During listening sessions our team hosted across the state, many community leaders noted the need for better public understanding of the barriers to affordable housing and the negative effects on individuals and families. School superintendents told us children in unstable housing had trouble at school, mental health providers said patients in unstable housing advanced less in their treatments, community groups said people reentering society after prison struggled to find housing, homeless shelter directors said hospitals and criminal justice systems, and in turn, the taxpayers, were stretching their resources to care for individuals without housing options.
Some unlikely advocates have emerged in the fight to lift a 1997 ban on rent control in Illinois – manufactured home owners who are upset with the increasing cost of their lot rents.
New state historic tax credit could help rejuvenate struggling areas of Illinois. Stack a federal low-income tax credit on top of historic tax credits, and developers can create housing where it could benefit residents and shops.
The University of Illinois Hospital is one of a few hospitals in the Chicago area that have started providing permanent housing for homeless patients that repeatedly show up in emergency rooms.
A new Illinois law allows school districts to use a portion of their transportation funding to help homeless families, and those at risk of becoming homeless, pay for a place to live.
Angelina, her 2-year-old brother and their mother, Menishia, have been homeless for nearly two years. How they got into what Menishia calls “my situation” is complicated; a cascade of unfortunate events. A lost job, a Section 8 housing voucher revoked, an injury as a bystander in a drive-by shooting.
Many communities in Illinois have rules that say renters can lose their housing if someone in the home is connected to a crime. City leaders who back the policies say the rules make neighborhoods safer. But fair housing advocates question the tactics.
Many communities in Illinois have rules that say renters can lose their housing if someone in the home is connected to a crime. City leaders who back the policies say the rules make neighborhoods safer. But fair housing advocates question the tactics.
Every person who is homeless has their own story. But the two in this piece from Steph Whiteside are examples of common reasons for homelessness — living on a fixed income and finding housing after being released from prison.
