Capacity Building

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Doing more together.

By providing training, consulting, and resources, we help housing organizations—especially housing counseling agencies—better serve our communities in Illinois and throughout the nation.

We also advocate for the resources these nonprofits need to most effectively fulfill their missions.

Support & Resources for Housing Counseling Agencies

One of our priorities is supporting housing counselors, who help individuals and families find and keep good, affordable homes. Our experts facilitate regular workshops for counselors and offer one-on-one support and direct technical assistance to organizations. We want to make sure that agencies can keep up with changing trends, new technology, and complicated regulations. By helping housing counselors build their skills and capacity, we position them to better serve their communities.

Housing Action Training Center

We bring a robust lineup of trainings for nonprofit housing professionals, with a specific focus on educating housing counselors. In addition to trainings for established housing counselors, we prepare individuals interested in becoming housing counselors.

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Housing Action Counseling Network

As a HUD-Approved Intermediary, we support a network of housing counseling agencies in the Midwest and beyond. We help these organizations by providing one-on-one guidance and securing resources.

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Equipping Housing Counselors with Information & Technology

Guide to Choosing a HUD-Approved CMS

Housing counseling agencies rely on Client Management Systems (CMSs) to track clients and outcomes. Choosing an appropriate CMS can be intimidating, especially since many agencies don’t have an IT department to evaluate or maintain a system. In 2023, Housing Action published a new edition of our Guide to HUD-Approved CMSs (version 3.0) for housing counseling agencies.

This digital resource is available for free online and aims to help users assess their options through an at-a-glance comparison chart and individual system profiles. View the guide »

Helping Clients Find Housing Counselors

We want to help housing counselors and potential counseling clients find each other more easily. That’s why we are launching My Path To Home, a platform currently in beta testing, which matches individuals who enter their information with local housing counseling agencies that offer the kind of assistance they need. This is different from other tools for finding a housing counselor because the potential client’s information goes to a participating agency that can then proactively reach out.

Want to learn more and join as a participating housing counseling agency? Contact us at info@mypathtohome.org.

Meet Our Capacity Building Team

Director of Capacity Building
David Young
david@housingactionil.org
312-939-6074 x. 202

Capacity Building Specialist
Bibian Cristino
bibian@housingactionil.org
312-939-6074 x. 108

Capacity Building Specialist
Wanda Collins
wanda@housingactionil.org
312-939-6074 x. 112

Capacity Building Specialist
Jennifer Pallas
jennifer@housingactionil.org
312-939-6074 x. 201

Capacity Building Associate
James Miller
james@housingactionil.org
312-939-6074 x. 201

Capacity Building AmeriCorps VISTA
Eli Gillespie
eli@housingactionil.org
312-939-6074 x. 106

Latest Capacity Building Updates

Counting All Wins

Counting All Wins

Oct 1, 2023 | , ,

 Housing counseling is “almost like helping someone walk through the American dream—but it’s not all about homeownership,” says Kesha Chatman, the Division Operating Officer at Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis. “You are counseling on their finances, you are...