2018 Housing Policy Forum: Building the Movement, National Low Income Housing Coalition - March 19-21 - RSVP

Oct 2017 - Register for NLIHC’s 2018 Housing Policy Forum: Building the Movement. The Forum, taking place in Washington, DC, March 19-21, 2018, will provide opportunities to engage with affordable housing advocates, thought-leaders, policy experts, researchers, housing providers, low income residents, and leaders from Capitol Hill and the administration about building the affordable housing movement in 2018 and beyond.

The Policy Forum will explore the state of fair housing on the fiftieth anniversary of the Fair Housing Act; threats and opportunities for affordable housing in 2018 and beyond; the keys to resident-led organizing; successful state and local organizing; making housing an issue with the media; and effective story-telling for affordable housing.  The forum will also feature sessions on a national campaign to expand the affordable housing movement with non-traditional allies; non-partisan voter registration, engagement and mobilization prior to the 2018 elections; getting candidates for public office to address affordable housing in their campaigns; using dynamic research to change the story and influence policy solutions; housing the formerly incarcerated; and others. There will also be opportunities to engage with leaders and staff at HUD and in Congress on affordable housing challenges, solutions and priorities.

The 2018 Housing Leadership Award honorees, Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), Matt Desmond, and Lisa Hasegawa, will be recognized for their contributions to affordable housing at NLIHC’s annual Housing Leadership Reception on the evening of March 20.

The NLIHC 2017 Housing Policy Forum and Leadership Reception will take place at the Washington Court Hotel in Washington DC.  Register for the Forum at: http://bit.ly/2yjjTZK

A limited number of shared-lodging hotel scholarships will be awarded on a first-come-first-served basis to low income residents who are NLIHC members and who pay their own Forum registration fee (“self-pay participants”). Scholarships will be awarded to ensure a broad geographic distribution. To apply for a scholarship, send an email expressing interest to: jsaucedo@nlihc.org 

source: press release

Some Illinois Caregivers Get Small Raise In Pay, Another Court Filing Can Cost The State - Again

Illinois - After frequent stories of caregivers earning around $10 an hour even after years of work, suburban aides who care for people with disabilities are getting a pay raise.

Article by Kerry Lester for the Daily Herald | July 17, 2017                                                           
The 75-cent-an-hour raise -- buried deep within the state budget passed earlier this month by the legislature -- will cost the state $53 million next year and go to 34,000 workers. Average pay statewide will increase from its current $9.35 to $10.10 an hour.

Ray Graham Association President and CEO Kim Zoeller tells me the move certainly is appreciated but it's far from enough. The DuPage County nonprofit has more than 90 of its 250 caregiver positions open after many workers left for higher-paying jobs in fast food or retail.

With those gaps, Zoeller says, the agency no longer is able to devote time to take residents into the community for such things as church services or grocery shopping. Ray Graham serves 2,000 disabled children and adults in the suburbs and operates 23 group homes.

New campaign                                                                            

Zoeller says after the "dust settles" in Springfield over the passage this month of the state's first budget in two years, a coalition of 60 organizations employing caregivers and calling itself "They Deserve More" will begin to lobby lawmakers and Gov. Bruce Rauner anew.

"With Cook County's recent minimum wage hike (to $13 an hour by 2020), it makes it even more critical for providers to have that funding in order to be competitive," Zoeller says.

For More of the article: CLICK
Equip For Equality court filing:

• Ligas brief filed in support of Motion to Enforce Consent Decree (PDF)

National Call-In Day TODAY April 26, 2017 - TELL CONGRESS TO FUND & PROTECT AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Take Action! Join Today's National Call-In Day

Tell your members of Congress to pass final spending bills for FY 2017 before the Friday, April 28 deadline and to protect affordable housing investments. 

NLIHC and the Campaign for Housing and Community Development Funding are holding a national call-in day TODAY to urge members of Congress to pass final spending bills for fiscal year 2017 before the Friday, April 28 deadline and to protect affordable housing investments. Unless Congress extends the deadline or passes full spending bills, the federal government will shut down and vital investments in affordable housing and community development will be put at risk.

Call the congressional switchboard toll free at 202-224-3121 or click below.

 Call Congress! 

Sample Script:

Please work with your colleagues to pass a final spending bill for fiscal year 2017 that protects affordable housing investments at HUD and USDA. These resources keep roofs over the heads of low income families, seniors, people with disabilities, and other vulnerable people. Funding affordable housing is a smart investment because such housing leads to better health and education outcomes and boosts economic mobility and the local economy. Our communities are stronger because of HUD and USDA. Please do not put these resources at risk by failing to pass full-year spending bills by the April 28 deadline.

 Call Congress! 

The National Low Income Housing Coalition is dedicated solely to achieving socially just public policy that assures people with the lowest incomes in the United States have affordable and decent homes. Learn more »

Ability Chicago Info is a proud member & supporter of the National Low Income Housing Coalition

and Housing Action Illinois.

