Housing Matters 2023
Speakers
Housing Matters 2023
Speakers
Dena Bell
IFF
Bio
Dena Bell is Managing Director of Development of IFF’s Home First portfolio. In this role, she is responsible for creating, financing, and managing new affordable housing developments. In her time with IFF, Dena has created over 100 units of permanent supportive housing in scattered site projects. Dena is a board member of the Illinois Housing Council and other housing advocacy agencies. Prior to joining IFF, Dena worked in Chicago’s affordable housing industry as a consultant, advising developers on construction, planning, and financing strategies. Dena holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois in English Literature.
Marisol Bello
Housing Narrative Lab
Bio
Marisol Bello (she/her) has spent a career championing the stories and voices of people with lived experience, so they lead in creating the solutions that help every family thrive. First as a career journalist—most recently at USA TODAY—telling the stories of families working to make ends meet, and then in the nonprofit world, where she led narrative strategies to change hearts and minds about those living on the brink and move people to action. A first generation American from a Caribbean family full of colorful storytellers, Marisol is originally from the Bronx and yes, she is a Yankees fan. She’s still on the East Coast, where she lives with her family and a pandemic puppy named Chloe.
Ashley Bishel
Uptown People’s Law Center
Bio
Ashley Bishel is a staff attorney on the housing team at Uptown People’s Law Center in Chicago. Her work focuses on tenant rights and enforcing the Cook County Just Housing Amendment (JHA), a law that protects Cook County renters with arrest and conviction records from housing discrimination. She represents low-income renters in landlord/tenant disputes in Uptown and surrounding neighborhoods and assists with JHA claims across Cook County. She also coordinates JHA enforcement and outreach/education efforts among other legal organizations and fair housing advocates in Cook County. Ashley earned her B.A. (2017) and J.D. (2022) from the University of Michigan.
Betty Bogg
Connections for the Homeless
Bio
Betty A. Bogg is the Chief Executive Officer of Connections for the Homeless, based in Evanston, Illinois, and serving over 40 communities in north suburban Cook County. She leads the agency in championing the voices of those directly affected by homelessness, valuing their lived experiences as necessary insights into effective solutions to housing instability. Before coming to Connections in 2015, Betty held various management positions at Deborah’s Place and Teen Living Programs (now Ignite), where she developed expertise in running shelter and housing programs. Betty grew up in west suburban Hinsdale Illinois and graduated from the University of Illinois. Prior to finding her calling in services for people experiencing homelessness, she worked as a hospital-based medical technologist and in corporate sales and laboratory management.
Jake Bradley
Alliance to End Homelessness
Bio
Jake Bradley (they/them) is the Training and Engagement Manager at the Alliance to End Homelessness in Suburban Cook County. Jake has designed and implemented vanguard outreach and drop-in and shelter programming for people experiencing homelessness for two decades. They founded the first overnight emergency shelter for youth and the first all-gender shelter in the City of Chicago, and collaborated to develop a multi-service innovative one-stop drop-in center, a late night drop-in program for young people involved in survival sex trading, and an adventure outing program for street-based youth. They train on a wide array of evidence-based practice and cultural competence topics.
Dr. Dawn Broers
Fortitude Community Outreach
Bio
Dr. Dawn Broers is the Founder and Director of Fortitude Community Outreach, a grassroots organization in Kankakee County. Dr. Broers is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with a PhD in Social Work Policy Practice. She served in Kankakee County since 1996 in mental health, school social work, higher education, and private practice, before founding Fortitude in 2018. Alongside work with Fortitude, Dr. Broers is a contributing faculty member in the Master of Social Work program at Walden University, and is the author of Social Work Policy Practice in Action: Views from the Field.
