Public Education & Organizing
Our members make us powerful.
We build awareness and activate change by sharing information and real-life stories with policymakers, nonprofit service providers, and the media. We keep our members and allies informed about the latest developments in housing policy, organize issue-specific working groups, meet with legislators, take the pulse of communities during our outreach caravan, and host an annual Housing Matters Conference where advocates and practitioners share their knowledge and expertise.
Our Priority Issues
Housing Action Illinois works to educate and organize around a broad range of issues aligned with our core mission of creating an Illinois where everyone has a good, affordable place to call home. Our primary issues include:
Louder Together: Multi-Sector Partnerships
To truly change our affordable housing ecosystem for the better, we need to bring together not just housing advocates but also people, organizations, and interest groups from beyond the housing field. This is why Housing Action Illinois has joined the national Opportunity Starts at Home campaign, a project of our allies at the National Low Income Housing Coalition, and why we are working with advocates in pediatric health care, refugee resettlement, and the disability rights sector to raise up affordable housing as an issue that matters to all of us.
Annual Conference
During our annual conference, we build the expertise, experience, and capacity to make our communities better.
Caravan
We visit with members, host regional gatherings, and take the pulse of housing issues in rural, suburban, and urban Illinois.
Publications
Housing Action Illinois publishes research and analysis on issues related to affordable housing, as well as educational materials.
Latest News
General Assembly and Governor Rauner Must Identify Revenue Solutions and Pass Responsible Budget by May 31
The scheduled end of the current Illinois General Assembly session is May 31. Unless your state legislators and Governor Rauner hear from you, this will be the second year in a row that the session ends without passing a budget that has adequate revenue to fund state...
May 4 Update: Tell Your State Legislators to Vote Yes on the Fair Tax!
May 4 Update to Original April 29 Post: We were extremely disappointed that members of the Illinois House of Representatives adjourned without considering HJRCA 59, the Fair Tax amendment. With the deadline to get the measure on the ballot having come and gone, voters...
Ask Governor Rauner Not to Veto Budget Bill and Work on Revenue Solutions
On April 13, the General Assembly sent a fiscal year 2016 budget bill, Senate Bill 2046, to Governor Rauner. Governor Rauner is expected to veto the bill, but we feel we have a responsibility to ask him not to in order to provide desperately needed funding for human...