Public Announcements
Illinois releases new three-year plan for combatting homelessness
CHICAGO — State leaders, service providers, and people with lived experience of homelessness gathered Thursday to mark the fifth anniversary of an executive order that established Illinois’s statewide homelessness response system, as officials formally released a new plan outlining the state’s priorities for the next three years.
Gov. JB Pritzker signed Executive Order 2021-21 on Sept. 3, 2021, creating the Interagency Task Force on Homelessness, the Community Advisory Council on Homelessness, and the Illinois Office to Prevent and End Homelessness. The order established a statewide structure intended to coordinate policy, share accountability, and build partnerships across state agencies and communities in addressing homelessness.
“Every person deserves the dignity and stability that come with having a safe place to call home,” Pritzker said. “Five years ago, I proudly launched a statewide effort to address homelessness. Since then, we’ve helped thousands of Illinoisans find greater stability and strengthened the systems that support our unhoused neighbors. With the next Home Illinois Plan, we’re building on that progress to continue our mission to end homelessness in our state.”
Vacant former Aurora Housing Authority apartment building goes up in flames; no injuries reported
A vacant former Aurora Housing Authority apartment building on the city’s east side went up in flames on Aug. 13.
The Aurora Fire Department said the cause of the fire remained under investigation.
There were no reported injuries from the blaze. The Fire Department did not say if the building remains habitable after the fire and smoke damage. The Fire Department did say the flames left “floor and roof failure.”
Attorney General Raoul, Department of Labor Urge Illinois Appellate Court to Reject Attempt to Limit Ban on Source-of-Income Discrimination in Housing
State officials said a landlord cannot sidestep Illinois' source-of-income discrimination ban by refusing to sign federal Housing Assistance Payments contracts for voucher holders.
Chicago – Attorney General Raoul and the Illinois Department of Human Rights (IDHR) today urged the Illinois Appellate Court to reject a landlord’s request to weaken the Illinois Human Rights Act’s ban on housing discrimination based on source of income.
Raoul and IDHR filed an amicus brief in Cole v. Timberbrook Realty LLC in support of a tenant who said she was evicted for using her federal Housing Choice Voucher, formerly know as Section 8 voucher, to help pay her rent. Though the landlord claimed it did not discriminate against the tenant based on her status as a voucher holder, the landlord refused to sign a Housing Assistance Payments contract, which prevented the tenant from using her voucher to pay for her rent. A landlord cannot receive payments through the federal voucher program until it signs the contract.
Illinois Housing Development Authority releases plan to create, preserve affordable housing
Illinois Housing Development Authority Opens Three Senior Affordable Housing Developments Across Illinois
Affordable housing initiative for DuPage and Will counties to be greenlit under new Ellman law
SPRINGFIELD — A new law from State Senator Laura Ellman is set to give counties additional tools to support affordable housing development and address growing housing affordability challenges facing working families and middle-income residents.
“As housing costs continue to rise faster than incomes, more families are finding themselves priced out of the communities they work and live in,” said Ellman (D-Naperville). “This law will help local governments create more housing options while supporting mixed-income communities and long-term affordability.”
House Bill 4571 allows counties with populations between 750,000 and 2 million, as well as counties with executive forms of government and populations between 650,000 and 2 million, to take additional actions to support affordable housing development and preservation.
Under the law, eligible counties could acquire property, transfer land between units of local government, sell or lease property below market rate and offer financial incentives such as grants, loans and infrastructure improvements to encourage affordable housing construction.
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Macoupin Housing Services cuts ribbons
Representatives from Macoupin Housing Services (MHS) and the Macoupin County Housing Authority (MCHA) cut the ribbons on three tax credit housing developments in the county at ceremonies held Sept. 23.
Home tours were available to area residents and local dignitaries at the 14 homes built in Staunton, nine in Bunker Hill and 15 in Gillespie. The homes were built through a low-income housing tax credit created under the 1986 Tax Reform Act. It gives incentives for the use of private equity in the development of affordable housing aimed at low-income Americans. The program is administered at the state level through the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA), which receives a fixed allocation of credits based on population.
The homes have to meet strict requirements with regard to construction standards and energy efficiency.
