable housing. In 2009, capital dollars that Housing Action helped secure were used to create 694 affordable rental homes. Funds were also used to promote affordable homeownership, helping 6,817 mostly first-time homebuyers: 862 bought previously vacant houses in communities hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis, and 1,902 were veterans.

2. HUD Housing Counseling Intermediary Network

Supporting hardworking housing counselors.

We have been a HUD Housing Counseling Intermediary since 2014, which means we distribute funding from HUD to housing counseling agencies—or affiliates—within our network. This year, we were awarded $1.2 million by HUD—the 7th largest award in the nation.

What’s the Impact?

We will distribute the award to 33 housing counseling agencies that serve communities in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Missouri. We also assist our affiliates with administrative functions and capacity building, helping them become more effective, expand programs, and meet the needs of their communities. In 2018, our HUD Intermediary network helped 15,982 households understand their housing options.

3. Homeless Prevention Program

Helping prevent homelessness for 6,500 households.

The Homeless Prevention Program helps people avoid experiencing homelessness by providing them with rental and utility assistance, as well as supportive services. We secured a $4 million—more than 80%—increase in funding for the program, resulting in a total of $9 million in available funding—the highest amount in years after significant cuts dating back to the Great Recession. We also successfully advocated to increase the total amount of assistance each individual can receive.

What’s the Impact?

The increased funding will help prevent homelessness for an estimated 6,500 households. A 2016 University of Notre Dame study found that recipients were 88% less likely to become homeless after three months.

4. Countdown to Certification

Helping housing counselors get certified.

All housing counselors working for HUD-approved housing counseling agencies must pass a new national individual certification exam by August 1, 2020—so we’re helping housing counselors get ready to take the test. In addition to developing an online study group, our Capacity Building Specialist, Wanda Collins, shares study tips, practice test questions, and other resources in a Countdown to Certification email series to keep housing counselors on track.

What’s the Impact?

HUD-approved housing counseling agencies without at least one certified counselor on staff after the deadline will have to suspend counseling services. By helping housing counselors gain the knowledge, test-taking skills, and confidence to pass the certification exam, we’re ensuring that housing counseling agencies can continue to serve their communities. The online study group, now open to counselors from across the nation, has helped more than 420 attendees prepare for the exam this year. 

5. Lead Poisoning Prevention Program

Helping protect 6,000 children from lead poisoning.

Illinois has one of the highest rates of childhood lead poisoning in the country. Lead can cause numerous health issues—particularly in children, who absorb lead more easily than adults. We successfully advocated for new rules to implement the state law we advocated for in 2018. The law required that Illinois update its definition of an elevated blood lead level in accordance with CDC standards. In addition, penalties for violating lead prevention laws were increased in the new rules. We also worked to secure $6 million in new funding to implement the rules, bringing the total state funding for the Lead Poisoning Prevention Program to more than $12 million.

What’s the Impact?

6,000 children who had elevated blood lead levels based on the CDC standard—but not the old Illinois law—will receive mandated nurse care management and environmental inspections to identify lead hazards. Under the previous rules, only about 1,000 children would be eligible for both services.

6. publications & media spotlights

Publishing data, research, and resources to equip housing professionals & raising awareness of housing and homelessness.

We work to educate and organize around a broad range of issues—to that end, we share resources, research, and analysis related to affordable housing.

2019 Publications

• Black and White Disparities in Homelessness found that Black Illinoisans are eight times more likely to experience homelessness than White Illinoisans. We offer multiple ways to address this racial disparity and end homelessness for all Illinoisans.
• Eviction in Illinois—a follow-up to our 2018 report, Prejudged—examined data from nearly 57,000 eviction cases against Illinois tenants. It finds that 54% of households facing eviction did not have a negative determination but still ended up with an eviction filing on public record, a serious obstacle to finding a future home.
• Our CMS Guide helps housing counseling agencies assess different client management systems, offering an at-a-glance comparison chart in addition to detailed system profiles.
• Our Acronym Guide makes it easy to keep track of all the acronyms commonly used in housing and homelessness discussions.

We also leveraged a significant increase in media coverage of Housing Action Illinois and our issues. We spoke up about the urgent need to protect fair housing with WBEZ’s Natalie Moore, on Marketplace, and in the Chicago Sun-Times. We spoke up about the racial disparities in who experiences homelessness, shared data showing that nowhere in Illinois can a low-wage worker afford to rent a two-bedroom apartment, and pushed for critical investments in homeless prevention and lead poisoning prevention. WGLT featured our 2019 Housing Matters! Conference in a five-story series and an episode of Sound Ideas.

What’s the Impact?

By sharing information and real-life stories with policymakers, nonprofit service providers, and the media, we build awareness and activate change. Our research briefs—Black and White Disparities in Homelessness and Eviction in Illinois—offer policy recommendations. Our CMS Guide helps housing counseling agencies navigate the complicated process of acquiring new software. By making issues easier to understand, changing narratives, and explaining solutions, we build momentum for legislative wins and support housing organizations helping people and families find and keep good homes.

7. Storytelling for Change

Helping supportive housing residents share their stories.

To help residents of permanent supportive housing explore how they can tell their stories to make a difference, we facilitated a series of workshops in Mt. Vernon, Peoria, Rockford, Hillside, and Chicago in partnership with the Supportive Housing Providers Association. We also created a guide for supportive housing practitioners who are interested in helping facilitate storytelling workshops with their residents.

What’s the Impact?

The stories of people who live in supportive housing can shed light on important issues, such as what it is like to experience homelessness or live with mental illness or a disability. Stories are an effective tool for change, helping people connect, understand different perspectives—and take action. A publication featuring stories by the workshop participants will launch in January 2020.

We’re proud that some of our workshop participants are already speaking up about their experiences in a variety of ways, from testifying before legislators and presenting at conferences to speaking with the media!

Participant stories were featured in The ‘Hidden’ Crisis of Rural Housing by The Nation‘s Jake Bittle and Struggling for Housing by WSIU’s Steph Whiteside.

8. The Just Housing Amendment

Helping to protect over 1 million people from housing discrimination.

One in three Americans has an arrest record before they turn 23. Blanket housing bans against people with records disproportionately impacts Black and Brown families, as well as people with disabilities; they are often an avenue for race- and disability-based discrimination. The Just Housing Amendment—a measure that will ensure housing providers in Cook County do not discriminate against applicants with records—passed this year, after more than four years of work by Housing Action and more than 100 other organizations supporting the initiative.

What’s the Impact?

The Just Housing Amendment will ensure that housing providers and authorities do not consider arrests, juvenile records, and sealed and expunged records when evaluating someone’s application for rental housing. It will protect potential tenants and homeowners from being denied housing based on convictions greater than three years old, and it requires housing providers to conduct an individualized assessment for applicants with a conviction on their record—considering factors such as the nature of the offense and how much time has passed since it happened. The amendment will protect more than one million residents of Cook County and their families by giving people with arrest and conviction records a fair chance at finding housing.

9. Americorps VISTA

Expanding impact with AmeriCorps VISTA.

AmeriCorps VISTA is a national service program designed to fight poverty. Housing Action Illinois manages a network of VISTA members who serve for a full year or a ten-week summer term at our member organizations throughout the state, working on projects to help their host sites build capacity. VISTAs serve in a wide variety of roles: grant writing, community organizing, resource development, volunteer recruitment and management, and more.

What’s the Impact?

Our VISTA Members continually impress us with their tenacity and dedication. Last year, thirty full-year VISTA Members and thirty-one VISTA Summer Associates recruited and managed more than 3,700 volunteers and raised more than $500,000 in cash and in-kind donations for their host sites.