Eric Brown
RAMP
Bio
Eric Brown is the Systems Advocacy Coordinator at RAMP, a Center for Independent Living that advocates for individuals with disabilities in Winnebago, Boone, Stephenson, and DeKalb Counties. As part of his advocacy efforts, he serves on the Mayor’s Taskforce on Domestic and Community Violence, working closely with the office to ensure services and supports are accessible and inclusive to survivors with disabilities. Eric has worked with legislators to pass numerous pieces of legislation, educates the community on all things disability, and is an ADA Coordinator. In 2019 he was appointed by the Mayor of Rockford as a Commissioner for the City of Rockford Community Relations Commission. A graduate of Western Illinois University, Eric holds a Bachelor’s of Science in with a focus in Therapeutic Recreation.
Conan Calhoun
LIFE CIL
Bio
Conan Calhoun, Advocacy & Advancement Director, has been with LIFE CIL since 2018. His responsibilities include individual and systems advocacy, teaching the Community Advocacy Training class, and youth transition. His professional experience includes 10 years as a teacher therapist assistant working with children with disabilities and providing life skills, social skills, educational programming, social/emotional supports, and crisis intervention. Conan has his Direct Service Child Welfare license and a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice. He is a United States Navy Veteran.
Maria Campos
CuraLink Healthcare
Bio
Maria Campos (she/her/ella) currently serves as a work-life consultant for CuraLinc Healthcare, a global provider of behavioral health and wellness services, focusing primarily on employee’s mental health and resource accessibility among minority groups. Maria has over ten years of experience as a housing professional focused on asset building, financial management, housing stabilization, resource development, and programming implementation, working for LUCHA and the Center for Changing Lives. She more recently ventured into public health, working for the DeKalb County Health Department before joining CuraLinc. She is a proud daughter of immigrant parents from San Luis Potosi, Mexico. At a young age, Maria and her family migrated to Chicago’s Little Village / South Lawndale neighborhood.
Terrance Chism
Chicago 400 Alliance
Bio
Terrance Chism is a father of two, a gospel musician, a professional drummer, a community volunteer, and the President of the Chicago 400 Alliance. The Chicago 400 are those experiencing homelessness due to housing banishment laws. The Alliance is the grassroots campaign working to challenge and repeal public conviction registries and housing banishment laws for people with past convictions, which includes victim advocates, housing advocates, reentry service providers, and police accountability activists, including CAASE, Shriver Center on Poverty Law, and CAARPR. Along with other Chicago 400 leaders, Chism launched an archive project to document the impact of these laws.
Armeca Crawford
Peoria Housing Authority
Bio
Armeca Crawford joined Peoria Housing Authority in April 2022 as CEO, with extensive expertise in Housing. Her strategic and collaborative focus on neighborhood revitalization, housing people and economic empowerment, has been transformational. She has expanded opportunities to Central Illinois households by securing $4 million in funding to increase and diversify the Housing Authority’s educational, operational and workforce initiatives, including YouthBuild and Choice Neighborhoods grants. Armeca served as COO of Real Estate Management at the Detroit Housing Commission, where she revised public housing admissions policies for formally incarcerated citizens, with VERA Institute of Justice, and partnered with United Way on the eviction prevention initiative, “Keep It Home”. Armeca has a BA in Accounting, a broker license in Michigan, and many Housing certifications.
Kimberly Danna
HUD Illinois State Office
Bio
Kimberly Danna is the Field Office Director for HUD’s Illinois State Office. Kimberly provides outreach to and coordination with HUD’s stakeholders for Secretarial priorities related to housing, homelessness, economic opportunity and disaster coordination. She also oversees a customer service operation in Illinois which responded to over 7,000 community contacts in 2022. Kimberly is a subject matter expert in HUD’s affordable housing and community development programs with more than 30 years of experience in grants for housing, community development, homelessness and disaster recovery. In 2022, Kimberly led a national eviction prevention initiative on behalf of HUD’s Office Field Policy and Management. Kimberly also supported HUD’s national Office of Affordable Housing Programs and Office of Block Grant Assistance in the development of the CDBG CARES Act and HOME ARP programs.