National Low Income Housing Coalition 2017 Advocates Guide is Available

Every year, the National Low Income Housing Coalition publishes the Advocates’ Guide to Housing and Community Development Policy to educate advocates of all kinds about the programs and policies that make housing affordable to low income people across America. Whether you are a new employee at a housing agency, a student in an urban planning program, or a seasoned affordable housing advocate looking for a refresher on key programs, this book will give you the overview of housing programs and advocacy tools you need to be a leader in the affordable housing movement.

 Click Here To Download a PDF of the 2017 Advocates' Guide

To USE: If you would like to print the guide, you will have better results if you save the pdfs to your desktop, open the pdf in Acrobat Reader, and print from Acrobat. To download Acrobat Reader, click here: https://get.adobe.com/reader/

To purchase a copy, please visit http://nlihc.org/library/publications-order.

For more on the National Low Income Housing Coalition, visit: http://nlihc.org/

In Illinois, Rental Housing Out of Reach, Worsened by States Budget Impasse - 2016 Report

$19.98 per hour.

That's what renters in Illinois must earn to afford rent and utilities on a modest two-bedroom apartment.

This is just one finding in Out of Reach, a new report jointly released by Housing Action Illinois and National Low Income Housing Coalition. 

The report shows that the cost of rental housing varies across the state, but there is no place in Illinois where a minimum wage worker can afford a two-bedroom apartment. Rental housing is the most expensive in the Chicago metropolitan area, where the Housing Wage is $22.62. In rural areas of Illinois, the average two-bedroom Housing Wage is $12.55.

The report shows that rents in Illinois have only risen while our state legislators have been locked in a budget stalemate that is holding up nearly $225 million in funding for affordable housing. This funding was just included in a larger emergency funding bill for human service programs that the General Assembly recently passed with bipartisan support. The bill, which includes funding for homeless shelters, supportive housing, rental subsidies, foreclosure prevention and housing construction, would have been available 11 months ago if not for the state budget impasse.

This is unacceptable. The data in Out of Reach confirms that we need to pass a state budget and release funds for affordable housing more than ever. Housing should be affordable enough that a family can pay rent and still put food on the table.

Call the office of Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner right now and ask him to sign Senate Bill 2038—the emergency funding bill for human service programs—into law: 217-782-6830

Learn more and read the report »

Housing Action Illinois 

11 E. Adams #1601
Chicago, IL 60603

How Much do you Need to Earn to Afford a Modest Apartment in Your State?

For Illinois Families Who Need Affordable Housing, Not Even A Place In Line

Congress Can Act Before Thanksgiving to Restore Housing Vouchers Lost to Budget Cuts

For Immediate Release: November 4, 2015 | Housing Action Illinois

Seventy-two percent of waiting lists for Housing Choice Vouchers in Illinois are closed, according to a report released today. The 51 public housing authorities (PHAs) with closed waiting lists administer 95 percent of the vouchers available in the state.

Closed waiting lists mean that people in need of affordable rental housing in most every part of Illinois do not have the opportunity to even get in line to secure a federally funded subsidy that would alleviate their poverty and put their household in a better position to thrive.

The last time this information was collected in 2007, the number of PHAs with closed voucher waiting lists was significantly lower—only 56 percent of all PHAs with a voucher program.

In 2007, the poverty rate in Illinois was 11.9 percent; in 2014 it was 14.4 percent. The increase in poverty is likely a contributing factor to more PHAs closing their voucher waiting lists, as more households seek out resources to help them afford housing and the other costs of living.

This report by Housing Action Illinois and Heartland Alliance’s Social IMPACT Research Center comes at a time when budget caps have severely constrained federal housing assistance funding. Congress has just agreed to lift these caps and is debating how much funding to provide for Housing Choice Vouchers and other critical housing programs.

For the voucher program, the choices made about the budget will determine whether there is enough funding to maintain the current number of vouchers and provide additional resources to restore the 67,000 vouchers not yet restored after mandatory across-the-board “sequestration” spending cuts implemented in 2013.

In December 2014, nearly 82,000 low-income households used Housing Choice Vouchers in Illinois to afford decent, privately owned housing. This is a significant number, but far less than the number of vouchers needed to address the lack of affordable rental housing. Based on data released in 2014, there is a deficit of 321,394 rental units affordable and available to extremely low income households in Illinois, those with income at or below 30 percent of area median income.

“To assist households whose need for affordable housing is not served by the private market, to help reduce the risk of homelessness, and to help lift thousands of households out of poverty, Congress should appropriate enough money to fund all current vouchers and restore vouchers that have been lost due to previous budget cuts,” said Bob Palmer, Policy Director for Housing Action Illinois.

It is widely anticipated that Congress will come to an agreement on the fiscal year 2016 federal budget by the Thanksgiving of this year. If Congress restores vouchers lost to sequestration in this year’s budget, it will help lift 67,000 households out of poverty across the nation and demonstrate a commitment to provide the resources necessary to alleviate the long-standing affordable housing shortage.