Rosa Druker
Dispute Resolution Institute
Bio
Rosa Druker is a Program Manager at Dispute Resolution Institute. She joined DRI in August 2021. Rosa heads the eviction mediation in Champaign and Macon Counties, foreclosure mediation in Champaign County, and the pilot Champaign County community mediation program. After growing up in Champaign, Rosa obtained a bachelor’s degree from Macalester College in 2016 in Sociology and minor in Spanish. Rosa has held a number of positions in the nonprofit field, including working as a home visitor with Spanish-speaking children, providing outreach to farmworkers, and acting as a housing case manager.
William Estrada
Arts Educator & Multidisciplinary Artist
Bio
William Estrada is an arts educator and multidisciplinary artist. His art and teaching are a collaborative discourse that critically re-examines public and private spaces with people to engage in radical imagination. He has presented in various panels regarding community programming, arts integration, and social justice curricula. He is currently a Teaching Artist at Telpochcalli Elementary and faculty at the School of Art and Art History at UIC. William is engaging in collaborative work with the Mobilize Creative Collaborative, Chicago ACT Collective, and Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative. His current research is focused on developing community based and culturally relevant projects that center power structures of race, economy, and cultural access in contested spaces that provide a space to collectively imagine just futures.
Cora R. Fulmore
Diversified Resource Network
Bio
Cora R. Fulmore, founder and owner of Diversified Resource Network, is an industry expert with more than 30 years of experience and a deep understanding of consumer credit issues, student loan debt, foreclosure avoidance, homeownership counseling, and education. She has served in roles including spokesperson, mortgage and credit counselor, and advocate for policies promoting safe and creative lending practices for homebuyers and homeowners. From 1997 to 2014, Mrs. Fulmore operated The Mortgage and Credit Center, LLC, a company dedicated to providing housing counseling in Florida. Since 1994, she has conducted training sessions on various topics, including Freddie Mac’s CreditSmart® curriculum and NeighborWorks America courses. She created The Counselor’s Corner in 2014, which later evolved into Diversified Resource Network, an online resource center.
Andrés J. Gallegos
Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd.
Bio
Andrés J. Gallegos is a partner at Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd., where he leads the firm‘s national disability rights practice. Andrés is one of the country’s leading disability rights attorneys addressing systemic disability-based discrimination in healthcare, civic access and housing. He has represented national and local disability rights organizations in addressing accessibility issues affecting their members. Since 2018, Andrés has been a member of the National Council on Disability (NCD), and in 2021 was appointed by Pres. Biden as its Chairman on the afternoon of his inauguration. NCD is an independent federal agency with a statutory mission to advise the President, Congress and Federal agencies on all policy matters affecting people with disabilities in the country and in our territories.
Jane Genzel
Peoria Opportunities Foundation
Bio
Jane Genzel is the director of Peoria Opportunities Foundation (POF), a non-profit organization established to develop affordable housing with an emphasis on developing self-sufficiency and economic wealth for low-income families. POF recently completed 30 units of affordable housing in Peoria’s East Bluff neighborhood. POF is currently working on affordable housing projects in Peoria’s South Side neighborhood.
Jilly Graciana
Winnebago County Housing Authority (OBA NiReACH)
Bio
Jilly Graciana has been with the Winnebago County Housing Authority (OBA NiReACH) since 2016, where she is the Director of the Rental Housing Support Program with over 130 units in a regional four county program in Northern Illinois. In 2018 WCHA partnered with the New York University Marron Institute, HUD, IHDA and IDOC to create a pilot demonstration Graduated Re-Integration Program and in 2019 WCHA was awarded 30 vouchers from the new IHDA Reentry Program for a regional three county program, which were added to Mrs. Graciana’s operation portfolio. She has also served as the Coordinator of the Rental Assistance Demonstration I and II, Public Housing and Low Income Housing Tax Credit projects, covering 278 homes and over $40 million in new construction and rehabbed mixed finance programs.
Christine Haley
State of Illinois Office to Prevent and End Homelessness
Bio
Christine Haley is the Chief Homelessness Officer for the State of Illinois in the Office to Prevent and End Homelessness. She works with 16 state agencies to implement a strategic state plan to prevent and end homelessness. She chairs the Illinois Interagency Task Force on Homelessness and co-chairs the Community Advisory Council on Homelessness. Previously, Christine was the Director of Housing for Cook County Health. She has worked as an administrator with CSH, Housing Opportunities for Women, and Heartland Alliance; served in health equity positions within the Massachusetts and Cleveland Departments of Public Health; and was founding Executive Director of the Chicago Torture Justice Center. Christine holds a BA from Notre Dame and an MS in Social Administration from Case Western Reserve.
Vince Heneghan
Impact Behavioral Health Counselors
Bio
Vince Heneghan is a Licensed Professional Counselor and is the Director of Operations for Impact Behavioral Health Partners, where he oversees the management and development of the Agency PSH programs. He has worked at Impact since 2013 and was the recipient of the Illinois Supportive Housing Providers Associations 2019 David A. Harrison “Good, Better, Best” Award.
Jolyn Heun
Applegate & Thorne-Thomsen, P.C.
Bio
Jolyn Heun is an Attorney at Applegate & Thorne-Thomsen, P.C. Jolyn has worked in affordable housing for over 10 years. Her practice focuses on the representation of developers, lenders, investors, and nonprofit organizations in the areas of affordable housing and community development. Prior to joining Applegate & Thorne-Thomsen, Jolyn was senior counsel at the Illinois Housing Development Authority, where her passion for affordable housing began. In her spare time, Jolyn loves to travel and volunteers with the Pilsen Food Pantry.
C.C. Huang
Applegate & Thorne-Thomsen, P.C.
Bio
C.C. Huang has been an attorney at Applegate & Thorne-Thomsen, P.C. since September 2018. Prior to joining the firm, C.C. was an attorney-advisor for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in Chicago. Her practice focuses on representation of affordable housing developers in transactions involving various sources of commercial and governmental financing, Section 8 rental assistance, and the low-income housing tax credit. Outside of her legal practice, C.C. serves on the Building and Location Committee for the Lake North District of the Northern Illinois Conference of the United Methodist Church.
Suzy Lee
Forefront
Bio
Suzy Lee is the Senior Director of Programs & Learning at Forefront. As part of the Program Team, Suzy’s focus areas include Forefront’s flagship programs and research for grantmakers, advisors, and nonprofits. Suzy previously served as the Senior Manager of Children’s Nutrition Policy at the Greater Chicago Food Depository, where she led the Illinois No Kid Hungry campaign to pass legislation increasing access to free school breakfast programs, and as the Vice-Chair of the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program Association. Suzy actively volunteers for organizations that support women’s rights, refugee rights, and civic engagement. She holds a B.A. from Hanover College and a Master’s of Public Administration from DePaul University. You can often find her in her garden, trying a new ice-cream recipe, or hunting dinosaurs with her toddler.
Forefront is Illinois’ statewide association representing both grantmakers and nonprofits, as well as their advisors and allies. Our mission is to build a vibrant social impact sector for all the people of Illinois. We provide education, advocacy, thought leadership, and facilitate collective action around issues that are important to our Members and to the sector.
Ben LeRoy
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Bio
Ben LeRoy is an Instructor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He began his career in 2013 with the City of Champaign Planning and Development Department, where his work primarily involved land use regulation, long range planning, and planning for people walking and biking. After nearly a decade with that organization, Ben turned his attention to teaching. He now teaches local government and land use law at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, with appointments in the College of Law as well as the Department of Urban and Regional Planning. He also advises government-side and developer-side clients on zoning and land use policy through his independent consulting practice, LeRoy Land Use Consulting. Additionally, Ben is the co-chair of the APA-IL Legislative Committee and co-director of the Illinois Zoning Atlas.