Download the report here: http://socialimpactresearchcenter.issuelab.org/resource/not_even_a_place_in_line_housing_choice_voucher_capacity_and_waiting_lists_in_illinois_2015

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The Social IMPACT Research Center at Heartland Alliance works with nonprofits, foundations, and governments to measure and grow their social impact. We are experts on issues related to poverty, housing, homelessness, employment, human services, health and nutrition, education, and asset development.

To learn more, visit www.socialimpactresearchcenter.org, follow us on Twitter@IMPACTHeartland or like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/social.impact.research.

Housing Action Illinois is a statewide coalition formed to protect and expand the availability of quality, affordable housing throughout Illinois. Our members include housing counseling agencies, homeless service providers, developers of affordable housing and policymakers. At Housing Action Illinois our supporters, participants and members agree that a stronger Illinois begins at home.

To learn more, visit www.housingactionil.org, follow us on Twitter@housingactionil or like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/housingactionil.

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# information posted as shared by:

Housing Action Illinois
11 E. Adams #1601
Chicago, IL 60603

State of Illinois Budget Impasse Is Causing Homelessness Throughout Illinois Survey Results Show

Survey Results: The State Budget Impasse Is Causing Homelessness in Illinois
Advocates Call for a Responsible Budget with Adequate Revenue

A survey of state-funded homeless service providers found that the state budget impasse has forced, or will soon force, almost all of these nonprofit agencies—90%—to deny assistance to people at-risk of or experiencing homelessness.

Agencies are having to deny assistance by taking one or more of the following actions: limiting intake of new clients; reducing or eliminating services for current clients; staff layoffs, implementing furlough days or reduced work hours for staff; eliminating programs; and/or closing sites.

Detailed survey results on the impact of the budget impasse are in the following table:



The state budget impasse has resulted in homeless service providers not receiving any state funding since July 1, 2015 for several key programs, including Emergency and Transitional Housing, Homelessness Prevention, Homeless Youth and Supportive Housing Services.

"One of our adolescent substance abuse treatment programs has closed, impacting 90 youth. If the budget impasse is not resolved in September, we will have to eliminate our host home and shelter services for runaway and homeless youth who are seeking a safe and better future away from violence in their homes and on the streets,” said Rick Velasquez, Executive Director of Youth Outreach Services in Chicago.

The majority of providers (59%) are also experiencing an increased demand for services because of the unavailability of other services once provided by other agencies. In addition, the vast majority of providers (85%) are concerned about how the absence of state funds could impact their ability to provide matching funding for federal dollars.

“We provide services to over 800 people a year, including a 24-hour domestic violence shelter, emergency shelter and transitional housing. On average, we have 60 women and children in shelter at any time. Payroll alone is over $40,000 every two weeks. We had cash reserves but they are gone. We have the cash on hand to make one more payroll in September. And then we don't know what we'll do. If we lay off staff, then we put our federal funding at risk,” said Isak Griffiths, Executive Director for Courage Connection, which serves Champaign-Urbana and the surrounding area.

The survey was conducted between August 14, 2015 and September 2, 2015. The advocacy organizations that developed the survey were the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, CSH, Housing Action Illinois and Supportive Housing Providers Association. One hundred and one homeless service providers responded—agencies large and small, from urban, suburban and rural communities.

“We need a responsible budget now. Elected officials, Governor Rauner and others, must stop using children and families as bargaining chips to address non-budget demands,” said Bob Palmer, Policy Director for Housing Action Illinois. “We call on Governor Rauner and members of the General Assembly to focus all their energy on resolving the impasse and agree to a budget with adequate revenue to fund services as passed by the General Assembly in May.”

The entire report is available by clicking here.

Note: Homeless service providers from throughout the state quoted in the report and others are available to speak to members of the media.

# from a PRESS RELEASE Sept. 10, 2015

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Housing Action Illinois
11 E. Adams #1601
Chicago, IL 60603

Accessing State of Illinois Affordable Housing Resources: PAIR Module Waiting List - Webinar July 30th

Join us for a webinar on Jul 30, 2015 at 11:30 AM CDT.
Register now!
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/176974461136765953

Calling all case managers, housing locators, transition coordinators and care coordinators! Please sign up for this Accessing State Affordable Housing Resources webinar!

The new Pre-Screening, Assessment, Intake and Referral (PAIR) online waiting list module kicked off on June 1st. This is the ONLY way to refer people that you are working with to Statewide Referral Network (SRN) affordable housing units. SRN units are available around the state to persons who have a disability OR are experiencing homelessness OR are at-risk of homelessness.

For years, in order to refer someone for SRN units you had to download a referral packet, fill out the forms, get it signed by the referral, fax it to the Lead Referral Agent and then the Lead Referral Agent had to do the same process and send it to the property manager. Well no more! On the webinar we’ll cover everything you need to know to access the PAIR online waiting list.

The webinar will be facilitated by Lore Baker, Statewide Housing Coordinator for Long Term Care Reform, Office of the Governor.

Sign up for the webinar, hosted by Housing Action Illinois, to learn how to get all of the people you are working with on the waiting list and help them access affordable housing.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

View System Requirements

as shared by:

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Housing Action Illinois

11 E. Adams #1601
Chicago, IL 60603