Sue Loellbach
Connections for the Homeless
Bio
Sue Loellbach is the Director of Advocacy for Connections for the Homeless, based in Evanston. Her work focuses on changing policy at the municipal and state levels to support housing affordability, as well as community education and awareness building related to housing cost burden and its intersections with poverty, health, and wellbeing. Sue has also served as the Director of Development at Connections, and has worked in poverty-related non-profit organizations for over 15 years. Prior to that, she worked in the corporate sector doing communications and marketing. Sue has an M.A. in English, which has turned out to be good preparation for a career in advocacy. She lives in Chicago with her husband and has two adult children.
Jerrold H. Mayer
HUD Office of Housing Counseling
Bio
Jerrold H. Mayer is the Director of the Office of Outreach and Capacity Building in HUD’s Office of Housing Counseling. The mission of the Office of Outreach and Capacity Building (OCB) is to train and certify housing counselors and increase public awareness of HUD’s housing counseling programs to enable all families to access safe, healthy, and affordable housing. Jerry has worked for HUD for 38 years, mostly in FHA-insured mortgages, housing counseling, and nonprofit programs.
Don Nash
National Programs for Homeownership Council of America
Bio
Don Nash serves as Vice-President of National Programs for Homeownership Council of America, where he is responsible for HCA’s nationwide Equity DPA program and the Equity Certified Trademark initiative. Don has more than 20 years of mortgage operations experience, with a long history of building mortgage departments and developing high-producing teams. He specializes in identifying operational issues and finding innovative solutions in both the for profit and nonprofit sectors. Don served as SVP of Oceanside Mortgage and ran one of the largest CDFI’s in the country as Director of Lending for NHS of NYC. Don has a BA in Organizational Leadership from Biola University, accreditation in Theology from Oxford University, and certification in Credit Risk management, Fair Lending and & Compliance from the National Training Institute.
Dr. Andre M. Perry
Brookings Metro | American University | Washington University
Bio
Andre M. Perry is a Senior Fellow at Brookings Metro, a scholar-in-residence at American University, and a professor of practice of economics at Washington University. A nationally known and respected commentator on race, structural inequality, and education, Perry is the author of the book “Know Your Price: Valuing Black Lives and Property in America’s Black Cities,” which is currently available wherever books are sold. Perry is a regular contributor to MSNBC and has been published by numerous national media outlets, including The New York Times, The Nation, The Washington Post, TheRoot.com and CNN.com. Perry has also made appearances on HBO, CNN, PBS, National Public Radio, NBC, and ABC. Perry’s research focuses on race and structural inequality, education, and economic inclusion. Perry’s recent scholarship at Brookings has analyzed Black-majority cities and institutions in America, focusing on valuable assets worthy of increased investment. Prior to his work at Brookings, Perry has been a founding dean, professor, award-winning journalist, and activist in the field of education.
Laurie Jo Reynolds
Chicago 400 Alliance
Bio
Laurie Jo Reynolds is an organizer, researcher, and artist who works to counter the demonization, warehousing, and social exclusion of people in the criminal legal system. She coordinates the Chicago 400 Alliance, which uses engaged research, advocacy, media, organizing, and direct aid, to illuminate how registry and banishment laws mandate adversarial police contact, make people homeless, and expand the surveillance and incarceration of poor Illinoisans. Reynolds was the organizer of Tamms Year Ten, the campaign to close the notorious state supermax, shuttered by Governor Pat Quinn in 2013. She is an Associate Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Chris Riehlmann
RSI
Bio
Chris Riehlmann joined RSI in January 2022 as the Eviction Mediation Program Manager. He has helped implement the eviction mediation programs in multiple Illinois courts and continues to do so for Kane County. Previously, Chris was a part of local and national enforcement actions that protected the fair housing rights of protected classes throughout the Chicago area as the Director of Fair Housing at Open Communities. Chris received his J.D. from Loyola University Chicago School of Law in 2014.
Chris Rothwell
FHLBank Chicago
Bio
Chris Rothwell serves as the Manager for Community Investment Policy, Risk and Compliance at FHLBank Chicago, where he leads in efforts to expand affordable housing and economic development throughout the bank’s two-state district of Illinois and Wisconsin. In this role, Chris helps design and implement the Community Investment programs offered by the bank while managing their risk and compliance elements to ensure sound operations and regulatory compliance. These programs include the Affordable Housing Program, which provides millions in annual grant dollars to subsidize the acquisition, new construction, and/or rehabilitation of affordable housing developments along with providing down payment assistance for low- or moderate-income homebuyers.
Michelle Sablack
WJW Architects
Bio
Michelle Sablack is an Associate at WJW Architects in Chicago. Detail-oriented and mission-driven, Michelle maintains a strong focus on delivering positive, healthy, and supportive physical environments for end-users. Rooted in a person-centered approach, Michelle is an exceptional project manager leading project teams in creating work that thoughtfully and compassionately considers end-user experiences and prioritizes the people who will inhabit the spaces she designs. Chair of WJW’s Sustainability Committee, Michelle has a keen interest in the marriage of sustainability and accessibility in affordable housing and community redevelopment.
Melanie Sampson
Clear Language Lab at Literacy Works
Bio
Melanie Sampson is Program Director of the Clear Language Lab at Literacy Works. In her role, she supports mission-driven professionals in making communications more inclusive, understandable, and effective, creating systems that work better for people. She trains hundreds of professionals annually and consults on and revises materials such as flyers, slide decks, handbooks, and web content across sectors. She also works closely with community members, prioritizing their perspectives and needs in creation of materials. She has an MA in linguistics from Northeastern Illinois University and a certificate in plain language from Simon Fraser University’s continuing studies program.
Bailee VanAntwerp
City of Champaign Township
Bio
Bailee VanAntwerp is the Deputy Supervisor at the City of Champaign Township, which operates a 24/7/365 low-barrier emergency shelter for men and women. She also works as a social worker in the only level I trauma emergency department in the county. This creates a unique continuity of engagement that is essential to the homeless population in Champaign County. She received her Master’s of Social Work in August of 2021 and became a licensed social worker in March of 2022. She has two dogs, Jack and Maeve, who keep her busy in her off time. She has a passion for proactive services related to housing and hopes to one day put the shelter out of business with a housing-first approach.
Kenneth M. Walden
Access Living of Metropolitan Chicago
Bio
Kenneth M. Walden is the Managing Attorney for the Civil Rights Team at Access Living of Metropolitan Chicago. The Civil Rights Team represents persons with disabilities in civil rights cases under the Fair Housing Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and other laws. Ken directs the organization’s legal work, which includes: (a) advice, counseling, and representation to persons with disabilities; (b) a disability-specific fair housing testing program; (c) education and outreach to communities about disability rights laws; and (d) public policy advocacy. Ken served as an Adjunct Professor at Loyola University Chicago School of Law. He received his law degree from the University of Maryland School of Law and his bachelor’s degree from Rutgers College.
Todd Wiltse
WJW Architects
Bio
Todd Wiltse is a Partner at WJW Architects in Chicago. His design process is rooted in a foundational belief in having a broad perspective and bringing a wide range of voices and input to the table. His key research interests focus on designing for specialized populations, including trauma-informed design approaches, housing and day programs for people with developmental disabilities, universal design strategies for people with physical disabilities, and residential environments for people with dementia. A consistent pursuit of new ideas and evolution of architectural knowledge has led to Todd’s expertise in project types including affordable housing, community redevelopment, and homelessness prevention—all designed to create environments that promote healing and wellness.
Frank Woodruff
National Alliance of Community Economic Development Associations (NACEDA)
Bio
Frank Woodruff is an advocate for improving the lives of low- and moderate-income communities, and he believes in inspiring great places to achieve this goal. He joined the National Alliance of Community Economic Development Associations (NACEDA) in 2010 and has served as its executive director since 2012. With a deep commitment to community prosperity and equity, Frank wakes up every day ready to face the challenges and opportunities in the public, philanthropic, governmental, or private sector. He holds an Executive Education Certificate from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, an MA in public policy from George Washington University, and a BA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.